China eyes law to help scientists

China's government wants more advances in domestic technologies

Lawmakers in China are considering legislation that would help scientists to report research failures without harming their careers.

Until now, pressure on scientists to report only successes had hampered progress and led to academic fraud, Xinhua news agency reported.

The new law would boost innovation and enable scientists to take on research where the risk of failure was high.

China's leaders have been urging companies to develop new technology.

In January, President Hu Jintao urged the creation of new laws to encourage greater innovation.

'Try their best'

The new law would be an amendment to the existing Law on Science and Technology Progress.

According to Xinhua, it would read: "Scientists and technicians who have initiated research with a high risk of failure will still have their expenses covered if they can provide evidence that they have tried their best when they failed to achieve their goals."

Bai Chunli, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said that fear of failure, prevalent among scientists, was stifling innovation.

"It's difficult to make achievements in independent innovation if the scientific research departments and scientists don't tolerate failures," Xinhua quoted him as saying.

Scientists who did not produce successful results feared getting their funding cut, while the pressure to succeed had also led to "rampant academic fraud", the agency said.

Last year, a top academic was fired after false claims that he had invented a new computer chip.

The draft law is expected to be put to a vote after more opinions are solicited, Xinhua said.