Chinese Premier calls for sci-tech reform

BEIJING - Premier Wen Jiabao called for reform to China's scientific and technological system to make it better serve the country's development, while addressing top national scientists and engineers.

The system should suit the market economy as well as laws and regulations, Wen said.

The speech, which was publicized on Monday, was delivered on June 11 at the biennial conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Efforts should be made to combine science and technology with economic and social development and give full play to the market in optimization of resources, Wen said.

The premier said he believed enterprises' motives in scientific and technological innovation, as well as the establishment of a pioneering system that is market-oriented and with the enterprises as the mainstay, would be important for systematic reform.

He urged sharing resources and better handling the relationship between different research approaches such as those for basic theories, public interests and applied technologies.

In addition to this reform, Wen championed efforts to formulate and implement major plans for scientific development.

Despite past efforts, China still has a lot of work to do in its research in this area from a macroscopic, strategic and comprehensive view, Wen said.

Strategic planning on scientific development is especially important for China, a country with more than one billion people and which can never rely on others for its development, he said.

Core technologies cannot be bought or imported, Wen argued, and they can only be developed by Chinese experts.

In his speech, Wen said he believed it important to promote the research and application of science and technologies that have a direct bearing on social and economic development.

Wen put forward five proposals that touch on issues of agricultural development, environmental protection, heath, climate change and new technologies.

To increase farm produce output and efficiency in the agricultural sector, Wen suggested, it is imperative to develop biological technology, upgrade traditional farming techniques, increase the added value of farm products and use information technology for industries.

The second is to break the bottleneck of resources and environment, promote sustainable development and advance the development of high technologies and strategic emerging industries.

Wen said China's understanding of the urgency of scientific and technological innovation has been deepened through the global financial crisis.

He cited the government's taking advantage of newly emerging industries with strategic importance to fight against the financial crisis, as well as an important approach to transforming the economic development pattern.

Newly emerging industries refer to seven major ones, which are energy saving and environmental protection, new-generation information technology, bio-industry, high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy, new materials and new-energy vehicles.

The third is to promote scientific and technological innovation in health, which is relevant to people's well-being.

The government's administrative principles have changed significantly through the SARS issue, as it has paid more attention to coordinated development between economy and society. The government is also paying more attention to developing social institutions and ensuring and improving people's livelihoods, Wen said.

China is faced with an arduous mission to prevent and control serious diseases, said the premier, adding that research in particular diseases, technologies, bio-medicines and Chinese traditional medicine will be the major focus of work in future.

Wen's fourth proposal involves innovation in environmental protection technology for addressing climate change as well as preventing and relieving disasters.

The premier also underscored the necessity to improve the country's disaster prevention and relief work.

His fifth proposal was to embrace the new scientific and technological revolution. Scientific breakthroughs and innovation will facilitate economic restructuring, serving as an engine to boost economic growth, he said.

Wen also advocated academic freedom and underlined the importance of human resources in the reform.