The following is the text of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech at a major Chinese S&T conference in June 2024. In his remarks, Xi recaps many of China’s scientific triumphs of 2023 but also warns that the nation still has weaknesses in areas such as original innovation and talent. Xi emphasizes China’s need to improve its self-sufficiency given its increasingly “complex” relationship with other powers, yet maintains that China will continue to play a leading role in international S&T cooperation.

An archived version of the Chinese source text is available online at:    https://perma.cc/CY6X-GCP2

Xi Jinping: Speech at the Nationwide S&T Conference, National Science and Technology Awards Conference, and the Conference of Academicians of CAS and CAE (June 24, 2024)

(June 24, 2024)

Xi Jinping

Academicians, comrades, friends:

This conference is a scientific and technological (S&T) event held at a critical period when China is, through Chinese-style modernization (中国式现代化), comprehensively promoting the construction of China into a world power¹ and undertaking of the rejuvenation of the nation (民族复兴). First, on behalf of the Party Central Committee, I would like to extend my warm congratulations to the collectives and individuals who won the National Science and Technology Awards in 2023! I would like to extend my sincere greetings to the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and the vast number of S&T workers nationwide! I would like to extend a warm welcome to the foreign academicians and friends from the international scientific community who are attending the conference!

When our S&T flourishes, our race (民族) flourishes, and when S&T is strong, our nation is strong. Our party has always attached great importance to the development of science and technology. Since the 18th Party Congress [in 2012], the Party Central Committee has promoted the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy in an in-depth way, proposed the strategic task of accelerating the construction of an innovation-oriented country (创新型国家), established the goal of building China into an S&T powerhouse by 2035, continuously deepened S&T structural reform (科技体制改革), fully stimulated the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of S&T personnel, and vigorously promoted the building of self-reliance (自立自强) in S&T. Our country’s S&T undertakings have made historic achievements and undergone historic changes. New breakthroughs have been achieved in basic and cutting-edge research, and a number of major original achievements have been made in fields such as quantum technology, life science, physical science, and space science. Two core conjectures of differential geometry have been successfully proven, chemical small molecules have induced reprogramming of human cells, and artificially synthesized starch using carbon dioxide has achieved “technological creation.” The strategic high-tech field has seen new leaps and bounds. “Chang’e” has landed on the moon, “Tianhe” has taken up its station in space, “Tianwen” has explored Mars, “Crust I” (“地壳一号”) has advanced into the depths of the Earth, “Striver” (“Fendouzhe”; “奋斗者”) has explored the mysteries of the deep sea at depths greater than 10,000 meters, and the world’s first fourth-generation nuclear power plant has been put into commercial operation. Being innovation-driven has led to new achievements in high-quality development. Emerging industries such as integrated circuits and artificial intelligence (AI) have flourished. The first 6G satellite was successfully launched. BeiDou navigation provides precision services on a global scale. Chinese-made large aircraft have been put into commercial operation. High-speed rail technology has set an international benchmark. New energy vehicles have added new impetus to the global automotive industry. Bioengineered breeding (生物育种), the formulation of new medicines, and green and low-carbon technologies have contributed to food security and the building of a healthy China and a beautiful China. S&T structural reform has opened up a new landscape, the S&T management structure has been reshaped, efforts have been accelerated for the deployment of national strategic S&T forces, and the vitality of innovation entities and talents has been further unleashed. New progress has been made in international opening-up and cooperation. China has taken the initiative to launch international S&T cooperation initiatives and taken the lead in organizing major international scientific plans. China’s influence as an important hub of global innovation continues to grow. All these things have laid a solid foundation for building China into an S&T powerhouse.

In the practice of S&T development in the new era, we have continuously deepened our understanding of the laws [of development] and accumulated many important experiences. The takeaways are: We must adhere to the overall leadership of the Party, strengthen the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee over S&T work, keep our eyes on the big picture, consider the overall situation, and grasp the fundamentals, and ensure that the development of S&T always moves in the correct direction. We must persist in walking the path of independent innovation (自主创新) with Chinese characteristics, rely on our own efforts to remake ourselves and on arduous struggle, give full play to the advantages of China’s socialist system in concentrating resources to accomplish major projects, promote high-level S&T self-reliance, and firmly grasp the lifeline of S&T and the initiative for development in our own hands. We must persist in innovation-led development, firmly establish the concept that a firm hold on innovation is a firm hold on development and that seeking innovation is seeking the future, and use S&T innovation to lead high-quality development and guarantee high-level security. We must adhere to the strategic orientation of the “four be oriented towards” (“四个面向”), that is, being oriented toward the cutting edge of world S&T, being oriented toward the main battleground, namely the economy, being oriented toward the major needs of the nation, and being oriented toward the lives and health of the people. We must strengthen the whole-chain arrangement and all-sector layout of S&T innovation, and comprehensively enhance S&T strength and innovation capabilities. We must continue to stimulate innovative vitality through deepening reform, resolutely break down ideological concepts and institutional obstacles that hinder S&T innovation, and effectively transform the advantages of our system into competitive advantages in S&T. We must adhere to the promotion of a virtuous cycle in the education of S&T talent, coordinate the implementation of the strategy of rejuvenating the nation through science and education, the talent powerhouse strategy, and the innovation-driven development strategy and the integrated promotion of education development, S&T innovation, and talent training. We must persist in fostering an innovative culture, inheriting the innovative genes of China’s excellent traditional culture, creating a favorable environment that encourages exploration and tolerates failure, and making respect for science and pursuit of innovation a general trend throughout the whole society. We must persist in open cooperation in S&T for the benefit of humanity, pursue an open strategy of mutual benefit and shared success, and contribute Chinese wisdom and strength to addressing global challenges and promoting human development and progress. These experiences are extremely valuable, require our adherence over the long term, and must be continuously enriched and developed in practice.

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1. Translator’s note: This translation renders the Chinese word 强国 qiángguó—which literally means “strong nation”—in English in two different ways, depending on context. Where the translator judges that qiángguó is used in the general geopolitical sense, it is translated as “world power.” Where the translator judges that the text refers to a specific flavor of qiángguó, it is translated as “powerhouse,” as in the phrase “S&T powerhouse” (科技强国). For a more thorough discussion in English of the Chinese word qiángguó, see: https://www.newamerica.org/cybersecurity-initiative/digichina/blog/lexicon-wangluo-qiangguo/.