Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, generations of science and technology workers have made remarkable achievements though hard work and unremitting efforts.

Visitors to the Light of the Internet Expo, part of the World Internet Conference, try a wearable musical device using virtual reality technology. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/China Daily]

China tested its first atomic bomb and hydrogen bomb in 1964 and 1967, respectively, and successfully launched its first man-made satellite in 1970. The achievements provided the foundation for China to become a major player in these fields.

Guided by the theory on the terrestrial facies of petroleum, China discovered oilfields and broke the rumor that the country lacked petroleum.

In addition, hybrid rice guarantees a safe food supply to a population of nearly 1.4 billion while manned spaceflight fulfils a long-time dream of flying in space. High-speed railways, 5G communication and supercomputers allow the country to pick up its speed of development.

Today, China has become an influential player in technological innovation in the world. It is working towards the goal of becoming a science and technology giant.

The country attaches great importance to scientific and technological innovation and has always adhered to an innovative road with national characteristics while conforming to the laws of scientific and technological development.

Back in 1956, the country called on its people to march toward science. Science and technology embraced a spring of development after 1978. In 1988, comrade Deng Xiaoping made the point that science and technology constitute a primary productive force.

In recent years, China emphasized that the strategy of innovation-driven development should be fully implemented and that innovation has become the primary engine of development.

The country has constantly reformed the scientific and technological system. The capability for innovation has continued to grow, providing stronger support and guidance to economic development.

China has made a greater contribution to global science and technology advances and played an increasingly important role in global innovation.

Self-independent innovation has enhanced the scientific and technological strength of China.

The country has stuck to self-independent innovation, which facilitates the rapid development of science and technology and stimulates great potential in the field.

In 2018, national total R&D expenditures reached 1,967.79 billion yuan, an increase of 207.18 billion yuan or 11.8 percent over that in the previous year.

China maintains the world’s largest pool of R&D personnel for six years. In 2018, the country ranked first in the world in terms of invention patent applications for eight consecutive years, and second in the world in terms of the number of science essays and their citation frequency.

A number of achievements that impress the world have emerged. Breakthroughs have been achieved in basic research fields such as quantum science and iron-based superconductivity, as well as high-tech domains such as lunar exploration engineering and the BeiDou navigation satellite system.

China’s scientific and technological strength stimulates further development.

The country has held on to innovation to promote a high-quality economic development. It has improved the level of technology supplies to sustain the construction of a modern economic system. By the end of 2018, the number of market players in China had reached 110 million.

In 2017, the high-tech sector's prime operating revenue above the designated size came in at 15.9 trillion yuan. High-tech manufacturing serves as the driving force in industrial transformation.

With the development of “Internet plus”, new products, businesses and models are emerging and thriving, becoming a powerful support for transforming and upgrading traditional industries and generating new momentum for development.

The shifting momentum, technological revolution, and vigorous entrepreneurial innovation are constantly injecting new energy into high-quality development and growth of the economy.

A nation will prosper only when its technologies thrive. China has made significant progress in building an innovative country. The concept of innovation is further rooted in people’s hearts and innovation-driven development is ready to accelerate. The country’s technological innovation is once again faced with a huge opportunity and is expected to make a transition.

The global trend in science and technology and the new phase of China’s economic and social development put forward higher requirements for scientific and technological innovation.

Therefore, it is necessary to encourage the whole nation to bring forth new ideas in developing science and technology so that innovation could play a stronger and more resilient part in economic growth.