Hong Kong Bauhinia Magazine:

What measures will the MOE take to promote innovation in the science and technology management system and mechanisms in universities and accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological advances into new quality productive forces? Thank you.

Huai Jinpeng:

Thank you for your question. Scientific and technological structural reform was a key focus of the National Science and Technology Conference held in the first half of the year. I will answer this question.

As we all know, the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee regards education, science and technology, and talent as important support for the integrated promotion of national innovation efficiency. The 20th CPC National Congress, for the first time, took this strategic perspective in making integrated plans for education, science and technology, and talent development to advance Chinese-style modernization.

There are compelling reasons why reforming the science and technology management mechanisms in universities and accelerating the application of scientific and technological advances have attracted significant public attention. First, in any country, the quality and capabilities of higher education are the most valuable resources. Higher education institutions can produce innovations and creative achievements, cultivate high-quality talents, and constantly ensure the application of technological advances and serve social development. At the same time, the application of scientific and technological advances and technology transfer from higher education remain common issues attracting global concern. These are becoming increasingly important with the accelerated sci-tech revolution and industrial transformation. As a significant part of boosting innovation and building a modern country, education is also key to fostering new quality productive forces. Higher education institutions shoulder the responsibility of training talents while also being commissioned with the task of creating knowledge and value. High-level research universities are the main force of national fundamental research and a source of major sci-tech breakthroughs, so the education system fulfills an indispensable responsibility.

Knowledge creation drives both technology transfer and market application of technological advances, and China's higher education system has made remarkable achievements in this regard. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, higher education institutions have received 70% of all natural science awards and 70% of all technological invention awards, reflecting their role as the main driving force and source of innovation. Meanwhile, several outstanding achievements have emerged, including the chemical reprogramming of human somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells — a breakthrough of great significance for human health and the treatment of major diseases in modern society. Other notable accomplishments include the state-of-the-art Tianjing self-propelled cutter-suction dredger's contribution to China's marine engineering, and the world's first fourth-generation nuclear power plant beginning commercial operations. These examples illustrate that breakthroughs in basic research are extremely important for the future of the life sciences, health care, major engineering projects, national innovation and industrial development. Therefore, higher education institutions should play an even more important role in basic research, technology transfer and promoting market application of technological advances. The MOE is combining the development of higher education with the construction of hubs for science and innovation.

The first point concerns the source of innovation, which I mentioned just now. We will support the better development of higher education institutions through programs focused on basic disciplines and interdisciplinary breakthroughs. As we all know, basic research requires patience, dedication, and persistent effort for long-term research and knowledge accumulation. Evaluation of such work requires institutional opportunity and adequate time. Only by ensuring this wellspring of innovation can we achieve subsequent technology transfer and market application of technological advances. This requires us to use the integration of science and education in major tasks as an "engine," incorporating it into interdisciplinary and fundamental research, thus providing sources for original and disruptive innovation.

The second involves technology transfer and application. Just now, a reporter asked about the training of excellent engineers. Students, after mastering knowledge and skills and discovering problems in practice, can effectively solve problems using the knowledge they've learned. For example, when I conducted research at the beginning of this year, a student said that he saw fractures and fatigue in large mechanical devices during practical work. He quickly developed a new diagnostic method by applying his optical knowledge. This demonstrates that most technology transfers and applications stem from combining existing knowledge with real-world problems. We also encourage another kind of effort. It's not about looking around for methods but discovering problems in practice, projects and products and then solving them to achieve innovation. Technology transfer and market application of advances involve combining existing knowledge with real-world problems and integrating innovation achievements with industrial needs. In this regard, the MOE is establishing an effective mechanism to foster an enabling environment for such practices. Recently, we partnered with Jiangsu province to promote the construction of Regional University–Industry Technology Transfer Center. The province is enthusiastic about building this platform, which will attract universities to align industrial development with regional innovation as well as national strategies. This effort focuses on advantageous industries such as biological medicine, information and communication, and advanced materials. The goal is to create synergy between existing achievements on the supply and demand sides, strengthening collaboration among industries, universities, and research institutes. This regional center will gather investments and leverage government public policy platforms. We are also optimizing and remodeling universities' sci-tech parks to build an overall network, addressing a global concern. In exploring technology transfer and market application of advances, we're thoughtfully combining talent training and problem discovery with ecosystem development. We expect higher education institutions to play an increasingly important role in creating value and serving economic and social development.

Third, in order to maintain the wellspring of basic research, we will support and encourage young faculty members to engage in long-term fundamental research and interdisciplinary studies as they strive to make future breakthroughs. In this regard, we will support long-term scientific projects and encourage technology transfer and market application of advances through both the reform and optimization of the evaluation system and global cooperation. In recent years, through college students innovation, entrepreneurship activities and industry-university-research cooperation, most students have successfully combined theoretical knowledge with practical problems and discovered new opportunities through social practice, achieving remarkable results. We aim to integrate college students innovation and entrepreneurship with the development of university sci-tech parks, technology transfer centers and advanced research institutes while combining regional industrial development needs with our capabilities and deepening evaluation mechanism reforms. This represents our most typical and important task, requiring continuous effort and unremitting exploration in advancing the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent. Although there isn't yet a fixed mechanism, we'll accelerate efforts to establish structural and ecosystem frameworks to further enhance universities' momentum, vitality and competitiveness in technology transfer and market application of scientific and technological advances.

Thank you.