Innovations Boost Development

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The National Scientific and Technological Award Conference took place in Beijing on January 18， 2013. It is an annual event to honor distinguished scientists and their research achievements. This year the top awards went to explosion mechanics expert Zheng Zhemin， an academician of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences （CAS） and the Chinese Academy of Engineering （CAE）， and Wang Xiaomo，“father” of the airborne warning and control system in China and also a CAE academician.

A number of other awards， among them the State Natural Sciences Award， the State Technological Invention Award and the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award， were also presented to other outstanding scientists. Five scientists from the United States， Canada， Japan and Denmark received the Award for International Cooperation in Science and Technology.

On January 19， 2012 China’s Top Ten Science Stories on Scientific and Technological Progress were announced by researchers from the CAE and CAS. They include breakthroughs in areas such as China’s deep-sea manned submersible， the Jiaolong， which set a new Chinese diving record of 7，000 meters， the world’s first long-distance highspeed railway in areas of extreme cold， and China’s first supercomputer system running on domestically produced petaflop central processing units. In this issue， China Today examines these breakthroughs in depth and reflects on the scientific achievements they represent.

All these major advances in science and technology are the result of China’s efforts to encourage innovation-driven development. Major scientific and technological breakthroughs are playing an increasingly important role in promoting China’s industrial restructuring and boosting development of its new strategic industries.

These days， China is attaching more importance to projects in scientific and technological development that promote people’s health and well-being and benefit the environment. Technology is also key to ensuring the country’s economy remains internationally competitive and that its security is guaranteed. A key aim is to reduce China’s reliance on the West in key technologies. We are already seeing a wane in some areas.

In recent years China has been increasing its investment in science and technology. In 2012， China’s overall expenditure on science and technology research and development broke RMB 1 trillion， accounting for two percent of GDP. Enterprises’ R&D spending accounted for 74 percent of the total.

Scientific and technological innovations are playing an ever more significant role in driving China’s development. According to Minister for Science and Technology Wan Gang， the contribution of scientific and technological progress to China’s economic growth has been rising， reaching 51.7 percent in 2011.

China is intensifying its efforts to promote industrial application of cutting-edge scientific and technological innovations. In the 2012 Global Innovation Index released by the European Institute of Business Administration， among the 141 countries and regions surveyed worldwide， China ranked first in terms of innovation efficiency – an indicator of the conversion rate of innovation input to output.

As globalization progresses， cooperation in scientific research is becoming both inevitable and essential. As Fu Xiaolan， director of the Technology and Management for Development Centre at the University of Oxford， pointed out， the old pattern featuring the United States， the EU and Japan as major contributors to world science and technology research is changing， as China continually increases its investments in the field.

As a developing country， China views cooperation with other nations as an integral part of its scientific mission. China has established scientific and technological cooperation with more than 100 countries and regions， many of which are developing nations.

Scientific progress is not a zero-sum game. Science is universal， and progress in any one country should be shared with the world. As China’s science prospers， the world is set to benefit.