二十五年多以来，中国经济持续发展，迅速崛起。这个拥有着庞大的消费者市场和劳动力资源的国家，正在向全世界输送着丰富的劳动密集型商品、高技术产品和大量的杰出的人才，在当今全球经济中发挥着举足轻重的作用。与此同时，在诸如中国国家自然科学基金会、李嘉诚基金会等政府与民间机构的资助下，中国上千所高等院校的大学本科和研究生教育研究也如雨后春笋般迅速发展。中国巨大的研发潜力吸引了美国最大、最著名的计算机硬软件公司。微软、英特尔、太阳微系统、IBM等各大公司竞相在中国设立了他们在亚洲的研发机构。这些研发中心纷纷在中国取得了空前的成功，并在不断地发展壮大。中国的经济腾飞与美国以及全世界的发展密切相关。科技是中国国家发展的动力之源，而信息技术则已经成为中国现代经济的重要推动力量。计算机科学和信息技术的研究在中国得到了强有力的投资，许多重大研究计划正在积极展开。

然而，美国许多研究机构的教授和科研人员对中国各高校和研究中心的发展变化却知之甚少，缺乏具体而深刻的了解。时代呼唤着交流、理解、友谊和创新。“美国国家科学基金会资深计算机科学家代表团”旨在为中美计算机科学研究院系领导之间建立起对话的桥梁，让他们得以共同探讨中国信息技术研究的关键领域，认识中国信息技术研究的当今趋势和未来方向，为将来的合作与发展奠定良好的基础。

代表团与中方在北京合办了一个为期一天的中美计算机科学高峰论坛。在论坛上，来自美国的计算机学者与中国的同行们一起深入探讨计算机科学与信息技术的教学和研究中共同关心的重要课题。代表团还访问了北京、南京、上海、苏州和西安的多所高校和研究中心。访问结束后，一份详尽的总结报告已被撰写完成，小结了本次中国之行的见闻、心得与成果，并对将来如何进一步推动实质性的中美合作项目提出了建议和意见。

Purpose of Trip

After continuous and dramatic economic reform for more than 25 years, China now is playing a very critical role in the global economy with its huge consumers' market, with its high volume of cost-effective supplies ranging from labor-intensive goods to high-tech products, and with its vast human resources of top talents. Meanwhile, sponsored by both government agencies, such as NSF China, and private foundations, such as Hong Kong- based Cheung Kong Scholarship Foundation, China has rapidly developed its college and graduate education and research programs in thousands of existing and newly-established universities and research institutions. Responding to the huge technology and research advancements, almost all the major and leading U.S. computer software and hardware companies have quickly established Research Labs in China, including Microsoft Research, Intel, Sun MicroSystems, IBM Research, and many others. These research labs in China have been very successful and continue to expand. Information technology is a key driver of modern Chinese economic development. Indeed, technology is driving the country's economic boom and that has important implications for the United States and the rest of the world. Research in Computer Science and Information Technology is burgeoning in China and many important projects are underway.

By way of contrast, faculty and researchers in U.S. academic research institutions still seriously lack insightful understanding of the rapidly-changing trends in Chinese universities and research laboratories, and of the strong implications for U.S. science, technology, and the economy from the dramatic economic, educational, and research developments in China. This project is intended to establish a dialogue between leaders of major U.S. Computer Science departments in the U.S. and their counterparts in China, identify key areas of information technology research in China, gain insight into current and future trends in IT research in China, and lay the groundwork for potential future interactions.

The delegation held a one-day US-China Computer Science Leadership Summit in Beijing with Chinese colleagues to discuss several issues of common interest and critical importance that deal with research and education in computer science and technology. The delegation also visited several universities and research institutions in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Suzhou and Xi'an. A final report which includes general observations and recommendations for next steps for substantial future collaborations was prepared.