China firm on closing tech gap with the world

Considering innovation as the primary driving force of development, the central leadership has been taking effective measures to bridge China's gap in technological progress with international advanced levels, especially in key and core technologies.

Over the past few years, much has been accomplished toward making China a country of innovation and innovators, with great progress made in science and technology, including the successful launch of the Tiangong-2 space lab, the commissioning of the manned deep-sea research submersible Jiaolong, and the test flight of the airliner C919.

The China Innovation Index, a barometer of innovation capability compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics, has seen a steady rise over the past decade. In fact, this year, China broke into the top 20 most-innovative economies, according to the annual Global Innovation Index published on July 10 by Cornell University and the World Intellectual Property Organization, climbing from 22nd position last year to 17th.