Science minds converge to grapple with hot issues

Top scientists, international organization representatives, young researchers and entrepreneurs from around the world will gather to explore hot issues in science and technology during a multi-day forum in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

Initiated by the Alliance of International Science Organizations and hosted by the Guangdong provincial government, the Greater Bay Area Science Forum is set to open in Guangzhou's Nansha district on May 20.

The forum is committed to building a high-level platform for sharing achievements, exchanging ideas and forging consensus in the sci-tech field, helping drive high-quality development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area through scientific innovations and collaborations, said Nie Xiaowei, executive secretary-general of the forum.

The event, which runs until May 23, aims at "uniting forces from various stakeholders to bring scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement to a higher level" and is designed "to create the high ground for sci-tech innovation and to make the Greater Bay Area a magnet for top scientists", Nie said during a news conference in Guangzhou on Tuesday.

The forum will focus on a wide range of key topics, including artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, high-energy physics, biomedicine, health, communications, high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative, regional coordinated development, marine science, green development, carbon goals, international scientific partnerships and technological commercialization.

Guangdong's spending on research and development reached about 420 billion yuan ($60.3 billion) last year, with the number of R&D personnel, invention patents, international patent applications and high-tech enterprises ranking first in the country, according to the provincial science and technology department.