Liu Yaobin: Improving the National Innovation System
On April 30 of this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping, while presiding over a symposium on economic and social development during the "14th Five-Year Plan" [1] period for certain provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, pointed out: "We must improve the national innovation system, stimulate the vitality of various innovation subjects, aim at the frontiers of world science and technology, exert continuous effort in strengthening basic research and improving original innovation capabilities, and lose no time in tackling key core technologies and frontier technologies." This important discourse points out the direction forward and provides the fundamental guidance for improving the national innovation system at present and in the future.
I. The Major Strategic Significance of Improving the National Innovation System
Improving the national innovation system is a vital link in building the systems and mechanisms that support comprehensive innovation. It can better promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation, effectively drive the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, and provide robust scientific and technological support for Chinese-path modernization. At present, scientific technologies such as artificial intelligence are driving profound global changes. Only by improving the national innovation system and optimizing the institutional environment for innovation can we proactively seize strategic opportunities and win the initiative for future development.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to the construction of a national innovation system and has made systemic deployments.
In September 2013, during the ninth collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed enhancing the overall efficiency of the national innovation system. In May 2018, at the conference of the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed perfecting the national innovation system. In July 2024, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee further emphasized: "We must deeply implement the strategy of invigorating the country through science and education, the strategy of strengthening the country through talent, and the innovation-driven development strategy; coordinate the integrated reform of systems and mechanisms for education, science, technology, and talent; improve the new-type nationwide system [2]; and enhance the overall efficiency of the national innovation system." After years of effort, our country has initially constructed a national innovation system compatible with the socialist market economy. Innovation capabilities have continued to climb, but overall efficiency is not yet strong. In particular, problems such as the fragmentation, duplication, and inefficiency of scientific and technological innovation resources persist, restricting the construction of an innovative country and high-quality development. When presiding over the symposium on economic and social development during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to improve the national innovation system. In planning for the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, we must base ourselves on the grand goals of building a strong country and national rejuvenation, further increase our sense of urgency, improve the national innovation system, solidify the foundations of innovation, break through key bottlenecks, lead at the frontiers of technology, and provide powerful scientific support for building a strong country.
At present and in the future, improving the national innovation system is urgently needed to promote the systematic organization of scientific and technological innovation and to achieve more efficient "organized research." First, we must improve decision-making, incentive, and governance mechanisms, and establish effective models for research organization, innovation resource allocation, and innovation output to enhance the enthusiasm of researchers, team collaboration awareness, and the effectiveness of innovation outputs. Second, we must continuously enhance the capacity for research organization, realize the networking of R&D cooperation, the sharing of innovation resources, and the smooth exchange of information, and improve the capacity for technology production, allocation, output, and diffusion, thereby comprehensively enhancing the efficiency of innovation organizations.
A high-quality, high-standard talent institutional system is an important component of the national innovation system, including systems for the selection and training, mobility and utilization, evaluation and incentive, and development security of scientific and technological talent. Improving the national innovation system not only helps meet the demand for innovative talent in key innovative and high-tech industries—achieving a deep connection and fusion between talent development and industrial growth and promoting the precise coupling of the industrial, innovation, and talent chains—but also helps accelerate the construction of a national strategic talent force. We must focus on cultivating strategic scientists, first-class technological leaders, and innovation teams, as well as outstanding engineers, "Great Country Craftsmen" [3], and high-skilled personnel, thereby improving the quality of all types of talent.
II. Improving the National Innovation System Requires Optimizing the Allocation of Innovation Resources
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must work hard to strengthen the overall coordination of scientific and technological innovation, striving to overcome the phenomena of fragmentation, isolation, and overlap that exist in various fields, departments, and aspects of innovation activities, and avoid the 'island' phenomenon in innovation." The report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC noted: "We will optimize the allocation of innovation resources, optimize the positioning and layout of national research institutes, high-level research universities, and leading high-tech enterprises, form a system of national laboratories, and coordinate the development of international and regional centers for scientific and technological innovation." The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese-path Modernization, deliberated and adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, further highlighted the coordination of national innovation strategic planning, policy measures, major tasks, research forces, resource platforms, and regional innovation, strengthening the top-level design for improving the national innovation system.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Give full play to the advantages of the new-type nationwide system and accelerate the advancement of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening." The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee emphasized: "Improve the new-type nationwide system and enhance the overall efficiency of the national innovation system." The advantage of the new-type nationwide system lies primarily in giving full play to our country's institutional advantage of "concentrating resources to accomplish great tasks" [4] and our ultra-large market advantage, maximizing the benefits and optimizing the efficiency of resource allocation to achieve major national strategic goals. To leverage the advantages of the new-type nationwide system, in terms of leadership mechanisms, we must improve the system of the Party Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership over scientific and technological work and build a collaborative and efficient decision-making and command system. In terms of organizational implementation, we must coordinately strengthen the tackling of key core technologies and move the configuration of innovation forces, elements, and talent teams toward a systematic, institutionalized, and collaborative model. In terms of key industrial chains, we must improve the developmental systems and mechanisms for integrated circuits, industrial mother machines [5], medical equipment, instrumentation, basic software, industrial software, and advanced materials, advancing technological breakthroughs and the application of achievements across the entire chain. In terms of policy support, we must push for the transition of technology policies from fragmented stages to a collaborative system, providing precise policy support for areas of strategic competition.
We must strengthen the unified "whole nation as a single chessboard" [6] coordination mechanism, focusing on achieving synergy in strategic planning, policy measures, major tasks, research forces, resource platforms, and regional innovation. We should optimize resource allocation through policy guidance, establish platforms for sharing scientific and technological resources, and promote multi-subject collaboration. We must optimize the resource allocation mechanism, establish an evaluation system oriented toward innovation value, and improve the mechanism for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. We should establish sharing platforms to improve resource utilization efficiency and form a diversified investment system for science and technology. We must coordinate cross-regional innovation linkage, driving breakthroughs in key core technologies through cross-departmental, cross-regional, and cross-disciplinary innovation mechanisms. Currently, our country’s scientific and technological innovation capability does not yet meet the needs of high-quality development, and its capacity to serve as a source for new quality productive forces is not strong; the overall efficiency of the innovation system is not yet high, and the systematic support for new quality productive forces is insufficient. To effectively resolve the constraints on high-quality development and accelerate the development of new quality productive forces, we must innovate the way elements are configured, smooth the virtuous cycle between education, technology, and talent, and allow various advanced and high-quality innovation elements to flow smoothly toward the development of new quality productive forces, constantly giving rise to new industries, new models, and new drivers of growth.
III. Improving the National Innovation System Requires Stimulating the Vitality of Various Innovation Subjects
The development of innovation subjects such as enterprises, universities, and research institutes is a major engine for improving the overall efficiency of the national innovation system. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must optimize and strengthen the top-level design of the technological innovation system, clarify the functional positioning of enterprises, universities, and research institutes at different links of the innovation chain, and stimulate the innovation passion and vitality of all types of subjects." This important discourse indicates that only through scientific and reasonable top-level design—clarifying the strategic positioning of different innovation subjects and building an innovation ecosystem where advantages are complementary and breakthroughs are tackled collaboratively—can we fully stimulate the endogenous drive and innovation vitality of various subjects.
We must strengthen the dominant position of enterprises in innovation, giving full play to their role as the main force in technological breakthroughs and the transformation of achievements. As the bridge connecting technology and the economy, enterprises are the key hub for transforming scientific results into actual productive forces. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Enterprises are the subjects of innovation and a fresh force for promoting innovation and creation." The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee noted the need to "strengthen the dominant position of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation" and give play to their role in R&D investment, technological breakthroughs, and the application of results. We should support enterprises in leading the formation of innovation consortia and undertaking major national technological projects. We should encourage enterprises to increase R&D investment and support them in building high-level research institutions. We must leverage the leading role of technological giants to drive collaborative innovation among small and medium-sized enterprises upstream and downstream in the industrial chain, providing inexhaustible corporate momentum for building a world power in science and technology.
We must strengthen the foundational support of universities and research institutes and open up the value realization chain for the integration of industry, academia, and research. As the source of original innovation, the main battlefield for talent cultivation, and the primary force for basic innovation, the strength of universities and research institutes in basic research and original innovation directly determines the foundation of national scientific innovation. We must strengthen their role as the main force and their function as sources of innovation, systematically optimizing the academic innovation ecosystem and governance efficiency, and building a university innovation system aimed at producing first-class academic results and cultivating first-class innovative talent. We must emphasize technological transformation and promote the joint construction of new R&D institutions by universities, research institutes, and enterprises, facilitating the precise alignment of the innovation chain with the industrial chain. By building an integrated innovation pattern of industry, academia, and research, we can release the source of knowledge creation in universities and institutes and generate synergistic effects.
We must comprehensively deepen the reform of the scientific and technological system to stimulate the vitality of subjects through institutional innovation. As the institutional cornerstone of innovation activities, the scientific and technological system is the decisive factor for the release of innovation vitality. It directly relates to whether innovation elements can flow efficiently, whether innovation subjects can fully release their vitality, and whether the innovation chain can be smoothly integrated. Currently, problems such as sluggish transformation of achievements and insufficient synergy between industry, academia, and research severely restrict the improvement of our innovation capabilities. There is an urgent need to further comprehensively deepen the reform of the scientific and technological system. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must comprehensively deepen the reform of the scientific and technological system, enhance the efficiency of the innovation system, and focus on stimulating innovation vitality." In this reform, we must adhere to a systems perspective, using the courage to "gnaw on hard bones" [7] and the determination to "brave difficult passes" to touch upon deep-seated contradictions, break through the barriers of entrenched interests, and build an institutional system for technological innovation that meets the requirements of high-quality development. We should drive the concentration of innovation resources toward advantageous subjects and key areas, strengthen the mechanisms for collaborative innovation between central and local governments, and create global innovation highlands. We must improve the allocation and management mechanisms for central government scientific and technological funds and perfect the execution of central fiscal technology plans and the management system of professional agencies. We should expand the scope of the "lump-sum system" [8] for fiscal research project funds, granting scientists greater power to decide technical routes, manage funds, and schedule resources.
IV. Improving the National Innovation System Requires Continuous Effort in Strengthening Basic Research and Improving Original Innovation Capabilities
Basic research is the source of the entire scientific system; its depth and breadth determine the potential and endurance of a country's technological development. Strengthening basic research is crucial for enhancing our country’s original innovation capabilities and improving the national innovation system. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "possessing strong basic research and original innovation capabilities, and continuously producing major original and disruptive technological achievements" is one of the basic elements of becoming a scientific and technological power. He required that we "exert continuous effort in strengthening basic research and improving original innovation capabilities." This clarifies the strategic leading position and fundamental supporting role of basic research and original innovation, providing the fundamental guidance for advancing the construction of a scientific and technological power.
We must use national strategic needs as the lead and diversified investment as support to focus on breakthroughs in basic research. Only by achieving breakthroughs in basic research can we provide solid theoretical support for technological innovation and occupy a place at the world's scientific and technological frontiers. Basic research should take national strategic needs as its guide, closely integrating with major national strategic requirements and aiming at world-leading frontiers to determine key research directions and fields. At present, we should strengthen the construction of basic disciplines, carry out original and leading basic research in key technical fields, and strive to produce a batch of major original results. In major fields related to the national economy and people's livelihood, such as energy, resources, and the environment, we must strengthen applied basic research to effectively promote the high-quality development of our economy and society. By rationally laying out the directions of basic research, we can make our basic research more focused on major national strategic needs and continuously improve its pertinence and effectiveness. At the same time, we should build a new pattern of sustained, stable, and multi-party collaborative investment in basic research. On the basis of continuously increasing national fiscal investment, we should actively innovate systems and mechanisms to encourage all sectors of society to increase investment in basic research, forming a collective force across society.
We must improve the mechanisms for cultivating innovative talent and enhance original innovation capabilities. Talent is the primary resource for innovation and the key factor in improving original innovation capabilities. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that...
"Progress in areas such as the reform of scientific research institutes, the establishment and improvement of mechanisms combining science and technology with finance, and the cultivation of innovative talent has lagged behind overall progress, and the enthusiasm of scientific researchers to carry out original technological innovation has not yet been fully stimulated." To improve the mechanism for cultivating innovative talent, we should formulate targeted talent cultivation plans, optimize the professional layout of basic disciplines, strengthen the construction of basic disciplines, and cultivate a group of strategic scientific talent, leading scientific talent, and innovation teams with international standards. We must accelerate the improvement of the scientific research management system, simplify the declaration and approval processes for research projects, and grant researchers greater autonomy. It is necessary to establish a scientific and rational research evaluation mechanism to guide researchers to place greater emphasis on basic research; establish and improve talent mobility mechanisms to promote the rational flow of talent among universities, research institutions, and enterprises; increase the intensity of cultivation for young scientific talent; and increase financial support for basic research. We must establish a stable growth mechanism for financial input so that researchers can focus on basic research work.
V. Improving the national innovation system requires urgent action in making breakthroughs in key core technologies and frontier technologies[9]
Key core technologies and frontier technologies are the critical supports of the national innovation system. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to "act quickly to tackle key core technologies and frontier technologies," noting that "we must strengthen strategic planning and systemic layout, persist in the orientation of national strategic goals, sight in on several key fields and major tasks related to our country’s industry, economy, and national security, clarify the main directions of attack and breakthroughs in core technologies, and focus on the research and development of key technologies with first-mover advantages and basic frontier technologies that lead future development." General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions have pointed the way for breaking through key core technologies and frontier technologies.
We must persist in forward-looking layouts to seize the strategic high ground of frontier technologies. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must grasp the general trend, seize opportunities, face problems head-on, meet challenges with courage, aim at the world's scientific and technological frontiers, lead the direction of scientific and technological development, shoulder the heavy responsibility entrusted by history, and strive to be the vanguard of scientific and technological innovation in the New Era." In recent years, the global technological revolution has accelerated its evolution, with continuous breakthroughs in frontier fields such as quantum information, artificial intelligence, and life sciences. We must concentrate our strength to conquer a batch of forward-looking and strategic frontier technologies. We must strengthen cross-domain integrated innovation and expand the boundaries of technological application. We must promote the deep integration of the internet, big data, and artificial intelligence with the real economy; promote the deep integration of information technology with traditional industries; and enhance the production efficiency and product quality of traditional industries through digital transformation. We should actively develop emerging industries, deploy future industries ahead of schedule, and lead and support the construction of a modernized industrial system through scientific and technological innovation.
We must strengthen international cooperation to break through key core technologies and frontier technologies. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Currently, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is developing in depth. To solve common development problems, humanity needs international cooperation and open sharing more than ever before." No country can solve global scientific and technological challenges in isolation. We must form an open innovation ecosystem with global competitiveness, break technological monopolies and blockades, and promote the global sharing of scientific and technological achievements. We should strengthen international scientific and technological cooperation, actively and voluntarily integrate into the global innovation system, make good use of global innovation resources, learn from the advanced experience of global scientific and technological innovation, carry out international cooperative research on major scientific projects, and implement an international scientific and technological cooperation strategy that is more open, inclusive, mutually beneficial, and shared. We must give full play to the role of the platform for high-quality "Belt and Road" cooperation, broaden channels for scientific and technological cooperation, construct a new pattern of international scientific and technological cooperation characterized by mutual benefit and win-win results, and enhance our country's discourse power[10] and influence in global scientific and technological innovation.