Scientists to boost R&D, integration of science and industry

Scientists will continue to speed up the pace of research and innovation and push forward the in-depth integration of science and industry, said Zhu Min, a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Zhu, who is director of the Informatization and Industrialization Integration Research Institute at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said this during an interview at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Saturday after the closing ceremony of the 20th National Congress of the CPC.

This year the congress emphasized that China should focus on developing the real economy and promote new type of industrialization. The meeting also proposed to accelerate the development of the digital economy and promote deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy.

"In the past decade, I have experienced the wave of digitalization in China. Digitalization has helped the industries in the country to restructure and become more resilient," Zhu said.

For restructuring, digitalization has helped improve many traditional sectors and make them become more highly efficient in production. Digital technologies have also helped enterprises improve their abilities to resist risks and maintain the resilience of the industrial chains, Zhu added.

Almost all the industries in China are undergoing digital transformation. In recent years, China has been vigorously developing new digital infrastructure and digital industries, which have consolidated the "base" of digital transformation, she said.

"Scientific research institutions like us are tackling key problems, researching and designing our own technologies, hoping to avoid detours. It is the joint efforts of all parties that have brought together China's digital transformation. This has given us the confidence to stand together with developed countries in the new round of industrial reform," she said.