Chinese scientists were urged to work towards enhancing the
country’s innovation capabilities by President Hu Jintao
on Monday and to build China into an innovation-oriented country to
"provide strong scientific and technological support" for future
development.
Hu made his remarks at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and
the Academy of Engineering (CAE) conference which opened in Beijing
on Monday.?
Other important Party and State leaders including
Wu
Bangguo, Wen
Jiabao, Jia
Qinglin, Zeng
Qinghong, Huang Ju,
Wu
Guanzheng, Li
Changchun and Luo Gan
also attended the opening ceremony of the science summit.
"Science and technology, especially strategic high technology,
is increasingly becoming the decisive force in economic and social
development,” Hu said at the conference.
He urged that action be taken quickly to catch up with developed
countries in scientific and technological fields and to rely more
on innovation in these areas to achieve rapid economic and social
development.
Hu praised the CAS and CAE members, China's top scientists, for
making excellent contributions to major state science projects
including the manned space flight, the development of super hybrid
rice and high-performance computer super servers.
At the four-day conference the CAS is to revise its
constitution, elect new leaders for its academic divisions and the
seventh group of its foreign associates.
The CAE are also electing a new leadership. Twenty senior
engineers will be awarded the Sixth Guanghua Engineering Science
and Technology Prize at the conference. Academic workshops will
also be convened.
Under the CAS and CAE constitutions the two bodies hold their
conference every two years. The CAS has 704 members and foreign
associates. ?
(Xinhua News Agency June 6, 2006)