Chinese science fiction fans remain eager for development of domestic works as attractive as "Star Wars" and the "Matrix."

But so far, domestic sci-fi writers have left their readers hungry for masterpieces.

Over the past 20 years, Chinese have been fascinated by Western sci-fi movies.

About 100 years ago, Lu Xun (1881-1936), one of the greatest Chinese modern writers, said, "To guide China's development, science fiction should be the starter."

That was his far-sighted comment after completing the translation of Jules Gabriel Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon."

However, even now most people don't quite understand Lu's idea, and it is even more difficult to find a brilliant Chinese sci-fi article.

In 1980s, China published over 30 kinds of sci-fi magazines and newspapers, with hundreds of original sci-fi and popular science articles.

But today, "SF World," with a circulation of 500,000, is the only surviving sci-fi magazine in the country. Each Chinese sci-fi work may only have 20,000 copies printed. In contrast, the United States prints 148 sci-fi periodicals, and publishes 2,000 sci-fi books every year, some of which boast six-digit circulations.

Jiang Xiaoyuan, dean of Science History Department of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, believes fantasy and imagination are valuable, because the 80 days around the world, the ascent to the moon and the invention of submarines have all come out of Jules Gabriel Verne's novels into reality.

Now, China only has less than 100 professional sci-fi writers, only a dozen of which have any fame. On the other hand, there are over 1,000 state-appointed science academicians, with Dr Pan Jiazheng being the only one to write sci-fi articles in his free time.

In 2003, Zheng Wenguang, known as China's "sci-fi Father," passed away, which temporarily attracted public attention.