The “Spark Program”-Formally implemented in 1986, the major task of the “Spark Program” is to rejuvenate the rural economy by relying on science and technology, popularize advanced and applicable scientific and technological findings in the rural areas and lead the township enterprises to develop in a healthy way. This plan places great stress on the industries closely related to people’s livelihood. The resources advantages of the rural areas are turned into economic advantages by utilizing science and technology. The demonstration projects promote the development of crop cultivation, animal husbandry, aquaculture and the processing of agricultural and sideline products. A large number of vegetable, fruit, poultry and eggs, and aquatic product bases have been established, and advanced breeding and cultivation techniques have been popularized. This plan has not only aroused the farmers’ enthusiasm for production, but also enriched the urban dwellers’ "vegetable baskets” and “rice bags.” The “Spark Program” has also made efforts to relieve poverty in rural areas. It has organized demonstrations of scientific and technical projects in ten typical mountain areas, and comprehensively developed and utilized resources to tackle the problems of food and clothing of the local people.
The “Torch Program” -In 1988, China launched the “Torch Program,” which is intended to put results of research in new and advanced technology into use in production. Since the implementation of the program, nearly 100 service centers to help people start businesses have been set up in 53 state-level new and advanced technology development zones. In 1997, the State Science Commission approved the establishment of the first group of such state-level centers. These so-called “incubator” institutes have played an important role in accelerating the transfer of results of research in new and advanced technology into production, and fostering new and advanced technology enterprises and entrepreneurs.
The “Scaling Heights Program” Formally implemented in 1992, this is a program aimed at promoting the state’s key basic research projects, by strengthening the state’s support for basic research and giving an impetus to its sustained and steady development. For several years running, the “Scaling Heights Program” has made some prominent achievements. Among them, the research work of the “Theory and Practice of Large-Scale Science and Engineering Calculation” project in symplectic geometry has been highly praised by famous scholars and experts worldwide. It sparked a series of related research projects around the world and has been successfully applied to research in celestial mechanics, molecular dynamics and aerophysics. As a result, it won a top state prize for natural sciences in 1997. The “Machine Authentication and Application” project is considered a milestone in the field of automatic inference by experts.