Scientific endeavors must be creative and bold

Manned space flights and lunar probes, supercomputers and quantum communication — the list of achievements China has made in science and technology is long, and growing longer. As well as being a source of national pride over the past four decades, these achievements are “steady steps forward” for the country as it strives to become an innovation-driven economy, as Wang Zhigang, minister of science and technology, described them on Monday.

At a news conference on the sidelines of the top legislature’s annual session, Wang elaborated on the ambitious plan the country has mapped out to establish itself as a leading innovative country by 2035 and attain the goal of becoming a world science and innovation powerhouse by 2050.

To realize that goal, the government has spent massively on research and development over the past two decades — 2.18 percent of its GDP last year, up by 0.06 percentage points year-on-year. China now spends more on R&D than Japan, Germany and the Republic of Korea combined, and trails only the United States in this regard, accounting for roughly 20 percent of global R&D expenditure. And the country is very likely to overtake the US as the top R&D spender next year.

This input has paid off. China now ranks 17 th on the World Intellectual Property Organization’s global innovation index list, which indicates its economy — guided by government policy prioritizing ingenuity — is already on track to be driven mainly by knowledge-intensive industries that rely on innovation.

Yet this should not give rise to complacency, as there still exist many deficiencies that have compromised the country’s innovation drive, especially in basic research, as Wang pointed out.

China’s outlay on basic research stands at only 5 percent of its total R&D spending, as compared to around 10 percent for major developed countries, and, in particular, 15 percent for the US.

It is universally acknowledged that basic research is an essential factor that fuels innovation. China’s relatively low spending on basic research means much of the money is being spent instead at the end stage of R&D on product development, which undoubtedly weakens the country’s competitiveness in innovation.

And China still lags behind in its ability to commercialize and industrialize research findings when compared with major developed countries.

The Chinese government, enterprises and institutions of higher learning must have a sense of urgency when they seek to tap the potential of innovation.

With this in mind, the government has pledged to increase support for basic research and application-oriented basic research to promote breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields. And it has said it will give scientists a greater say over the direction of their research and more hands-on management of research funds and resources so that they can tap their creativity.

We look forward to the nation taking bigger steps forward in the years ahead.