The 20th Academicians Conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the 15th Academicians Conference of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the 10th National Congress of China Association for Science and Technology were held grandly in the Great Hall of the People on the morning of the 28th day of this month. General Secretary of CPC Central Committee, State President and Chairman of Central Military Commission Xi Jinping attended the conference and made an important speech, emphasizing the need to insist on science and technology self-reliance as a strategic pillar of the national development, keep a foothold on the new development stage, implement new development ideas, construct new development pattern, drive high-quality development, orient towards the world frontier of science and technology, main economic battlefields, significant needs of the state and people’s life and health, deeply implement the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, the strategy of reinvigorating China through human resource development and innovation-driven development strategy, grasp the overall situation, seize the initiative, face issues directly, rise to the challenges, perfect the national innovation system, accelerate the construction of a major power of science and technology and realize high-level science and technology self-reliance.
Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Premier of the State Council Li Keqiang presided over the conference. Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng attended the conference.
At 10’s clock of the morning, the conference began. All rose and sang the national anthem.
Amid the warm applauses, Xi Jinping delivered an important speech. He pointed out that the 20th Academicians Conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the 15th Academicians Conference of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the 10th National Congress of China Association for Science and Technology are our historic intersection of the “two contrary” objectives of struggle, and an important moment of opening a new journey of full-scale construction of a modern socialist country, and a grand gathering for joint discussion about the ways to promote development of science and technology innovation in our country. Xi Jinping extended warm congratulations on the opening of the conferences on behalf of the CPC Central Committee, and extended sincere regards to science and technology workers dedicating themselves in respective jobs. As May 30th is the fifth national science and technology workers’ day, Xi Jinping extended festive greetings to science and technology workers across the country.
Xi Jinping emphasized that in each historical period of revolution, construction and reform, the Party always pays great attention to the cause of science and technology, which always has an important strategic position and plays a very important strategic role in the cause of the Party and the people. Since the 19th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee makes comprehensive analyses of international competitive landscape of science and technology innovation, deeply studies and judges development situation at home and abroad, insists on placing science and technology at the heart of the overall landscape of natural development, and plans for science and technology innovation across the board. We uphold the Party's overall leadership over science and technology, observe the overall situation, make overall plans and grasp the fundamental situation, and form an efficient organizational mobilization system and coordinated patterns of allocating scientific and technological resources. We firmly grasp the strategic objective of constructing a world power of science and technology, and seize the initiative of global science and technology development with a now-or-never sense of purpose, sense of responsibility and sense of urgency, striving to take the lead on the basic frontier fields. We make full use of the leading and driving role of science and technology innovation, endeavor to make new breakthroughs on original innovation and achieve leapfrog development in important fields of science and technology. We make overall arrangements for science and technology innovation system reforms, enact a series of important reforming measures and increase the overall effectiveness of national innovation system. We focus on implementing the strategy of strengthening the nation through human resource development by gathering and utilizing talented people around the world, and fully inspiring the initiative, positivity and creativity of science and technology workers. We expand the open cooperation in the field of science and technology, actively participate in resolving major challenges to mankind and endeavor to drive science and technology innovation achievements to benefit more countries and peoples.
Xi Jinping pointed out that, in recent years, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, and with the joint efforts of the scientific and technological circles and all walks of life across the country, our nation’s scientific and technological capabilities are shifting from quantitative accumulation to qualitative leap, and from individual breakthroughs to systematic capability enhancement, with new historic achievements made in science and technology innovation. Important progresses have been made in basic research and original innovation, new leaps made in the field of strategic high technology, new breakthroughs made in high-end industries, as science and technology play an important role in prevention and control of the COVID-19, remarkable results made in the field of science and technology for people's livelihood and significant achievements made in defense-related science and technology innovation. Practices prove that our nation’s cause of independent innovation is very promising, so are science and technology workers in our country. Science and technology workers in our country need to shoulder the important mission of the times and endeavor to achieve high-level science and technology self-reliance with a spirit of keeping pace with the times, the courage of constant updating and indomitable determination.
Xi Jinping stressed the need to intensify original and leading scientific and technological research efforts, and resolutely win the battle of making breakthroughs in key and core technologies. The basic research needs to explore new ground, highlight originality, expand the boundaries of knowing the nature and open up new cognitive territories. The efforts to tackle hard-nut problems in science and technology should remain problem-oriented, address the most urgent and pressing problems and start from the nation’s urgent needs and long-term requirements. We need to strengthen the motivation behind corporate innovation, leverage the role of companies as question maker, accelerate the construction of innovation consortiums led by leading companies, supported by universities and research institutes and featuring mutual collaboration of innovators, and increase the effectiveness of transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements. We need to intensify the multidisciplinary modern engineering and technical science research, drive the development of basic sciences and engineering technology and form a complete modern science and technology system.
Xi Jinping pointed out that we need to strengthen the nation’s strategic science and technology strength and increase the overall effectiveness of the national innovation system. National laboratories, national scientific research institutions, high-level research universities and leading tech companies are all important components of the nation’s strategic science and technology strength, expected to consciously respond to the call for high-level science and technology self-reliance, bring forward more strategic and critical significant scientific and technological achievements, endeavor to resolve major scientific and technological issues affecting and constraining the overall landscape and long-term interests of national development, accelerate the construction of cradles of original innovation and accelerate making breakthroughs in key and core technologies. High-level research universities are expected to utilize their strengths of profound basic research capabilities and interdisciplinary integration to become the mainstay of basic research and new achievers of significant scientific and technological breakthroughs. Leading tech companies are expected to leverage their strengths in market demand, integrated innovation and organizational platform to enhance our nation’s fundamental industrial capabilities and the modernization level of industry chain. All regions are expected to keep a foothold on respective strengths and scientifically and reasonably make arrangements for science and technology innovation in light of the needs of industry development.
Xi Jinping emphasized that we need to advance the science and technology system reform and form a basic system supporting total innovation. We need to perfect the new-type whole-nation system under the socialist market economy conditions, and make full use of the role of the nation as the organizer of significant science and technology innovation. We need to focus on basic reforms such as perfecting the evaluation system, insist on the evaluation orientation centered on quality, performance and contribution, and fully and accurately reflect the innovation level of achievements, performance of transformation and application and actual contributions to socioeconomic development. We need to come up with more courage to drive the transformation of science and technology management functions, change our work style, increase capabilities, strengthen the guidance of planning policy, give scientific research entities more autonomy, confer scientists with greater authority to decide technological routes and right to use funding, and free scientific research entities and personnel from trivial and unnecessary system and mechanism constraints, according to the role as strategy maker, reformer, planner and server. We need to reform the way significant science and technology projects are approved, organized and managed, adopt the systems such as “selection through competition” and “horse racing” and ensure the truly competent science and technology workers can measure themselves without strings attached, regardless of seniority.
Xi Jinping pointed out that we need to construct an open innovation ecosystem and participate in global science and technology governance. Science and technology are cosmopolitan and epochal and are the shared wealth of mankind. We need to plan development and security as a whole, scheme and promote innovation with a global perspective, actively get involved in the global innovation network, focus on climate change, human health and other issues, and strengthen joint research and development with scientific researchers of other countries. We need to deeply participate in global science and technology governance, contribute the Chinese wisdom, let science and technology better enhance human wellbeing and let Chinese science and technology make greater contributions to promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Xi Jinping stressed that we need to spark the innovative vitality of various talented people and construct a global talent highland. The competition in today’s world boils down to competition for talent and education. We need to pay more attention to autonomous cultivation of talents, endeavor to create a group of top-notched scientific and technological talents with world influence, stably support a group of innovation teams, and cultivate more highly competent technologists and skilled workers, skillful craftsmen and great country craftsmen. We should have the confidence that our nation’s education can bring up masters! We need to build a scientific research innovation highland that gathers global outstanding talents, and perfect the policies for high-caliber talents and professionals to come to China for work, scientific research and exchanges. We need to allow science and technology workers to devote their main energy to science and technology innovation and R&D activities, never let them spend large amounts of time on some meaningless welcome and send-off activities, unnecessary review and evaluation activities and a variety of formalistic and bureaucratic activities.
Xi Jinping pointed out that CAS and CAE are the top academic institutions in the scientific and technological circles and engineering circles in the country, and the nation’s strategic science and technology strengths. We need to call into full play the academically leading role of them as the national team, their role in making breakthroughs in key and core technologies and their role in cultivating innovative talents, to solve significant and original scientific problems, break into the “uncharted territories” of innovation, make breakthroughs in key and core technologies that constrain development, and find, cultivate and gather a group of high-caliber talented people and high-level innovation teams. We need to strengthen the function of CAS and CAE as the national high-end think tanks, and leverage their role as strategic scientists to actively conduct consulting and appraisal to serve the national decisions.
Xi Jinping emphasized that CAST needs to shoulder the duty as a bridge and tie of contact between the Party and government and science and technology workers, persist in serving science and technology workers, the innovation-driven development, the enhancement of scientific literacy of all people and the scientific decision making of the Party and government, unite science and technology workers around the Party more extensively, and carry forward the scientist spirit and foster excellent academic atmosphere. We need to face the world and future, deepen the openness, trust and cooperation with international scientific and technological community, and make greater contributions to full-scale construction of a modern socialist country and promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Xi Jinping pointed out the academicians of CAS and CAE are the treasure of the nation, people’s pride and nation’s honor. We need to deepen the academician system reform to allow the academician title to further return to its honorary and academic nature and preserve the purity of the academician title. All academicians are expected to set a good example of serving in the best interests of the motherland and people, seeking truth and challenging a new height bravely, upholding academic ethics and rigorous scholarship, as well as willingly serving as the stepping stone for outstanding successors. All academicians are expected to stay true to the original aspirations, bear in mind the mission, respond to the Party’s call, follow the calling from the motherland, dare to be the first, seek excellence, uphold academic morality and scientific research ethics, willingly serve as the stepping stone and pathfinder for young scholars, and spare no efforts in serving the Party, the motherland and the people.
Xi Jinping emphasized that Party committee and government at all levels need to fully respect talented people, care about academicians politically, at work and in daily life, earnestly listen to opinions of scientific researchers including academicians, strengthen scientific management and service assurance for scientific research activities, and create enabling innovative environments for scientific researchers.
Li Keqiang pointed out when presiding over the meeting that the important speech of General Secretary Xi Jinping looked back at how much the Party valued science and technology in each historical period, summarized the new historic achievements made in our nation’s science and technology, analyzed evolutionary trends of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industry transformation, made clear the prioritized tasks of accelerated construction of a major power of science and technology, raised ardent hopes for better leveraging the role of academicians of CAS and CAE and CAST, which are highly ideological, guiding and targeted. We need to earnestly learn and apprehend and deeply implement these requirements. we need to unite more closely around the CPC Central Committee centered on Xi Jinping, guide ourselves with Xi Jinping’s thoughts on socialism with Chinese characteristics for the new era, enhance the “four consciousnesses”, assert the “four confidences”, achieve “two maintenances”, celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of CPC with outstanding achievements, and make unremitting efforts to build our country into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful, and to realize the Chinese dreams of great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Some of members of Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee, members of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and related leaders of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council and CPPCC attended the conference.
About 3000 individuals including persons chiefly in charge of related departments of Party; the government; the armed forces and societies at the central level, CAS &CAE academicians, some of foreign academicians and deputies to the 10th National Congress of CAST took part in the conference.