BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) will help provincial governments to improve regional science and technology and enhance their independent innovation capability, said science minister Xu Guanhua on Tuesday.

The MST signed an agreement with the provincial government of Henan in Beijing on Tuesday. Henan's agriculture and equipment manufacture industry will benefit from MST's technological support, says the agreement.

The MST has already signed a series of similar agreements with 12 local governments, including Xinjiang and Guangxi autonomous regions.

The MST will offer scientific and technological support to the development of industries with local advantages in Xinjiang, such as the petrochemical industry, cotton planting and livestock raising.

The ministry will also help Xinjiang to become a center of scientific and technological cooperation between China and central Asian countries and Russia.

In Guangxi, priority will be given to the development of the biomass energy industry and exploration of the region's metal resources, such as indium and manganese.

The agreements with other provinces are still under discussion, said an official with the MST.