Advancing Chinese modernization in new era through sci-tech innovation

President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday that brought together the national science and technology award conference, the general assemblies of the members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the 11th national congress of the China Association for Science and Technology.

Calling for accelerated efforts to achieve high-level self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and leverage sci-tech innovation to underpin and drive Chinese modernization, Xi’s speech is of strategic importance in guiding the country to tackle the tough challenges it faces in building up its science and technology during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period and beyond.

“We must seize the historic opportunity, rise to the challenges of the times, accelerate efforts to achieve high-level self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and make steady progress toward the 2035 goal of becoming a leading country in science and technology,” Xi said.

Since 2012, China has implemented an innovation-driven development strategy, deepened sci-tech reform and achieved major advances in frontier research and strategic high-tech industries. Underscoring China’s growing innovation capacity, R&D spending grew by around 10% annually on average during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, with R&D intensity reaching 2.8% of GDP in 2025, surpassing the OECD average for the first time.

Despite these achievements, China must be sober-minded as original innovation remains insufficient in some key fields, the structure of the country’s scientific talent pool requires further optimization, and the efficiency of research investment can still be improved. Some institutional and regulatory bottlenecks also continue to constrain innovation in certain sectors.

As global sci-tech competition increasingly shifts to the frontiers of basic research, addressing these weaknesses with greater urgency and determination will be essential.

Guided by the “four orientations” framework — facing the world’s scientific frontiers, the main economic battlefield, the country’s major needs, and the people’s life and health — efforts should be made to step up coordination among planning, policy, mission portfolios, research teams, infrastructure platforms and regional innovation initiatives.

In carrying out research programs, major national sci-tech initiatives must be prioritized. This means concentrating efforts on frontier fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biosciences; key industries such as semiconductors and advanced manufacturing; and strategic frontiers including deep-sea, deep-space and deep-earth exploration. In the process, the country needs to plan for major research infrastructure, build indigenous capacity in high-end instruments, scientific data and journals, and actively leverage AI to facilitate research.

It is imperative to explore innovation-driven development paths tailored to local circumstances, and establish comparative advantages. Blindly chasing short-lived trends or engaging in “involution-style” competition must be avoided.

Alongside stronger intellectual property rights protection and faster commercialization of research outcomes, the country needs to invest in talent, improve the efficiency of research funding, optimize evaluation practices, and tighten ethics and safety governance. It is also vital to step up risk evaluation, monitoring and rapid-response capabilities in sci-tech security, while ensuring that high-level research goes hand in hand with high-caliber protection, particularly for critical infrastructure.

Meanwhile, China will deepen its engagement in global sci-tech governance, actively present its vision and solutions to the international community, and elevate its voice and influence in international rule-making. By doing so, the country can contribute more original innovations and solutions to the progress of humanity while advancing Chinese modernization.

[Abridged]

Editorial, China Daily