China has forged scientific cooperation with 152 countries and regions, and will further boost exchanges in the field in next five years, Xu Guanhua, minister of Science and Technology, said in Beijing on Thursday at the Ministry's national conference on foreign affairs.

"China's international science cooperation has reached an unprecedented development period," said Xu. "So far, the country has signed governmental science cooperation agreements with 99 countries, and a basic cooperation platform has been set up."

China has trail-blazed scientifically through close partnership with many countries, including the US, Russia, France, Germany and Italy, especially in the past five years, Xu said.

In 1995, China and Russia developed a remote controlled submarine robot and since then both sides have joined again in upgrading the deep sea robot to operate at a depth of 7,000 meters.

Since 2005, the country has signed a number of technological development and service contracts with the EU relating to the 3.5-billion-Euro Galileo system, a 30-strong satellite network intended for civilian use.

Over the next five years, Xu said, the Ministry of Science and Technology will launch international cooperation in the fields of energy, water resources and environmental protection, aiming to improve food safety, the structure of agriculture products and biological technology.

Meanwhile, Xu said China should further increase the range of cooperation projects and encourage talent exchanges with other countries. All these efforts should serve the purpose of increasing China's own competitiveness, he added.

The meeting, with the theme of "promoting innovation and utilizing global resources," is to set a new agenda for the next five years of international scientific cooperation.

(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2006)