聚光灯的发展

The third World Expo forum began yesterday in Wuxi, neighboring Jiangsu Province.

The forum's theme was "Science and Technology Innovation and Urban Future." Discussions about how to tackle problems and make urban life better through science and technology will be the main focus of the forum, which wraps up today.

The forum is composed of a plenary session, a roundtable session and four parallel forums.

About 800 representatives from governments, international organizations and academia attended the forum.

Lee Tsung-Dao, a Nobel laureate in physics (1957); Barry J. Marshall, Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine (2005); and Yuan Longping, "Father of Hybrid Rice," shared their views on how science and technology can improve people's lives.

"The most brave and attractive cities in the world are the pioneers who first search for solutions with technology," said Supachai Panitchpakdi, secretary general of UNCTAD.

Cities bring great challenges as they develop. These include limited living space, insufficient safe drinking water or food, and insufficient drainage systems, especially in some super cities in developing countries, Panitchpakdi said.

Science and technology innovation can be used to find possible solutions. Strong city planning and the use of clean-energy technologies can help provide a more efficient and comfortable urban life, according to Panitchpakdi.

Shanghai Expo has played a great role in what can be achieved through science and technology innovation, said Wan Gang, head of China's Ministry of Science and Technology. He said many new ideas and practices are on exhibit at the Expo.

Three more Expo forums will be held. One will take place in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu. Another two will be held in Zhejiang Province, one in Shaoxing and the other in Hangzhou.