Generating Intrinsic Momentum for Innovation

Education, science and technology, and human resources function as basic and strategic underpinnings for Chinese modernization. It is therefore imperative to promote full integration between reform and innovation to generate intrinsic momentum for innovation.

The Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization (hereinafter “the Resolution”) was adopted at the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee.

Targeting the global frontiers of science and technology, the development of the economy, the major needs of the country, and the health and safety of our people, the Resolution lays out coordinated plans for advancing the integrated reform of systems and mechanisms relating to education, science, technology, and human resources, with the aim of creating multiplier effects that will drive high-quality development and boost the overall performance of our country’s innovation system.

Comprehensive education reform will be deepened, with the aim of turning China’s large education system into one of the world’s best. To move faster in developing high-quality education, we will advance coordinated reforms in student training methods, school operation models, management systems, and support mechanisms.

To optimize the allocation of educational resources across different regions, we will align the supply of basic public education services with demographic changes.

In pursuing deeper scientific and technological structural reform, we will focus on accelerating scientific and technological innovation and achieving a high level of self-reliance and strength in science and technology. We will refine the mechanisms under which major scientific and technological innovation projects are organized. To boost China’s strength in strategic science and technology, we will mount a concerted push for breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields.

We will speed up the systematic planning of major scientific and technological infrastructure, reinforce the principal role of enterprises in innovation, and promote closer collaboration between industries, universities, research institutes, and end-users.

In advancing institutional reforms for talent development, we will make it a priority to build a contingent of personnel with expertise of strategic importance. We will grant more say to employers in this area, create a more accommodating environment for talent development, and speed up efforts to create effective mechanisms for training, utilizing, assessing, serving, supporting, and incentivizing talent. Effective steps will also be taken to resolve the structural problems of supply-demand mismatch between talent development and scientific and technological innovation.

Editor: Zhang Xian