President seeks strong foundation to improve national productivity

President Xi Jinping encouraged scientists in China on Monday to rely on innovation to achieve major breakthroughs in key technologies and serve the country's development.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 17th conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the 12th conference of the Chinese Academy of Engineering at the Great Hall of the People, Xi said scientific and technological innovation is the key to China's future progress.

"Scientific and technological innovation serves as the strategic foundation for improving productivity and overall national strength, and it must be positioned as the core to China's overall development," Xi said.

As the conference for the two highest academic institutes for science, technology and engineering, the CAS and CAE conference is held every two years. The agenda of this year's conference includes revising the charter of two academies, election of a new leadership for CAE and academic seminars. The conference will end on Friday.

More than 700 members of the two academies, including 19 foreigners, will attend the conference, according to Guangming Daily.

In his speech, Xi urged scientists to have international vision and seize opportunities for scientific and technological development in key areas to bring major breakthroughs to key technologies.

Xi stressed intensifying reform to break any ideological or systematic barriers to science and technological innovation. Xi also said that the current academia system should be reformed so as to highlight its academic nature, reduce administrative interference at the academies, and provide more incentives for scientists and engineers to do innovative work.

Development of talent resources should be the top priority for science and technological innovation, Xi said. He called for reform of mechanisms to cultivate, introduce and utilize talents to produce world-class scientists and engineers.

Wang Yue, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and an expert in telecommunications, said the government and market should work together to ensure innovation.

"It is the government's responsibility to ensure the success of major innovation projects that concern the interests of the whole society and nation," he said.

More tolerance should be given to failures in innovation so researchers will not be afraid of failure, he said.

"Failure can be the foundation for success," he said. "It is not reasonable to expect achievements in just one or two years."

Yuan Yaxiang, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in applied mathematics, said talent cultivation is particularly important to technological development and innovation.

"Many universities in China don't pay enough attention to education. Rather, they focus too much on research," he said. "But I think cultivating talent is very important."

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