The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), a government-backed research institute, has teamed up with private industry to set up a lab that will develop technologies for online games.The CAS Institute of Automation, Shanda Interactive Entertainment, and Interjoy Technology will work together to establish the Digital Interactive Entertainment Lab in Beijing, the three partners said in a statement. The lab will be headed by Wang Yangsheng, who also serves as principal of the Online Game Strategic Project, a government-led initiative to spur the development of China’s online gaming industry.Online gaming has exploded in popularity in China during recent years, initially led by offerings from Shanda. As competition has increased, a wider array of games has become available, including titles imported from the U.S. and South Korea. Many of these games attract hundreds of thousands of simultaneous users. Online gaming is expected to generate 9.7 billion renminbi ($1.2 billion) in revenue next year, market analyst iResearch said last month Software Development