Thecover.cn:

According to the report to the 20th CPC National Congress, we should speed up efforts to achieve greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology. In this regard, what achievements have been made by SOEs as the major force in scientific and technological innovation? What will be done next to further reinforce the principal role of enterprises in innovation to assist China in achieving greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology? Thank you.

Zhang Yuzhuo:

Thank you for your questions. Regarding the scientific and technological innovation of centrally-administered SOEs, I believe the past work can be generalized into two aspects. One is that glorious achievements have been made. And the other is that much remains to be done.

In terms of glorious achievements, major scientific and technological advances have been made over previous years in the following aspects. First, SOEs have made original innovations in basic and frontier sectors, including manned spaceflight, thermonuclear, the Beidou Navigation System, deep-water exploration, and the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), which are all world-class original innovations. Second, a scientific and technological growth driver has been injected into building a modernized economy. A chain of innovation has been shaped to match the overall industrial chain. Core technologies in key fields have been adopted to steer manufacturing toward the medium- and high-end. China has taken the lead in applying 5G technology on a larger scale. One of the major advances last year was that the high-speed maglev train, with a designed top speed of 600 km per hour, rolled off the production line. In terms of high-end materials, a 10,000-ton-level 48K large-tow carbon fiber was put into production. The large passenger aircraft C919 was delivered. They also released a batch of other high-performance equipment. All these developments have advanced the transition from "made in China" to "created by China." Third, strong support has been provided for safeguarding science and technology security and energy security. Focusing on priority areas of strategic importance, SOEs have promoted the development of technologies in urgent need and those hindering the country's development. They have filled up a batch of gaps in science and technology. Major achievements have been made in high-temperature gas-cooled reactor demonstration projects, the Deep Sea No.1 oil production and storage facility, and the F-class 50 MW heavy-duty gas turbine. Fourth, a solid basis gives guarantee for people to enjoy the latest scientific and technological advances. Efforts have been sped up to promote breakthroughs in the fields of the seed industry and high-end medical equipment. In the fight against COVID-19, starting from scratch, SOEs developed mask machines, plodder machines and other equipment in urgent need and made an all-out effort to develop and supply testing kits and vaccines. These are all glorious achievements that have been made.

On the other hand, there is still a long way to go. Regarding science and technology, there is still a noticeable gap between China and other countries with advanced scientific and technological strengths. Central SOEs continue to have significant potential for solving core technical difficulties. Technology determines the future of businesses, and the businesses of the future. Looking ahead, we will accurately grasp the strategic position of central SOEs in China's overall sci-tech innovation, strengthen advantages, shore up weak links, keep up with the frontiers, enhance enterprises' dominant position in sci-tech innovation, and strive to create innovative SOEs.

We will focus on three areas. First, we will continue to make new breakthroughs in core technologies. We will develop a source of original technologies and promote high-quality breakthroughs in core technologies. We will increase technical investment in traditional manufacturing upgrading and strategic emerging industries, as well as in key areas such as integrated circuits and industrial machine tools, and improve our capacity for basic research and applied basic research. Second, we will secure new breakthroughs in improving the input-output efficiency of sci-tech research and development. We will further optimize the input structure and prioritize sci-tech output, achievements, applications, and the industry. We will establish a results-oriented sci-tech innovation work system, improve the mechanism for the commercialization and application of sci-tech advances, accelerate technological iteration and upgrading, and develop a more effective mechanism for sharing the benefits of sci-tech achievements so that sci-tech advances can be applied and researchers can be rewarded. Third, we will continuously make new breakthroughs in enhancing the efficacy of the innovation system. We will participate in national decision-making on sci-tech innovation in a broader and deeper manner, strengthen the driving force of major projects, make good use of platforms such as national laboratories and innovation consortiums, support qualified enterprises in integrating and transforming into research institutes and application-oriented research institutes, establish industrial research institutes, and lead the deep integration of industry, academia and research.

Thank you.