File Photo:Xinhua

 
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday called for robust efforts to improve homegrown innovation capabilities and to make breakthroughs in key and core technologies as soon as possible.

At a symposium on economic and social work in Beijing, the Chinese president also stressed that China should continue to adhere to open innovation and strengthen international cooperation and exchange in the field of technology.

The country should fully utilize the significant advantage of its socialist system in concentrating strength in tackling “big things” to better “fight a tough battle” for achieving breakthroughs in core technologies and create a unique advantage for mass application and upgrading of new technologies, Xi said at the symposium, according to CCTV News.

The symposium came as tensions between China and the US continue to escalate, with the latter constantly stepping up its crackdowns on an ever-growing list of Chinese tech companies from telecom giant Huawei to video sharing platform TikTok in what Chinese officials and experts call an ill-intentioned campaign to contain China’s rapid rise in technology.

The Chinese president’s remarks on Monday also came as the country has recently stepped up efforts to boost the tech sector and accelerate an ongoing transformation process in the economy, including the launch on Monday of a NASDAQ-style board with registration-based listing rules that offers a fast-track for tech start-ups.

At the symposium on Monday, Xi said that China will train and attract global first-class talent and research teams and carry out deeper reforms at research institutions. He also stressed that China should adhere to open innovation and strengthen global cooperation.

Following a recent inspection tour in East China’s Anhui Province, during which Xi highlighted the “strategic importance” of the Yangtze River Delta in China’s economic development amid external challenges, the symposium on Monday capped the rising focus among top officials on boosting domestic innovation and high-quality growth.

At the symposium, Xi said that the Chinese economy is facing both new opportunities and challenges, amid what he called massive changes to the world that have not been seen for a century. He urged the country to form a deep understanding of new contradictions and challenges brought by the intricate and complex global environment, and to strive for more sustainable and secure development.

Xi also elaborated on the need to create a new development pattern of dual circulation, which underscores the domestic market as the mainstay while domestic and foreign markets can boost each other. He called it a “strategic choice” to reshape China’s strengths in international cooperation and competition. 

However, he also stressed that the new pattern is by no means a closed domestic circulation, but an open “dual circulation” with both domestic and foreign markets involved. He also noted that opening-up is an important engine for the sustainable and rapid growth of the Chinese economy. 

Global Times