China boosts funds to fight infectious diseases – Andrew Yeh

From the Financial Times (link)

The Chinese Academy of Sciences, a government-backed body employing 40,000 researchers, is to boost investment in research into infectious diseases, stem cells, genomics and biotechnology.

The fresh emphasis is a sign of Beijing’s anxiety that a disease such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, bird flu or HIV could spread within its borders and derail economic growth.

The academy’s investment in research – provided mainly by China’s government but also in part from companies – is forecast to jump 70 per cent in the next five-year period compared with the last period, according to official media.