China pins hopes on scientific innovation

BEIJING - China is stepping up efforts to seek growth impetus from innovation and build its overall strength in science and technology, according to an ongoing conference.

China should establish itself as one of the most innovative countries by 2020 and a leading innovator by 2030, before becoming a world-leading science and technology power by 2049, Chinese President Xi Jinping told a national conference on science and technology on Monday.

The conference was staged by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the national congress of the China Association for Science and Technology.

Xi stressed the role of science and technology on which "the country relies for its power, enterprises rely for success, and people rely for a better life."

The president called innovation an important force in development, and stressed the role of scientific research in economic growth and social development.

According to Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, Shenzhen is the most important Chinese city in terms of scientific innovation, and home to many high-tech enterprises, including Tencent and Huawei. In 2015, Shenzhen's high-tech manufacturing sector made 66.2 percent of the city's total industrial value-added, much higher than the share of 11.8 percent for the country as a whole.

The city is in the lead because it switched to innovation earlier than other big cities. Beijing ranked second for its numerous universities and research centers, innovation incubators and manpower, followed by Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou.

An innovation-driven economy is China's only path to become a high-income nation development. To become a major innovative power, first-class institutes, research-oriented universities and innovation-oriented enterprises are required, according to Xi.

Earlier this month, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council unveiled a national strategy for innovation-driven development, which identified a large number of tasks and projects. The strategy will stimulate mass innovation and pledged greater investment.

By nurturing the mechanism for promoting innovation, letting the market play a larger role and combining research with industrial demand, the country will be able to find new growth impetus to fuel future growth, said Wang Yiming, deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council.