What they say

The president’s letter was very encouraging. We need more cooperation in promoting scientific literacy to overcome the knowledge gaps between different countries, as well as different people, so that we can truly use scientific advancement for peace and the prosperity of the world.

Larry Awosika, Nigerian marine geophysicist and member of the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. I agree with President Xi placing scientific literacy at the same level of importance as scientific innovation. We are living at a time where the world depends critically on science for progress, but a large number of people don’t understand that. This is also a time where cooperation among countries is important. Health, climate change and aging are all common issues globally, so the solution must also come from the whole world.

Eric Maskin, economist from the United States who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2007

The concept of scientific literacy has been around since the 1950s in the US and Europe, but China is really the first nation that has grasped this concept as a core national policy, and this is certainly reflected in its legal framework. There is plenty of food for thought in terms of how other nations might find an appropriate way to translate that framework into their own setting.

Tom McLeish, British theoretical physicist and fellow of the Royal Society

China’s effort to promote science today is quite admirable. There are intense efforts from the central government to promote science in many ways. This is, to a large extent, related to the more open policy and international exchange. Heavy investment in science is noticeable, and it will benefit China not only in science but also the Chinese economy enormously in the future.

Edvard Moser, Norwegian neuroscientist and 2014 Nobel laureate in physiology and medicine.

Being scientifically literate isn’t about having the ability to measure the curvature or circumference of the Earth. It lies more in their appreciation for how scientific knowledge, understanding and its applications benefit humanity.

Joan Leach, director of the Australian National Center of the Public Awareness of Science