The State Council Information Office held a press conference on February 25, at which Wang Zhigang, minister of science and technology, updated the media on China's progress in sci-tech innovation in 2021.

New achievements were made in innovation -driven development, said Wang. In 2021, China's R&D expenditure went up 14.2 percent year-on-year to 2.79 trillion RMB, accounting for 2.44 percent of its GDP. China has risen to 12th in the Global Innovation Index 2021, released by the World Intellectual Property Organization last September.

Last year, China strengthened its focus on the whole chain of basic research, technological innovation, commercialization and industrialization of sci-tech achievements, uplifting the inner impetus that drives economic and social development.

Facing the global sci-tech frontier, China supported the exploration of basic research and frontier technologies, which brought the emerging of a series of original and spectacular achievements.

The country also regarded economy as a key factor for development, arranging the industrial chain and innovation chain correspondently, boosting new impetus non-stop.

In terms of the country's major needs, China remained target -oriented, reinforcing the wholistic design of R&D projects and providing key solutions for its major needs using sci-tech as the logical start point and core element.

China also insisted on putting people and their lives first, regarding the improvement of people's health care as an important guidance for R&D.

The building of strategic sci -tech strength was accelerated, including that of national laboratories, national key laboratories, high -level research -oriented universities and research institutes, as well as the development of high-tech enterprises.

On the issue of key reform tasks driven by both sci-tech innovation and institutional innovation, good effects have been achieved regarding continuous advancement of these tasks.  

China has also deepened sci-tech openness and cooperation with the idea of mutual benefit, strengthening the multi-level governmental and civil international sci-tech cooperation.

In 2022, the Ministry of Science and Technology will focus on the solid implementation of sci-tech policies, intensifying the building of national strategic sci-tech strength, strengthening the development of basic research and strategic high-tech, highlighting the principal role of enterprises in innovation, constructing a team of sci-tech talented person, optimizing the environment for sci-tech innovation, uplifting the level of sci-tech openness and cooperation, supporting and leading the high-quality development of the economy.