Strict oversight over use of funds to get real results

Editor's note: At Caijing magazine's annual meeting in Beijing on Nov 14, Dong Yunting, head of the expert committee of the China Information Technology Industry Federation, said that by the end of last year, China had a total of 7.14 million patents, among which 90 percent were probably only props to appropriate project funds or innovation bonuses. An editorial of 21st Century Business Herald comments:

Although Dong might have exaggerated the scenario, it is undeniable that China's innovation and patents are high in quantity, but low in quality.

No matter how much China needs innovation in science and technology as a booster for economic growth and restructuring, the professionals working on the front line of innovations should always respect the scientific spirit, laws and rules, and the officials must refrain from the impulse of pulling up seedlings to help them grow.