By Li Wei, DRC

2017-6-12

2017 is a key year for us to comprehensively flesh out and carry forward the reform. 2017 will usher in the opening of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee headed by President Xi Jinping, we will continue to press forward the supply-side structural reform, adhere to the innovation-driven development strategy, and effectively promote the restructuring and upgrading of China's economy. The China Innovation Conference 2017 is focused on implementing the innovation-driven development strategy proposed by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and offering policy options on the reform and opening up of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Bay Area’s innovation and development, as well as on China’s innovation-driven development. Hereby, I would like to put forward some suggestions for your reference.

We need to have a clear understanding of global innovation performance and face up to the opportunities and challenges. At present, the global economic growth is facing a complex situation with the transformation of growth drivers. The momentum generated by the last round of industrial revolution is phasing out, and the new growth momentum needs to be nurtured in order to reshape the endogenous growth. Innovation is an important driving force and backbone for the adjustment of the world economy and sustainable development. At present, the global innovation pattern is taking shape, showing a multi-polar development trend. Asia's position in global innovation has been enforced, and it has become the global R&D center. After the outbreak of the international financial crisis in 2008 and in response to the opportunities of a new round of technological and industrial revolution, many countries have introduced innovation strategies to try to achieve intelligent, sustainable and inclusive growth through scientific and technological innovation. Currently, various countries are accelerating the pace of innovation and a new round of scientific and technological revolution is forging ahead. Under such a landscape, China has the confidence to address the new challenges as China boasts a mega-scale domestic market, a sound basis for the development of innovative factors and a well-organized market environment, We must seize the opportunities brought forth by the new technological revolution, accelerate the pace of innovation, and insist on the innovation-driven development strategy.

We need to adhere to innovation-driven development, and effectively bring into play innovation’s leading role in economic restructuring and upgrading. The government has paid unprecedented attention to innovation, adhering to the innovation-driven development strategy, and leading the entire society to strive for an innovative development and a prosperous future in a forward-looking manner. After years of development, China has gained rich experience with its innovation capacity significantly enhanced, and China is now experiencing a process from quantity accumulation to quality upgrading. In face of the advantages and disadvantages, the key task for us is to comprehensively improve overall quality and efficiency of innovation. We should promote innovations comprehensively including the system, technology, skill, management and culture, with science and technology at the core, so as to effectively bring innovation’s leading role in economic restructuring and upgrading into play.

 We need to spare no efforts to build the national innovation center in terms of science and technology industry, and take the lead in innovation-driven development. Regional development in China is uneven, with imbalanced distribution of innovation resources between various areas and different industrial foundations and development stages. Therefore, we need to build regional innovation systems and innovation centers as per local conditions with distinctive features. At present, Guangdong Province is pressing ahead with an innovation-based construction of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Bay Area, sparing no efforts to build the national innovation center of science and technology industry, which marks an important move in the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy of the CPC Central Committee. It is hoped that with the pioneering and inclusive spirits of the reform and opening-up, Guangdong Province will constantly carry forward reform of the innovation mechanism, play a leading role in the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy, and establish a world-class innovation center of China at an early date.