Chinese President Jiang Zemin said Saturday that in the intense
international competition, China is facing an arduous task of
improving its economic structure, making rational use of resources,
protecting the ecological environment, promoting rational
development between different regions, improving the quality of its
population and doing all it can to completely eliminate poverty.
"The key is to make endeavors to develop China's science and
technology to provide momentum and guarantee for economic growth
and social progress," the Chinese president said while meeting
Saturday afternoon with six world well-known scientists in the
seaside resort of Beidaihe, about 300 kilometers east of
Beijing.
He
said that China will implement the strategy of reinvigorating the
nation through science and education and the strategy of
sustainable development. China will also establish and improve
national innovation systems, train talented people and actively
employ overseas talent, improve the scientific and cultural level
of the entire Chinese nation, encourage the Chinese people to be
more aware of the role of science in society and do more to
translate scientific and technological results into productive
forces.
The six scientists are five Nobel Prize laureates: Chen Ning Yang,
Tsung-Dao Lee, Samuel C.C. Ting, laureates of the Nobel Prize for
Physics, and Rudolph A. Marcus, awarded the Nobel Prize for
Chemistry in 1992 and Hartmut Michel, a German who won the Nobel
Prize for Chemistry in 1988, as well as Shing-Tung Yau who was
awarded the Fields Prize in 1983. They are all foreign academicians
of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Jiang said that scientific ethics will be becoming more and more
prominent in the 21st century. The key question is that scientific
and technological progress should serve mankind, the lofty cause of
world peace, development and progress, and should not harm
mankind.
A
major question which should be solved in the 21st century is to
establish and improve scientific ethics, respect and protect
intellectual property rights, and guide scientific and
technological research and application to accord with the common
interests of people all over the world, he added.
The six scientists are in China for a three-day academic exchanges
with Chinese researchers at the invitation of the Chinese Academy
of Sciences (CAS).
Jiang said that he was very glad to meet them in Beidaihe, saying
that they are world famous scientists and have achieved outstanding
successes in their respective fields of research.
The Chinese leader expressed his heartfelt thanks to the six
scientists who have done a great deal of work in helping China's
scientific research, training China's scientific and technical
talent, especially young scientific and technical talent, and
promoting the exchanges and cooperation between Chinese scientists
and their foreign counterparts.
He
said he is ready to hear their views on the development of science
and technology in today's world as well as their suggestions on the
development of China's science and technology, especially high
technology.
The six scientists briefed Jiang on a wide range of issues
concerning the development of science and technology around the
world, new developments in knowledge, the development of China's
science and technology, and the training of young scientific
personnel.
President Jiang pointed out that in the 20th century, science and
technology witnessed enormous and rapid progress. Scientific
concept made further progress and civilization made unprecedented
achievements.
He
noted that such achievements in science and technology, including
the theory of relativity, the quantum theory, the genetic theory
and the information theory, have not only added new knowledge and
strong impetus to humans' efforts to gain correct perception of the
nature and the development of productivity, but also greatly
advanced society and had a profound influence on political,
economic and cultural lives of the humans.
He
said that at present, the development of science and technology has
advanced to the scope of an elementary particle in the field of the
physical sciences, to the level of molecules in the field of life
sciences and to the stage of brain and cognitive science in the
field of ideological sciences.
"This represents the splendid achievements that the mankind has
made in the 20th century and indicates the development of science
and technology in the 21st century," he said.
President Jiang said that science and technology have become the
most innovative driving force of economic growth and social
progress.
Speaking about the prospects of the development of science and
technology in the 21st century, Jiang said that science and
technology will make faster and more far-reaching progress and will
definitely have more profound impact on the development of society
and mankind.
"We should fully assess the great role that science and technology
will play in the development of economy and society in the future,"
he said.
Noting that information and life sciences will be the most
vigorous, fastest growing and most widely influencing fields in the
21st century, Jiang said that breakthroughs will continue to be
made in biological technology, new materials, advanced
manufacturing technology, clean and efficient fuels, aviation and
space technology.
(China Daily)