The chief designer of the country's manned space program said yesterday the program is significant for the country's high-tech industries and the economy as a whole.

　　Wang yongzhi said manned space technology was an indicator of the country's technological and economic prowess as well as comprehensive strength.

　　The manned space program was launched in 1992.

　　Speaking at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center,swheresthe country's first manned spacecraft Shenzhou V blasted off on Wednesday, Wang said the program involved a number of sciences and high-tech sectors, including modern mechanics, astronomy, geosciences, aerospace medical sciences, space sciences, and technology concerning systems of engineering, autocontrol, computers, propulsion, telecommunications, remote sensing, new energy, new materials, microelectronics and photoelectronics."You cannot buy these high technologies on the market at any cost," said Wang, former president of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, which developed China's Long March carrier rockets.

　　China launched its manned space program later than the former Soviet Union and the United States, but it started at a higher level as all major key technologies used in the project were developed by Chinese scientists on their own.

　　Citing unique features of the spacecraft, rocket system, monitoring and telecommunication systems, the scientist said the program adopted a large number of independently developed technologies.

　　The breakthroughs in many major technological issues helped improve the country's scientific and technological strength in high-tech areas, Wang said.

　　Successful manned space programs could boost the development of the national economy as there were many valuable resources in space.

　　Many important resources on Earth were not inexhaustible, and mankind had to look to other planets, the scientist said.Space also provided a unique environment for scientific experiments under the conditions of a vacuum, strong radiation and micro-gravity, which are difficult to simulate on Earth. "We expect the manned space program to promote the development of many industries."

　　The space project played an important role in training many scientists and engineers, he added.