Exhibit 10.17

                    JOINT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT

Party A: Shandong Shengda Technology Co., Ltd
Party B: Qingdao University of Science and Technology

In line with the principle of reciprocity and mutual benefit and the operational
mechanism of combining  "academic  research with  production",  the two parties,
after  negotiations,  agree to jointly establish the  Nanotechnology R&D Center,
and enter into this Contract as follows:

I.    The  Name of the  Research  Center:  Qingdao  University  of  Science  and
      Technology  Shengda  Technology  Nanotechnology  R&D  Center  (hereinafter
      referred to as "Research Center")

II.   The  Location of the Research  Center:  The R&D Center shall be located in
      Party B's Key Lab of Rubber and Plastic  Materials and  Engineering  under
      the Ministry of Education.  Party B shall be responsible for providing the
      workplace  for this R&D  Center and Party A shall be  responsible  for the
      decoration  of the  workplace  and  equip  it with  necessary  office  and
      communication equipment and facilities.

III.  The Structure of the Research Center

1.    The R&D Center  shall be consisted  of the  personnel  assigned by the two
      parties  and Party A shall  assign 2-3 people to work in this R&D  Center,
      and Party B shall  provide  accommodation  for them,  and Party A shall be
      responsible for the costs.

2.    The R&D Center shall have one director and one deputy  director,  and each
      party shall  assign one person.  The routine work shall be taken charge by
      the director assigned by Party B.

IV.   Party A shall suggest R&D programs in line with its  development  plan and

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      the  market  demand,  and  the  R&D  programs  shall  be  focused  on  the
      development  and  application  of nano  calcium  carbonate,  and other R&D
      programs will be included as well.

V.    Party A shall provide an annul fund of RMB 80,000 yuan for the  management
      (including exchanges of information on the application of the nano calcium
      carbonate produced by Party A, technology consultancy, unplanned tests and
      power consumption etc.) and routine operation of the R&D Center.  The fund
      shall be paid on a yearly basis at a single  payment and be transferred to
      the  account  designated  by Party B before  October 1 each  year.  As for
      special R&D programs,  the two parties shall sign separate  technology R&D
      contract  (referring to  Nanotechnology)  and the necessary  fund shall be
      paid by Party A according to the actual needs;  during the contract  term,
      Party B shall not cooperate with any third party to conduct R&D of similar
      technology.

VI.   The patent and technological achievements achieved by the R&D Center shall
      be shared by the two  parties  and the title to patent  and the  exclusive
      right shall be owned by Party A.  Specific  matters  (such as the right of
      application,  the title to patent  and the  limit of the  exclusive  right
      etc.) shall be further  defined in the  technology R&D contract for single
      items.

VII.  Not being  agreed by the two  parties,  any party  shall not  provide  any
      technical  information  on the joint R&D  program to a third  party by any
      reason or under any pretext;  the two parties both have the  obligation of
      keeping business secrets and technical know-how.

VIII. Party A shall,  according to the principle of receiving guests, accept the
      students  from Party B for teaching  and  educational  activities  such as
      internships, survey and investigation.

IX.   Liabilities for Breaching this Contract:

1.    Unilateral  termination  (suspension)  of the Contract  shall be deemed as
      breach  of the  Contract.  The  fine  for  breach  of  contract  shall  be

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      separately  agreed according to the amount of the fund for the R&D program
      of a  single  item,  and the  party in  breach  shall  compensate  for the
      economic losses arising from the breach.

2.    If Party A fails to pay the fund pursuant to the  stipulations  in Article
      V, it shall be deemed as breaching  the  Contract.  3. If Party B fails to
      follow Party A's  instructions  and postpone the experiments and waste R&D
      time without good reason, it shall be deemed as breaching the Contract.

4.    If any party discloses the R&D  achievements  and business secrets without
      the other party being  notified,  the disclosing  party shall be deemed as
      breaching the  Contract.  (If the two parties fail to reach a consensus of
      renewing this  Contract,  the  achievements  jointly  developed by the two
      parties  shall still be owned by Party A, and Party B shall not  transfer;
      otherwise, it shall be deemed as breaching the Contract.)

X.    This Contract will become  effective  after the signing and sealing of the
      two parties.

XI.   This  Contract  will be in valid  for a period of three  years.  When this
      Contract  expires,  if  the  two  parties  have  no  objection,   it  will
      automatically  be  renewed.  If any  party  lodges an  objection,  further
      negotiations will be made to decide whether this Contract would be renewed
      or not.

XII.  This  Contract  is made in  sextuplicate,  and each Party shall keep three
      copies.

Anything not covered in this Contract  shall be settled in a friendly  manner by
the two parties.


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Party A: Shandong Shengda Technology Co., Ltd (seal)
Authorized Signature:  /s/ Chen Xiangzhi
                      --------------------------------------
Date:   September 28, 2004

Party B: Qingdao University of Science and Technology (seal)
Authorized Signature:  /s/ Liu Guangye
                      --------------------------------------
Date:   September 28, 2004