A meeting to study and implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee is held by the Institute of Biophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Nov 9.

The fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was held in Beijing in October.

The session adopted the CPC Central Committee's proposals for the formulation of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, a guiding principle for building a modern socialist country in all respects.

The Institute of Biophysics (IBP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) held a meeting to study and implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee on Nov 9, and invited Sui Jigang, a researcher at the CAS Institutes of Science and Development, to deliver a lecture.

Sui gave an in-depth analysis of the CPC Central Committee's requirements on scientific and technological innovation. The proposals underlined the central role of innovation in the overall scheme of China's modernization, and indicated that self-reliance in science and technology should be a pillar to support national strategic development. It should be oriented to the frontiers of global science and technologies, the main battlefields of the economy, major national needs, and the life and health of the people.

The proposals reiterated the strategies of invigorating the country through science and education, strengthening the nation through human resource development and innovation-driven development, improving the national innovation system and speeding up efforts to build the country into a scientific and technological powerhouse.

Sui elucidated that scientific and technological innovation is the fundamental power that promotes economic and social development and enhances national competitiveness. He also explored the considerations behind innovation-driven development strategies, based on the development histories and economic development theories, as well as case studies in different countries such as the United States and China.

IBP Party secretary Wang Hongyan expressed his gratitude to Sui for bringing such a fact-filled report broadening the attendee's horizons. He noted that China's innovation and development can only depend on the Chinese people and also called upon researchers to make greater efforts in national self-reliance on science and technology.

Sui Jigang gives a lecture during the meeting on Nov 9.

Wang Hongyan presides over the meeting on Nov 9.