SEVENTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD Lu Dianqing, a Chinese fertilizer expert, went immediately from retirement several years ago to employment by a private enterprise, using his expertise to become a millionaire.

　　Retired from the Northwest China Agricultural and Forestry Science and Technology University, Lu now owns 100,000 technical shares at his new firm and earns more than 30,000 yuan (US$3,614) in annual wages.

　　Many Chinese scientists before Lu have become rich with their knowledge.

　　Yuan Longping, “father of the world’s hybrid rice,” is one of them. The Yuan Longping Agricultural High-tech Co., Ltd., named after him, was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2000. Yuan owns 5 percent of the company’s total shares.

　　As China’s first listed company named after a scientist, the company issued 105 million shares, with each share valued at 12.98 yuan, closing at 40.37 yuan at the end of the first trading day. This means Yuan, who got 2.5 million founder’s shares, earned 100 million yuan in a single day.

　　Following in Yuan’s footsteps, many widely known Chinese scientists such as the president of Legend Group Corp., Liu Chuanzhi, the chairman of Tsinghua Tongfang Co. Ltd., Sun Jiaguang and the inventor of the Chinese typesetting system Wang Xuan became wealthy through their knowledge. At the same time, they have also made great efforts to promote more scientist millionaires in China.

　　Liu Chuanzhi vowed to create 100 millionaires. Sun Jiaguang, who is also an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, pledged to make 100 multimillionaires and 1,000 millionaires within three to five years.

　　Among the top 100 wealthy men in China listed by Forbes magazine last year, 10 are scientists and technicians who successfully operate their own businesses.

　　In the 1980s, many people became well-off through running businesses. But scientists and technicians were rarely seen among this group.

　　The situation has changed fundamentally, especially since the late 1990s.

　　(Xinhua)