WHILE optimists see the ongoing International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) in Beijing as a sign of China’s nearing the top of the global mathematics class, several leading mathematicians have expressed concerns over the future of maths studies in the world’s most populous nation.

　“Chinese mathematical studies still lag far behind world-class level,” said Shing-Tung Yau, a Chinese-American with membership of both countries national science academies. A professor of mathematics at Harvard University, Yau is the only Chinese to win the prestigious Fields Medal Prize awarded to the world’s top mathematicians.

　Chen Mufa, a Chinese professor of mathematics who will deliver an hour-long plenary lecture during the nine-day conference, echoed Yau’s comments. He conceded that Chinese maths studies currently lagged behind a number of countries including the United States, Germany, France, Japan, Russia and Canada.

　After big names like Hua Luogeng, Shiing-shen Chern and Chen Jingrun, China had hardly contributed any outstanding master mathematicians to world maths circles in the past two decades, said Wu Wenjun, a prominent member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who is also chairman of the current ICM.

　Some experts believe that in Chinese society today, basic sciences are losing their popularity and could face a bleak future without extra support from the government.

　China’s maths research is also plagued by problems like a shortage of funds and an outdated system for the appraisal of mathematicians’ performances, say the scientists.The mathematicians, especially those from younger generations, should be freed from such a system and encouraged to challenge the world’s hardest mathematical problems regardless of the final outcomes, they suggested.(Xinhua)