By Staff Reporters

The 14th Five-Year Plan (FYP) (2021-2025) elevated innovation to an unprecedented level of importance. Among the targets for development proposed in the plan, the three major indicators of "innovation-driven development" have all been achieved ahead of schedule.

China's R&D expenditure has been steadily increasing with an annual growth of more than seven percent from 2021 to 2024, which accounted for a higher share of GDP than during the 13th FYP period (2016-2020). The number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people has increased from 7.5 to 14. By the end of 2025, the added value of core digital economy industries is expected to exceed 10 percent of GDP.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has underscored the importance of sci-tech modernization and innovation in pursuing Chinese modernization and high-quality development.

The science community has lived up to its mission during the 14th FYP period, risen to challenges, and made milestone leaps in sci-tech innovation for the new era.

Key breakthroughs made

The 14th FYP lays down the objective of developing "an action plan for building prosperity through science and technology, with a focus on strengthening institutional support on a national level and leveraging the advantages of our socialist market economy."

It also encourages innovation and breakthroughs in core technologies in key areas, aiming to improve the efficiency of the entire innovation chain.

In space exploration, China has recorded a series of landmark achievements: The Tiangong space station has been completed and put into operation; the first-ever unmanned sample return from the far side of Moon by the Chang'e-6 mission; continued progress in deep space exploration with the Tianwen-1 Mars mission; and the launch of the Tianwen-2 asteroid sample-return mission.

In deep Earth, the deepest vertical well in Asia, "Shenditake 1," has been drilled, reaching a depth of 10,910 meters. The world's deepest underground laboratory, the China Jinping Underground Laboratory, is exploring the mysteries of the universe with 2,400 m of rock overburden.

The "China speed" of high-quality development continues to gather momentum. The "Jinghua" shield machine, with a 16.07-meter super-large diameter, has set a new record of 542 meters of monthly excavation. A 100-megawatt-hour sodium-ion energy storage project began operation, representing the first large-scale commercial use of its type globally.

Surge in new quality productive forces

Xi has also stressed developing new quality productive forces amid the country's accelerated efforts to foster new growth drivers and promote high-quality development.

New quality productive forces mean advanced productivity that is freed from traditional economic growth mode and productivity development paths, with innovation playing the leading role. They  feature high-tech, high efficiency and high quality, and the concept is in line with China's new development philosophy of green growth.

During the 14th FYP period, China has launched a specific plan for sci-tech innovation, increasing support across 20 key areas including investment in basic research and the cultivation of innovative enterprises.

With policy support, sci-tech innovation integrated with industrial innovation is generating breakthroughs in information technology, new energy and other fields, leading the vigorous development of emerging industries.

China has built 4.6 million 5G base stations, maintaining a leading position globally in terms of technology and user numbers. Over 35,000 basic-level intelligent factories and more than 6,000 green factories have been built.

New records have been set for the efficiency of crystalline silicon PV cells, with the newly installed capacity of PV and wind power exceeding 100 gigawatts for four consecutive years. The cumulative sales of new energy vehicles across the country have exceeded 40 million units, and the production and sales volume have remained the top in the world for 10 consecutive years.

As for cutting-edge technologies such as AI and brain-computer interfaces, China is accelerating their application.

As a result, multiple general-purpose large models have emerged, with over a hundred application scenarios. Humanoid robots are used in automotive manufacturing, logistics, and power inspection. Homegrown brain pacemakers have helped 30,000 Parkinson's disease patients improve their motor functions.

Reform to unleash talent potential

The 14th FYP stresses that reform is necessary to improve a full spectrum of talent management practices, including training, recruitment, and placement, thus giving full play to the role of talent, the most essential resource.

Over the past five years, the reform of the science and technology system has been continuously deepened to fully unleash the vitality of innovation. The evaluation and incentive policies for sci-tech talent have been further optimized. The pilot program of classified evaluation has been further advanced to support young researchers.

In recent years, institutional and fundamental frameworks supporting innovation has been basically established, such as a talent evaluation system oriented towards innovative value, ability and contribution.

Policy measures have empowered researchers, giving them greater power in the distribution of benefits from the technological transformation, as well as reducing their burden by simplifying administrative procedures.

An increasing number of scientific researchers are benefiting from reform. The number of R&D personnel in China has increased from 7.55 million in 2020 to 10.79 million in 2024, ranking first in the world for years. They are the "source of vitality" that makes China's science and technology thrive.

Yin Hejun, China's Minister of Science and Technology, said with only 10 years left now to achieve the goal of building a strong country in science and technology by 2035, the next five years will be highly challenging but also full of potential. He said China will strive to overcome difficulties and forge ahead with determination to make decisive progress in building a country strong in science and technology.