Continuously moving towards a strong country in science and technology - a record of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core leading the development of scientific and technological innovation

"Based on the new development stage, implementing the new development concept, building a new development pattern, and promoting high-quality development, we must thoroughly implement the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, the strategy of strengthening the country through talents, and the strategy of innovation-driven development, improve the national innovation system, accelerate the construction of a strong country in science and technology, and achieve high-level scientific and technological self-reliance."

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has assessed the situation and taken a long-term view, insisted on placing scientific and technological innovation at the core of the overall national development, put forward a series of new propositions and new requirements for scientific and technological innovation, made overall plans and systematic arrangements for building a strong country in science and technology, promoted historic changes and historic achievements in my country's science and technology undertakings, and laid a more solid foundation for building a modern socialist country in an all-round way and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Standing at a new historical position in the development of our country and the world, and taking into account the overall strategic picture of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the great changes in the world that have not been seen in a century, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has creatively used Marxist standpoints, viewpoints and methods to systematically summarize the practical experience and theoretical methods of our country's scientific and technological development, opening up a new realm for Marxist science and technology theory, a new realm for adhering to the path of independent innovation with Chinese characteristics, and a new realm for innovative development in the new era.

The dream of a blue sky, innovative drugs, smart manufacturing, future cars... There is a constant stream of people coming to the Future Park in Shanghai Zhangjiang Science City to visit the Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Exhibition.

In November 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping came here and carefully looked at each booth. He was moved and said: "The scientific and technological innovation achievements made by Shanghai make me feel very at ease and have greater confidence and more confidence."

The "Shanghai Light Source" located in Shanghai Zhangjiang Science City. Photo by reporter Fang Zhe

From importing a single screw to becoming a major national weapon that demonstrates our confidence in innovation, science and technology have never before promoted national progress and benefited people's lives as much as they do today.

It took my country decades to complete the industrialization process that took Western developed countries hundreds of years, and we have built the world's most complete and largest R&D system and industrial system. We have entered the ranks of innovative countries, and our productivity level and scientific and technological innovation capabilities have been greatly improved.

The great changes unseen in a century are accelerating, and global scientific and technological innovation is surging, bringing profound changes and major impacts to human society. A new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is reshaping the global innovation landscape and reshaping the global economic structure.

Standing at a new historical starting point, General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly revealed the "historical logic" of a country's rise and fall, and put forward the idea that "when science and technology prosper, the nation prospers, and when science and technology are strong, the country is strong" and "to grasp innovation is to grasp development, and to seek innovation is to seek the future."

It is made clear that "innovation is the primary driving force for development and the strategic support for building a modern economic system", emphasizes the core position of innovation in the overall modernization of my country, and proposes to achieve high-level scientific and technological self-reliance by 2035, enter the forefront of innovative countries, and build a strong country in science and technology...

At the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, staff monitor the working conditions of the Chang'e-6 lander and ascender assembly. Photo by reporter Jin Liwang

The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has taken overall charge of the development of science and technology, constantly expanded new horizons, put forward new propositions, made new conclusions, and launched a series of foundational measures and long-term strategies, which have pointed out the direction for building a strong country in science and technology and provided fundamental guidelines.

Research institutes, universities, high-tech enterprises, high-tech industrial development zones... General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly stepped into places where innovation factors are most active.

He "liked" major scientific and technological achievements in his New Year's message and paid tribute to scientific and technological workers in his reply to the congratulatory message... The "big things of the country" in General Secretary Xi Jinping's heart have witnessed China's hard work in overcoming difficulties in innovation.

"Self-reliance is the foundation of the Chinese nation's struggle to stand on its own among the world's nations, and independent innovation is the only way for us to scale the pinnacle of world science and technology."

This is a "family photo" of the Shenzhou 16 and Shenzhou 17 crews taken at the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center.

Faced with increasingly fierce international competition, General Secretary Xi Jinping revealed the "reverse logic" of scientific and technological innovation from the perspective of coping with risks and challenges, and proposed that "major scientific and technological innovation achievements are the country's important tools and weapons, and must be firmly grasped in our own hands"; from the dimension of the progress of the times, he revealed the "real logic" of economic and social development, and proposed that "if China wants to be strong and the Chinese people want to live a better life, we must have strong science and technology."

This is a sober assessment in the face of complex and ever-changing internal and external environments:

“Key core technologies cannot be obtained, bought or begged for”;

"You can't always use other people's yesterday to decorate your tomorrow";

“No matter how big an Internet company is or how high its market value is, if it relies heavily on foreign countries for its core components and its supply chain is controlled by others, it is like building a house on someone else’s foundation. No matter how big or beautiful it is, it may not be able to withstand the wind and rain, and may even be vulnerable.”

"The situation is pressing, the challenges are pressing, and the mission is pressing." Ultimately, we have to rely on ourselves to solve these "bottleneck" problems.

The last networking satellite of my country's BeiDou-3 global satellite navigation system was launched at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Photo by reporter Jiang Hongjing

Based on the urgent and long-term needs of the country, my country has made all-out efforts to tackle key issues in the fields of crop seeds, oil and gas, basic raw materials, industrial software, scientific experimental instruments and equipment, and chemical preparations, and has accelerated breakthroughs in a number of key core technologies in the fields of drugs, medical devices, medical equipment, and vaccines.

"Adhere to the world's scientific and technological frontiers, the main battlefield of the economy, the major needs of the country, and the people's life and health, and accelerate the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement."

In order to coordinate the support capabilities of scientific and technological innovation for development and security, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued and implemented the "National Innovation-Driven Development Strategy Outline" in 2016, and continued to implement the "National Medium- and Long-Term Science and Technology Development Plan Outline", and forward-looking planning for the national medium- and long-term science and technology development plan from 2021 to 2035. It strengthened the mutual connection and successive advancement of strategies, plans, and projects, aimed at the forefront in basic and core areas that are related to the overall development and national security, and deployed a number of strategic major scientific and technological projects.

Arrangements for a new national system were made, and continuous and in-depth requirements were put forward. "The key to China's modernization lies in the modernization of science and technology," and "Whether we can build a socialist modern power as scheduled depends on scientific and technological self-reliance."

On May 27, 2024, the domestically-produced large passenger aircraft numbered B-919G was officially delivered to China Eastern Airlines. This is the sixth C919 aircraft received by China Eastern Airlines and the first aircraft in China Eastern Airlines' order for 100 additional C919 aircraft.

A Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China C919 aircraft performs a flight demonstration at the Singapore Air Show.

Just 10 years ago, General Secretary Xi Jinping boarded the C919 large passenger aircraft demonstration prototype during his inspection of COMAC and learned about the design in detail. He pointed out: "If we want to become a strong country, we must develop the equipment manufacturing industry and large aircraft to play a leading and symbolic role."

The C919 large aircraft has achieved commercial operation, domestic large cruise ships have been put into operation, the Chinese space station has been fully completed, and lithium batteries and photovoltaic products have set sail...

The first large domestic cruise ship "Aida Magic City" docked at Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Port. Photo by reporter Ding Ting

As we forge ahead on the road of building a strong country in science and technology, we base the development of the country and the nation on our own strength. Our country's scientific and technological strength and overall level have been significantly improved, and we have achieved "latecomer advantage" in a number of strategic areas, winning the initiative, advantages and the future for promoting national development to shift to an innovation-driven track.

Under the guidance of General Secretary Xi Jinping, since the 18th CPC National Congress, the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy has been accelerated. my country's scientific and technological innovation has shifted from quantitative accumulation to qualitative leap, from point breakthroughs to system capacity improvement, and has embarked on a development path from strong talent and science and technology to strong industry, economy and country.

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China made important arrangements for deepening the reform of the Party and State institutions. The Second Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China reviewed and approved the "Plan for the Reform of the Party and State Institutions", and agreed to submit the contents involving the reform of the State Council institutions to the first session of the 14th National People's Congress for review, and to coordinate the construction of the national innovation system and the arrangements for the reform of the science and technology system and advance them simultaneously.

On March 10, 2023, the 14th National People's Congress voted to pass a decision on the State Council's institutional reform plan. One of the items has attracted much attention - strengthening the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee over scientific and technological work, establishing the Central Science and Technology Commission, and the responsibilities of the Central Science and Technology Commission's office will be assumed by the reorganized Ministry of Science and Technology as a whole...

We will advance into the deep waters and tackle tough problems. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has upheld the Party's overall leadership over science and technology and firmly grasped the correct direction of science and technology system reform.

This is Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park in Xiongan New Area. Photo by reporter Mou Yu

——Adhere to the principle that talent is the primary resource and maximize the creativity and innovation of talent.

"We must not let red tape tie up scientists' hands and feet, and we must not let endless reports and approvals waste scientists' energy!" At the 2018 Conference of Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, General Secretary Xi Jinping's words touched the hearts of science and technology workers and pinpointed the key to reform.

The number of forms required to be filled out for the National Key R&D Program has been reduced from 57 to 11; the National Natural Science Foundation projects have fully implemented "paperless" applications, saving scientific researchers a lot of time in "running errands" to submit materials; national science and technology programs conduct random inspections at a rate not exceeding 5%, and the number and frequency of inspections have been further reduced.

With the goal of breaking the "four onlys" phenomenon of "only papers, only professional titles, only academic qualifications, and only awards" and "setting new standards" as a breakthrough, a talent evaluation system oriented towards innovative value, ability, and contribution and an atmosphere of "using talents in a flexible manner" are being formed;

We support scientists in their bold exploration through methods such as "posting a challenge and appointing a leader" and "horse racing system", and give scientific researchers greater autonomy in the use of funds. We encourage scientific and technological workers to bravely enter the "no man's land" of innovation, and allow more young people to take the lead in major scientific research tasks.

Exhibitors set up lithium battery exhibits in the new energy exhibition area of ​​the 135th Canton Fair. Photo by reporter Liu Dawei

——Adhere to the “dual-wheel drive” of scientific and technological innovation and institutional and mechanism innovation to create a good innovation ecology and policy environment.

We have accelerated the optimization and integration of nearly 100 scientific and technological plans scattered across more than 40 departments, and significantly improved the chronic problems of scattered, closed, duplicated and inefficient allocation of scientific and technological resources;

The Implementation Plan for Deepening the Reform of the Science and Technology System proposes 143 policy measures, and the “construction plan” for the reform of the science and technology system is clear at a glance;

A series of documents have been issued intensively, including the Action Plan for Promoting the Transfer and Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements and the Plan for Deepening the Reform of the Science and Technology Award System;

In the western Pacific Ocean, the Jiaolong manned submersible leaves the Xiangyanghong 09 scientific research vessel and prepares to enter the water for the last dive of China's 38th Ocean Voyage. Photo by reporter Liu Shiping

Comprehensive efforts and multi-point integration. The reform's systematic layout and overall promotion of scientific and technological work have further optimized the allocation of innovation resources and significantly improved the overall efficiency of the national innovation system.

The 2024 Zhongguancun Forum will build a trading and sharing platform for more than 3,000 scientific and technological achievements from more than 40 countries and regions; hundreds of scientific research institutes will concentrate in Xiongan New Area to release a large number of cutting-edge achievements... The industrial chain will be laid out around the innovation chain, new tracks will be opened up, and new advantages will be created.

This is the release of major scientific and technological achievements at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference. Photo by reporter Ren Chao

"Empowerment in proportion", "First confirm the rights and then transform them", "First use and then pay"... The innovation chain is deployed around the industrial chain, more innovative entities are actively inventing and creating, and more scientific and technological achievements are moved from bookshelves to shelves, and from laboratories to production lines.

"If scientific and technological innovation is likened to a new engine for my country's development, then reform is the indispensable ignition system to ignite this new engine."

"Mozi" sends messages, "Shenzhou" flies into space, "Beidou" builds a network, "Chang'e" explores the moon, "Jiaolong" enters the sea, "Tianyan" patrols the sky...

This is a photo taken at Saishiteng Mountain in Lenghu Town, Mangya City, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. The Micius Survey Telescope, a large-field optical imaging telescope jointly developed by the University of Science and Technology of China and the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was taken at Saishiteng Mountain in Lenghu Town, Mangya City, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. Photo by reporter Zhang Long

A report from the World Intellectual Property Organization shows that my country's global innovation index ranking rose from 34th in 2012 to 12th in 2023.

Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, we will accelerate the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement, and continuously cultivate and expand new quality productivity. The construction of a scientific and technological power will surely be a grand journey, helping to empower the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

"We must focus on national strategic needs, coordinate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, the cultivation and development of emerging industries, and the advanced layout of future industries, fully unleash the integration of the real economy and the digital economy, and develop new quality productivity according to local conditions." Not long ago, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Shandong and presided over a symposium with enterprises and experts, once again making new arrangements for the development of new quality productivity and putting forward new requirements.

Today, scientific and technological innovation has permeated all factors of productivity, transformed into actual production capacity, and can give birth to new industries, new models, and new momentum.

This is the "China Sky Eye" in Guizhou, photographed on February 26, 2024. Photo by reporter Ou Dongqu

From first proposing "new quality productivity" during local inspections to deploying "developing new quality productivity" at the Central Economic Work Conference; from emphasizing "leading industrial innovation with scientific and technological innovation, actively cultivating and developing new quality productivity", to pointing out that "scientific and technological innovation is the core element of developing new quality productivity"...

As my country enters the stage of high-quality development, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has keenly understood the needs of the times, the urgency of development, and the general trend of the times, and has creatively put forward the important proposition of developing new quality productive forces, and has profoundly answered major theoretical and practical questions such as "what are new quality productive forces, why should we develop new quality productive forces, and how to develop new quality productive forces."

"Strengthen strategic planning and systematic layout for the development of quantum technology", "Take blockchain as an important breakthrough for independent innovation in core technologies", "Promote the healthy development of my country's new generation of artificial intelligence"... The Political Bureau of the Central Committee has held collective studies time and time again, looking forward to the forefront of science and technology.

Zhejiang "should take the lead in using scientific and technological innovation to create new development advantages", Hunan "should make greater efforts to lead industrial innovation with scientific and technological innovation", Chongqing should "strengthen major scientific and technological research, and enhance the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation"... Time and time again, we will conduct in-depth inspections and investigations at the grassroots level to open up future plans.

In 2017, General Secretary Xi Jinping walked into the production workshop of Shanxi Taigang for the first time. Liao Xi, a technician born after 1985, was making a difficult exploration of "hand-torn steel". The General Secretary's encouragement gave him new hope.

At the Taiyuan Iron and Steel Group in Shanxi, an employee demonstrated how to tear apart a 0.02mm thick ultra-thin strip of stainless steel by hand. Photo by reporter Cao Yang

Three years later, the world's thinnest "hand-torn steel" was successfully developed, and the world's largest stainless steel company achieved a phoenix-like rebirth from huge losses.

General Secretary Xi Jinping sent an affectionate message: "I hope you will continue to work hard, continue to scale new heights in high-end manufacturing technological innovation, and take new and greater steps in supporting advanced manufacturing."

Whoever can seize the commanding heights of scientific and technological innovation will have new strategic capital and strategic advantages; whoever can gather the best talents in the world and use them will be able to firmly grasp the initiative in developing new quality productive forces.

In research institutes, factory workshops, and green campuses, General Secretary Xi Jinping invited scientists to exchange views and discussions, expressed his condolences and encouragement to "great country craftsmen", and gave earnest instructions to young students, promoting the fine tradition of the Chinese nation of valuing virtue and talent, and revealing the importance of talent to scientific and technological innovation and national development.

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, Square Kilometer Array Radio Telescope, Deep Time Digital Earth, Negative Ocean Emissions... In a series of international big science plans and projects, my country's scientific and technological workers have actively undertaken project tasks, deeply participated in operation and management, and carried out research together with scientists from various countries, contributing "Chinese wisdom" to solving major global challenges.

my country's first hydrogen energy urban train is undergoing operational testing at the CRRC long-distance passenger test line in Changchun. hair

"Although ancient China made many important contributions to the development of human science and technology, why did modern science and the Industrial Revolution not occur in China?" The famous "Joseph Needham Question" in the history of science was once thought-provoking.

Looking back at the years of great suffering for the Chinese nation, General Secretary Xi Jinping revealed the profound logic contained in the evolution of history in one sentence.

"History tells us a truth: whether a country is strong cannot be determined solely by the size of its economy, and whether a nation is strong cannot be determined solely by its population size or territory. In modern history, one of the reasons why my country fell behind and was beaten was its backward science and technology."

Today, China, which is moving towards "innovation" and striving for "quality", is attracting worldwide attention.

In Yizhuang, Beijing, self-driving cars are shuttling back and forth; in Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the general large-scale model system has become an intelligent assistant for multiple industries; in Hefei, Anhui, the superconducting quantum computer industry chain has basically taken shape; on the CRRC Changchun test line in Changchun, my country's first hydrogen-powered urban train successfully ran at a full load of 160 kilometers per hour...

An autonomous vehicle drives on the autonomous route from Beijing Daxing International Airport to Yizhuang. Photo by reporter Ju Huanzong

The grand picture of China's modernization is changing with each passing day, and the dream-chasing journey of an innovative China is moving forward steadily.

"We are closer to the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation than at any time in history, and we need to build a world science and technology power more than at any time in history!"

Under the correct leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the innovation-driven "China" ship is sailing through the waves in the new era and forging ahead toward the goal of becoming a scientific and technological power!