Beijing called on to leverage its sci-tech advantages

A surgical robot peels a raw egg without damaging the eggshell membrane during a media preview on Wednesday for the Beijing International High-tech Expo, part of the Zhongguancun Forum. The forum opened in Beijing on Thursday and runs through Tuesday. ZHANG WEI/CHINA DAILY

President Xi Jinping highlighted on Thursday China's opening-up strategy, which brings mutual benefit and win-win results, and said the nation is willing to work with countries around the world to promote technological innovation to better benefit people of all countries.

Xi made the remarks in a congratulatory message to the 2023 Zhongguancun Forum, which opened in Beijing on Thursday and runs through Tuesday.

Xi said that the world is undergoing a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, and humanity needs greater international cooperation, openness and sharing than ever before in order to address problems in common development.

This photo taken on May 25, 2023 shows a scene of the opening ceremony of the 2023 Zhongguancun Forum in Beijing, capital of China. [Photo/Xinhua]

He urged the city of Beijing to fully leverage its advantages in education, science and technology, and talent resources, and to make coordinated efforts to promote technological innovation and institutional innovation, accelerate the construction of world-class science and technology parks, and strive to set the pace in the innovation of cutting-edge technology and development of high-tech industry.

Founded in 2007, the Zhongguancun Forum has grown into a national-level open innovation platform and an international forum. This year's forum, with the theme "Open Cooperation for a Shared Future", features more than 150 events, including conferences, exhibitions, a competition in cutting-edge scientific fields and technological cooperation fairs.

The forum will focus on cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum science and brain-computer interfaces, explore trends in technological innovation and showcase the latest achievements and new technologies, according to the organizer of the event.

Yin Lin, head of the international cooperation office of the China Association for Science and Technology's international cooperation department, said in an interview with China Daily that in recent years, a growing number of international science and technology organizations have set up branches in Beijing, and this has enhanced global scientific exchanges.

The forum's exhibitions will display cutting-edge technologies, products, high-end manufacturing and major technological achievements from around 650 companies and institutions.

A total of 55 parallel sessions of the forum will be held starting on Friday. These will focus on artificial intelligence, life sciences, clean energy and other frontier fields.

A record 2,500 teams from 30 countries and regions will participate in the competition in cutting-edge scientific fields.

Participants at the forum come from 80 countries and regions and include representatives of 200 foreign government departments, international organizations and institutions. About 120 top experts, including 17 Nobel Prize laureates, will deliver speeches, with foreign speakers accounting for more than 40 percent of all presentations.

The Zhongguancun Forum aims to become an important international science and technology summit and a platform for new scientific achievements and related policies, said Wu Zhaohui, vice-minister of science and technology, at a news conference on May 15. It will contribute Chinese strength and wisdom to global sciences and technological development, he added.