Invigorate China Through Sci-tech, Education and Talent

BEIJING, Nov. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This is a news report from Science and Technology Daily:

Education,science and technology, and human resources are the foundational and strategic pillars for building a modern socialist country in all respects. That's according to the report presented to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), marking the first time the three pillars are written into one report chapter.

Science and technology should be regarded as the primary productive force, talent as the primary resource, and innovation as the primary driver of growth, says the report.

"For the first time, the strategy for invigorating China through science and education, the workforce development strategy, and the innovation-driven development strategy are systematically explained in one chapter in the report, which shows the importance of the three strategies in helping the country realize its high-quality development and modernization drive," said Mu Hong, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a press conference on October 24.

Mu pointed out that these three strategies jointly serve the building of an innovative country. He further interpreted it in three aspects:

First, priority should be given to education. It is necessary to fully implement the CPC's educational policy, carry out the basic task of fostering virtue through education, continue to follow a people-centered approach to developing education, and move faster toward building a high-quality educational system.

Second, innovation will remain at the heart of China's modernization drive. The country will improve the new system for mobilizing resources nationwide to make key technological breakthroughs, and enhance basic scientific and technological capacity, so as to boost the overall performance of China's innovation system.

Third, the country will adopt more proactive, open, and effective policies on talent, and make concerted efforts to cultivate talented people in all fields, so as to create a large, well-structured, and high-quality workforce. It will also increase international personnel exchanges and make the best use of talent of all types to fully harness their potential.

China will move faster to build world hubs for talent and innovation, promote better distribution and balanced development of talent across regions, and strive to build up its comparative strengths in global competition for talent, according to the report.

To develop a strong workforce for the modernization drive, it is of vital importance to follow the principles of the CPC managing talent, and deepen the institutional reform for personnel development, said Zhang Mingxi, researcher at the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development (CASTED).

Zhang noted that it is essential to give full play to the decisive role of the market in allocating human resources, along with the government playing a due role. The mechanisms of training, using, evaluating, supporting and encouraging creativity of talent should be improved, and professionals should be free from unnecessary institutional constraints.

To enhance the international competitiveness of Chinese professionals, the country should build a network of exchanges and cooperation in science, technology and education with other countries. High-level experts from all over the world and outstanding young talent are welcomed to study and work in China, said Shi Changhui, also a researcher at CASTED.

This article is written in cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development.

SOURCE Science and Technology Daily