Peking (ots/PRNewswire) – From the compass, papermaking, printing and gunpowder – the four great inventions of ancient China – to the Jiaolong manned submersible, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge and the Tianwen-1 Mars probe, China has always had the creative spirit and the innovative Vitality of his people absorbed.
“Innovation is the soul that drives a nation’s progress and is an inexhaustible source of a country’s prosperity. It is also an essential part of China’s national character,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping during a discussion with a group of outstanding young people from all over the world Areas of Life on May 4, 2013.
He added that this means an old saying, “If you can reinvent yourself in one day, do it day after day. Then there will be a renewal every day.”
Innovationsboom
In recent years, China has made significant efforts to strengthen its ability to innovate, with its strengths in science and technology on key indicators steadily improving.
In a benchmark innovation ranking for 2020, China ranked 14th out of more than 100 economies worldwide and is the only middle-income economy to have been in the top 30 for seven years. This comes from the index published by the World Intellectual Property Organization last September.
“China has established itself as a leader in innovation, ranking high in key metrics such as patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs and creative exports of goods,” according to an index press release.
Central government funding for basic research has doubled in the last five years and will be an estimated 6.16 percent of total research and development (R&D) spending in 2020, according to Wang Zhigang, Minister of Science and Technology.
According to an official forecast by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the contribution of scientific and technical progress to economic growth is expected to be 60 percent in 2020.
Several notable high-tech achievements have been made in the past few years. The Chang’e-5 probe brought back the country’s first samples collected by the moon, while China’s first Mars rover began exploring the red planet.
The country is rapidly advancing the development of its large passenger aircraft and maglev train, while industries related to the digital economy, 5G, artificial intelligence, and electric vehicles are thriving.
To be a leading innovator with personal responsibility
According to China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the long-term goals up to 2035, innovation should be seen as the core of China’s modernization drive, and self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology should be given the highest priority as a strategic support function .
In view of the intense international competition and against the background of growing unilateralism and protectionism, President Xi emphasized the independence and self-strengthening of the country’s scientific and technological development at a meeting on May 28.
Xi urged China’s scientists to take on the responsibility of the times and to strive for the independence and self-strengthening of science at higher levels.
S&T breakthroughs should address the most pressing issues and focus on meeting the country’s urgent and long-term needs, Xi said.
In the course of China’s transformation from a world factory to a world innovator, the 14th five-year plan provides that the country will focus on the following areas over the next five to 15 years: artificial intelligence, quantum information, integrated circuits, life and health, brain research, organic breeding, air – and space travel as well as exploring the deep sea and the earth.
China will invest more in basic research in the fourteenth five-year planning period. According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, the funds should reach more than 8 percent of total R&D spending.
Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpJsi0soSNo
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