2023 ZGC Forum: Spirit of Chinese scientists drives rise of tech innovation

The 2023 Zhongguancun Forum is taking place in Beijing from May 25 to 30, themed "Open Cooperation for a Shared Future." Over 650 IT enterprises from more than 80 countries are attending the event.

This year's forum focuses on the exhibition of cutting-edge technologies, from artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to quantum science and a new generation of semiconductors. The Zhongguancun Forum reveals China to be an innovation powerhouse and shows how much progress Chinese scientists and practitioners have made.

In 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the development of China into a science and technology power at the opening of the 19th Meeting of the Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the 14th Meeting of the Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. To meet this goal, five areas were identified – tech innovation, independent tech development, scientific and technological system reform, involvement in global technology governance and talent development strategy. President Xi's statement ushered in a new era of high-quality development for Chinese tech innovation.

The spirit of Chinese scientists was well defined by a document issued by the State Council in June, 2019, which distilled President Xi's advocacy of scientists into a few points – patriotism, innovation and courage, truth-seeking, dedication and concentration, collaboration and promoting young successors.

Many Chinese scientists devote their energies and intelligence to the scientific and technological research needed by our nation. A demand-driven approach is always a primary target when we think of innovation. Teamwork is vital when looking to address key technological obstacles, which require groups of scientists to dedicate themselves to long-term objectives. Thus, many breakthroughs are the consequence of multi-generational work.

At the Zhongguancun Forum, we also can find some hints about the spirit of Chinese scientists. AI, for instance, provides attendees with a direct immersive experience of the metaverse. Through human-machine interaction, AI-centered solutions point to a bright digital market. Chinese scholars are open to international collaboration and feel comfortable sharing knowledge and opinions with global colleagues. There is also scope for exchanging ideas and advanced digital products for constructing digital ecosystems, thanks to progress made in key fields of technology. Many AI applications have exhibited a leading functionality or performance and these achievements are a result of extensive research and development. Based on their solid work, Chinese IT scientists have greater ambitions to push the boundaries of their research and explore new fields of cutting-edge technology.

Another example is blockchain application. Many Chinese scientists are developing consortium blockchain technology that differs from the mainstream direction (public blockchain) of other countries. This persistence derives from our nation's requirement for a self-developed blockchain infrastructure employed in variety of application scenarios.

Stories or experiences such as these will surely encourage more scholars to become pioneers in emerging fields of technology.

In summary, the spirit of Chinese scientists has been crucial to our nation for decades. Enthusiasm and dedication are among the many contributions Chinese scientists have brought to today's Zhongguancun forum.

(Gai Keke is a professor of the School of Cyberspace and Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, and Yu Jing is an associate professor of the Institute of Information Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences.)