For more than 2,000 years, China has been at the heart of Asian society and culture. Now, it is poised to assume a major role in science and technology, particularly in human biology and molecular medicine.

In this article, Kenneth Chien and Luther Chien argue that perhaps the most challenging step for Chinese scientists is to become familiar with new discoveries throughout the world.

International training programmes should be designed in China to develop a new generation of Chinese graduates, they say, who will serve as a route for the exchange of technology and ideas between different subject areas. And Western pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms that are allowed to tap into the growing clinical market in China should be required to provide a minimal level of support for national biomedical training and research initiatives.

Link to full article in Nature

Reference: Nature 428, 208 (2004)