Vice Premier Wen Jiabao met with all members of the American delegation in the afternoon of October 25 when they were in Beijing for the 23rd Meeting of the PRC/US Joint Committee on High Energy Physics and had friendly and cordial talk with them in terms of the bilateral cooperation in the field of high energy physics.

　　He remarked that the PRC/US cooperation on high energy physics was the first governmental one which was considered by both sides a model for the cooperation in other fields. He spoke highly of this cooperation personally initiated by Deng Xiaoping when the Agreement of Cooperation on Science and Technology between the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America was signed by him and President Jimmy Carter during his visit to the United States in 1979. The cooperative efforts have involved many fields of basic and application research. He expressed his satisfaction with the fruitful results achieved in implementing the cooperative programs since 1979. He hoped that such cooperation would be further developed in the future.

　　Concerning the development of high energy physics in China, he made the following remarks:

　　I. High energy physics should continue, and what’s more, it should be further developed and have a place in the field of high technology. Following 23 years’ work, the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPC) has obtained abundant results that laid a foundation for the development in the future. BEPC has the highest luminosity as against all accelerators of the same kind in the world and as a matter of course the cutting edge in the research onτ/charm physics. Therefore the research of high energy physics and BEPC should not discontinue.

　　II. With the development of science and improvement of the art of high energy physics research, BEPC cannot adapt itself to the changed circumstances unless it is further upgraded. Thus it is imperative to increase its luminosity. The Chinese Academy of Sciences has organized the feasibility study by soliciting opinions from Chinese scientists, including Professor T. D. Lee and other foreign scientists. The Chinese government has agreed in principle to undertake BEPC II and will expedite the process of its examination and approval.

　　III. China and the United States began their cooperation in high energy physics as early as 23 years ago. Such cooperation shall continue during the construction of BEPC II.

In the past years many talents have been brought up through the PRC/US cooperation on high energy physics. There should be successors to carry on this cooperation. It is the same case with the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) if it wishes to develop.

　　He said, “When BEPC was completed in 1988, I accompanied Deng Xiaoping to visit IHEP. It was then that he remarked China must have a place in the realm of high technology. I think that we will carry on the cause created by him.”