As the development of science and technology today is inseparable from the collaborative innovation of research, education, application and production, the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) launched a programme of Innovation China. This project intends to build a platform to integrate science, technology with the economy to contribute to the construction of China with strength in science and technology.
The programme was attracting more than 400 representatives from the Advisory Committee of the programme, investment alliances and pilot cities nationwide to participate. There was a signing ceremony of cooperative agreements between Innovation China platform and service providing groups, and the initiation ceremony of the gathering of top 100 young scientists, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
Co-sponsored by CAST and the People’s Government of Zhejiang Province, the project aimed to build a high-end dialogue platform for the Advisory Committee of the programme to deploy and deepen the pilot trial the programme had been exploring, and try to construct a pilot city network. Innovation China was expected to become a national public technology service and trading platform.
During the programme, the participants also took part in serial activities including an urban innovation forum, special research workshops, forum of the top 100 young scientists, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
Innovation China is a programme of CAST to implement the important instructions of the Chinese President to unite the majority of scientific and technological workers to promote high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and serve for a new development pattern.
Supported by digital platforms and based in pilot cities, the Innovation China programme has made good efforts in organisational innovation and achieved sound environments and collaborative organisations to integrate science, technology with the economy to promote local development. It weaves a web connecting various social sectors such as government, industry, university, research, fund and service providing sides with service seeking sides.
The interactions among the sectors of the web function as the wind vane for the integration of science, technology and economy, and helps the high-quality development of regional industries. Up to now, 65 pilot cities and parks have been selected nationwide, and talents, technologies and research achievements are introduced to meet local demands.
Through the Innovation China programme, CAST and its organisations at all levels are expected to improve their mobilising capacity and create collaborative hubs to boost innovation-driven development with high-quality outcomes to face economic battlefield and fulfil the target of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance.
As reported by OpenGov Asia, China has dedicated growing resources to basic research and original innovation in recent years. Their efforts aim to cultivate a driving force for economic growth and improving people’s living standards. Chinese researchers, hi-tech enterprises and local governments are together actively striving to strengthen original innovation.
A hi-tech university laboratory has been making plans for an Artificial Intelligence (AI) research institution to explore the frontiers of AI research and make breakthroughs in key technologies. The Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences has also been established with the aim to be at the global forefront of quantum physics and quantum information science. The superconducting quantum computing team made a major breakthrough by improving the decoherence time of superconducting qubits.
China has attached great importance to institutional innovation and high-level engineer and research team building. By taking a problem-oriented approach, they set up teams to overcome challenges. Science and technology development, cultivation of major talent resources, and innovation are crucial driving forces. The combination of the three can help achieve sci-tech self-reliance and self-improvement at higher levels.