China asked for efforts to give full play to the advantages of human and talent resources and to raise the quality and efficiency of development through sci-tech innovation. China made great achievements of historic significance in science and technology. Scientific and technological departments must earnestly study and carry things out to turn China into a leader in this field.
China has taken a great leap forward in scientific and technological strength over recent years, with major achievements across key fields. Maximising the abundant talent and human resources in the new situation is critical. China also aims to boost the role of scientific and technological innovation in driving economic and social development.
All regions and departments have done well in maintaining stability and providing protections in the six key areas since the COVID-19 pandemic occurred last year. The science and technology sector has particularly overcome difficulties and made great contributions to pandemic prevention, fostering new growth drivers, and economic and social development.
Scientific and technological innovation should be vigorously promoted. Expanding domestic demand and further opening-up should help each other forward. The country must ensure and improve people’s well-being during development, maintain economic performance within a reasonable range and secure stable employment to promote high-quality development.
More innovative breakthroughs in key fields are needed and Basic studies should catch up to underpin such innovation. China also makes efforts to reform the scientific and technological systems to create a sound, burdenless environment for scientific researchers, and incentivise them, especially young people, with greater protection for intellectual property rights. Both independent innovation and international cooperation need to be enhanced.
China urges scientists and researchers to continue contributing to China’s scientific and technological advances, talent cultivation, as well as economic and social development. Governments at all levels should provide ongoing care and support to help create better working and living conditions for personnel engaged in scientific and technological research.
Tu support sci-tech developments, China plans to widen the scope and give more support to science projects led by young scientists. Department of Resource Allocation and Management aims to dedicate about 80% of the initiative to setting up special projects for young scientists and supporting more than 230 teams of young scientists this year.
The plan aims to establish more projects, with a wider scope, for young scientists to further expand the fields of study for young researchers and to train more outstanding talents through a national-level platform. Young researchers can participate in different fields of studies by choosing different research topics under separate projects, or in independent projects with no subordinate research topics, and without any budget evaluation.
Besides developing new technologies, China is also active in science popularisation to the general public. As reported by OpenGov Asia, China promotes the popularisation of science through several small experiments at national science and technology week. It offers visitors a glimpse into the country’s glorious history of independent sci-tech development, as well as the remarkable changes it has brought to people’s lives.
The virtual reality (VR) glasses can give visitors a lifelike experience of extreme weather conditions such as typhoons and rainstorms. A quantum computer prototype “Jiuzhang” and an unmanned submersible “Haidou-1” capable of diving 10,000 meters in the Mariana Trench were also displayed for the public. Visitors can also know the working mechanism of the maglev scientific system by operating the fast-moving magnet suspended above the track.
According to the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), China endeavoured to boost sci-tech development and has met the target of enhancing the science literacy of its citizens. The proportion of scientifically literate Chinese citizens has increased to 10.56% in 2020, up by 4.36% points from 2015.
