American foundations and corporations have provided generous support for CMINET and the IMI, in recognition of the significance and need for the network and the Institute. An important purpose of the event is to acknowledge their dedication and commitments to China.

The China Medical Board of New York provided US$975,000 in 1994 for hardware, software and training, to install the basic infrastructure of CMINET. Without CMB's initial grant, grants by others in later years might not have been made. CMB's more profound contribution was its persuasion of eleven key medical universities to collaborate in the development of CMINET rather than to compete for the resource.

The Freeman Foundation provided US$600,000 to Bridge to Asia to develop Internet projects in China: 'information-transfer stations' in medicine, law, and planning. The Freeman family have made extraordinary gifts to US-China exchanges. Without the Freemans' support and devotion to such work, we could not have assisted the IMI.

The AT&T Foundation provided $US150,000 through Bridge to Asia for two phases of CMINET's development. An initial grant enabled the IMI to enhance CMINET by adding a 'knowledge resources center' (CD-ROMs of biomedical databases). A second grant supported development of the China Telemedicine Center, to test and disseminate practical applications of Telemedicine that are suited to China's conditions. AT&T is funding the demonstration.

Sun Microsystems provided a server to the Institute in 1996 and has donated two workstations and a server for the demonstration. Sun has made generous gifts of equipment and technical support to CERNET and other education and research projects in China over several years. Sun engineers from the US, Hong Kong and Beijing have come to Xi'an to install workstations and provide hands-on support. Sun leaders and technicians have coordinated with UCSF Stanford Health Care and Stanford University School of Medicine's MedNET to ensure the smooth technical performance of the demonstration.

The Albert Kunstadter Family Foundation has made grants to Bridge to Asia each year since 1988. Mrs. Geraldine Kunstadter serves as Bridge's Chairman, and has guided our fund-raising efforts in Hong Kong and the US. Support by the Kunstadter Foundation enabled us to develop our first Internet services and to sustain our other services for ten years.

The C.V. Starr Foundation provided US$300,000 for the ITS in law to bring it to full operation, for the salary of an information specialist and project administration in San Francisco and Beijing. (The Starr Foundation supported our book-donation program in China in earlier years.)

The Lingnan Foundation of New York provided $US12,500 for an early test of a South China site for an ITS.

The Henry Luce Foundation provided US$180,000 to develop the ITS model and 1994 and to launch an ITS in law. (The ITS in law helps scholars in China locate and retrieve the documents, other research materials and opinions of experts they seek, to help draft new legislation and conduct teaching and research.)

These and other sponsors of network development in China have been generous and persistent in their giving. They recognize the challenges that China confronts in its efforts to share knowledge with the West, and the need for sustained support and collaboration among multiple contributors.

Networks are efficient to use but inefficient to create. The installation of CERNET required (and continues to require) cooperation and coordination among dozens of organizations and agencies and hundreds of institutions. The creation of CMINET required cooperation among eleven medical universities, investments by several offices of the Ministry of Health, and inputs by China and US companies.

The future growth of these networks will require new giving, some from those who already have played leadership roles, some from others. The future impacts of CMINET and CERNET will help to transform education and research in China. These networks and the institutions and staffs who run them are worthy of increased investments.