CG Lin Jing, published on Cape Times, June 1

The 7th World Conference on Research Integrity (WCRI) at the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC) from May 29 to June 1 follows the great success of the previous edition held in Hong Kong three years ago. This event is a great opportunity to review and share China’s achievements in scientific and technological innovation (STI) over the past decade, as the Chinese government has always attached great importance to STI and research integrity.

For China, the decade since 2012, when President Xi Jinping took office, has witnessed the greatest progress in science and technology and fastest improvement in scientific and technological strength. The government places great emphasis on science and technology (S&T) reform and has strengthened the "two-wheel drive of scientific and technological innovation and institutional innovation", with the goal of building China into an innovation-oriented country and scientific and technological superpower. To this end, it has issued top-level design documents for implementing the innovation-driven development strategy and implementation plans for deepening the reform of the S&T system.

Over the past decade, the national S&T governance system and capacity have been further boosted, and the overall effectiveness of the national innovation system has improved markedly. China’s research and development (R&D) expenditure has increased from 1.02 trillion to 2.79 trillion RMB, and its ratio to GDP has surged from 1.98% to 2.44%, close to the average level of OECD countries. China’s ranking in the list of the world’s leading innovative economies has risen from 34th to 12th, making it the only country in the world that has shown a sustained and significant upward trend. China has moved into the ranks of highly innovative countries in the world.

Over the past decade, STI has brought historic, holistic, and structural changes to China’s economic and social development. Breakthroughs have been made in a large number of cutting-edge technologies and major scientific and technological achievements have emerged, such as “Tianwen” probe’s exploration of Mars, “Chang’e” probe’s landing on the Moon, “Shenzhou-13” spacecraft’s docking with the “Tianhe” core module, and “Deep-sea Warrior” and other manned submersibles arriving at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Numerous avant-garde equipment and systems have been developed independently by China and entered practical use. Supercomputing, high-speed railways, smart grids, Generation IV nuclear power, ultra-high voltage power transmission technology, to name just a few, are among the world’s most advanced. Notably, distinctive ecosystems such as 5G technology, in-depth expansion of VR/AR application scenarios, and artificial intelligence have been initially established. Significant breakthroughs are also seen in such key areas as screening of rice functional genome, molecular pathogenesis and transmission mechanism of Ebola and COVID-19 viruses, and the characteristics and sources of PM2.5 pollution, all of which contribute to China’s sustainable growth and the improvement of people’s livelihood. Effective COVID-19 antibody therapy and 99 new detection reagents independently developed by China have been listed for use. STI has assuredly become the primary driving force in sustaining and leading high-quality economic development and people’s livelihood betterment.

Over the past decade, the construction of major scientific and technological infrastructure has achieved remarkable results. Advanced equipments for the country, known as the pillars of the nation, have been put into use, including the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), Steady-State Strong Magnetic Field, Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), and High-altitude Cosmic Ray Observatory. Groundbreaking accomplishments abound in various fields: a new generation of magnetic confinement fusion experimental device, HL-2M, also known as the “artificial sun”, was built and discharged for the first time; the Jinping deep earth core astrophysics accelerator successfully delivered beams and completed the first batch of experiments; Micius, the world’s first quantum science experiment satellite, was launched, making it the first to realize quantum entanglement, key distribution and teleportation at a distance of 1,000 kilometers between the earth and the satellite; two quantum computer prototypes “Jiuzhang” and “Zuchongzhi” were built; the world’s first heterogeneous hybrid brain-inspired AI chip was developed; artificial starch was synthesized from carbon dioxide for the first time; and new breakthroughs were made in early primate embryo development mechanism.

Over the past decade, the layout of the structure and system of national STI bases has been approaching maturity. More than 500 state key laboratories covering 15 disciplines have become an important force in promoting disciplinary development, fostering major original innovations and solving crucial scientific and technological problems in China. Thirteen national centers for applied mathematics have been established in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities, and 20 national scientific data centers, 31 national germplasm and experimental material repositories, and 167 national field observation and research stations have been optimally adjusted. The national STI base system for basic support and condition guarantee has been preliminarily established. Three international STI centers are built in Beijing, Shanghai and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to create hubs of innovation with global influence.

Innovation-driven strategy is essentially a talent-driven one. Over the past decade, the full-time equivalent of China’s R&D personnel has increased from 3.2468 million to 5.2345 million, ranking first in the world for many years in a row. International joint research has been carried out extensively: in 2020, among the Chinese papers indexed by SCI were a staggering number of 144,500 international co-authored papers, with partners from 190 countries and regions including South Africa and other BRICS countries. A large number of Chinese scientists hold senior positions in international academic organizations and journals.

President Xi Jinping pointed out, “Science and technology are universal and epochal, and are the common wealth of mankind. We should coordinate development and security, plan and promote innovation from a global perspective, actively integrate into global innovation networks, focus on critical issues such as climate change and human health, and strengthen joint R&D with researchers from other countries.” China has established S&T cooperation relations with more than 160 countries and regions, signed more than 110 intergovernmental agreements on S&T cooperation, initiated the construction of more than 50 “Belt and Road Initiative” joint laboratories, and participated in more than 200 S&T-related international organizations and multilateral mechanisms.

Over the past decade, China has implemented four principal initiatives: people-to-people and cultural exchanges in S&T, joint laboratory construction, cooperation in S&T parks, and technology transfer. The country continues to be deeply involved in major international science projects and programmes to facilitate further internationalization, including the Square Kilometer Array Radio Telescope (SKA) together with SA, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and the Earth Observation Organization (GEO).

As President Xi Jinping stressed, China should persist in facing the world and the future, and continue to enhance openness, trust and cooperation with the international S&T community. China hopes to work with the South African government and S&T community in a continuous effort to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.