Leading the way to Chinese modernization through sci-tech innovation

BEIJING -- The launch of the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System's (BDS-3) final two satellites in September marked the completion of China's independently-developed satnav system, for which President Xi Jinping has given continuous support.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has been closely following the development of the BDS-3 program.

He visited the satellite launch site, cared about and encouraged scientists and technicians in the BDS-3 program, officially announced the commissioning of the program, sent a congratulatory letter to an international summit on the application of BeiDou, and mentioned it as a highlight of China's achievements in his New Year messages.

He has called for wider application of the BeiDou system to make new and greater contributions to China's economic and social development, as well as the building of a human community with a shared future.

Under the new system of concentrating nationwide efforts and resources on key undertakings, sci-tech workers have surmounted a multitude of technological hurdles -- successfully integrating BeiDou into both industrial applications and daily life.

BeiDou has become a standard configuration for mass consumer products such as smartphones and wearable devices. In the first half of 2024, over 98 percent of China's 139 million units of smartphone shipments supported the BeiDou positioning system.

The growth of BeiDou mirrors the modernization drive underpinned by the modernization of science and technology, and shows how the Chinese leader values sci-tech innovation and its fruits for bolstering the economy and facilitating high-quality development.

At this year's meeting with the country's sci-tech workers in June, Xi said that Chinese modernization should be supported by sci-tech modernization, and achieving high-quality development relies on new driving forces cultivated by sci-tech innovation.

What he calls for is happening. China has moved up to 11th place in the rankings of the world's most innovative economies, representing one of the fastest rises over the past decade, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The country is also home to 26 of the world's top 100 sci-tech innovation clusters, maintaining its position as the global leader for two consecutive years, the WIPO's Global Innovation Index 2024 confirmed.

Xi has emphasized the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation by enhancing the principal position of enterprises in technological innovation.

The development of new energy vehicles is a good example. In 2014, during an inspection tour of SAIC Motor, a major Chinese carmaker, Xi called for the research and development of products that cater to diverse needs and highlighted the importance of new energy vehicles in enhancing China's automotive industry.

In the following decade, the president became a big fan of electric cars, visiting automotive companies, touring laboratories, and showing great interest in trying new home-developed models. He encouraged carmakers to focus on product quality and cultivate market competitiveness.

Now new energy vehicles have become a highlight of China's tech-intensive industry. Their penetration rate, a gauge of popularity, climbed to 53.9 percent in the domestic market in August, meaning that their sales volume exceeded that of traditional vehicles with internal combustion engines.

New energy vehicles are also gaining popularity in Southeast Asian, South American and European markets. In the first eight months of 2024, China exported 818,000 new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 12.6 percent.

In addition to boosting economic growth through new energy industries, Xi also places great emphasis on the role of such industries in green development and promotes the sharing of green technologies -- as harmonious coexistence between human and nature is one of the key features of China's modernization.

He has repeatedly expressed China's commitment to re-adjusting industrial structure and energy mix, vigorously developing renewable energy, and making faster progress in planning and developing large wind power and photovoltaic bases.

Over the past decade, China's annual installation of renewable energy power generation capacity has accounted for more than 40 percent of the global total, while exceeding 50 percent in 2023.

China's fast progress in developing renewable energy technologies and their massive applications have also significantly contributed to an over 60 percent reduction in wind power costs and a more than 80 percent drop in photovoltaic power costs globally. This has played a pivotal role in global efforts to cut carbon emissions and transit toward a greener economy.

At the same time, its renewable energy technology is still making breakthroughs, providing impetus for the future development of the industry. According to a study published in Nature at the end of September, Chinese chemists Yuan Mingjian from Nankai University cooperated with a scientist in Canada to prepare perovskite solar cell devices with high energy conversion efficiency and high operational stability, marking a major breakthrough in new-generation photovoltaic technology.

At a recent symposium on ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, Xi mentioned that many African countries have been discussing cooperation with China concerning wind and photovoltaic power.

"Green and low-carbon cooperation has a promising future," he said.