"Seeking Truth" magazine published General Secretary Xi Jinping's important article "Strengthening basic research to achieve high-level scientific and technological self-reliance"

The 15th issue of "Seeking Truth" published on August 1 published an important article by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the State, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, "Strengthening Basic Research to Achieve High-level Science and Technology Self-reliance."
The article emphasizes that strengthening basic research is an urgent requirement for achieving high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and the only way to build a world scientific and technological power. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee has placed the improvement of original innovation capabilities in a more prominent position, successfully organized a number of major basic research tasks, built a number of major scientific and technological infrastructures, and major original achievements in the frontier direction of the foundation continued to emerge. At present, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is developing in depth, the cross-integration of disciplines is constantly advancing, the paradigm of scientific research has undergone profound changes, the penetration and integration of science and technology and economic and social development has accelerated, the transformation cycle of basic research has been significantly shortened, and international scientific and technological competition has moved forward to the basic frontier. To cope with international scientific and technological competition, to achieve high-level scientific and technological self-reliance, to promote the construction of a new development pattern, and to achieve high-quality development, we urgently need to strengthen basic research and solve key technical problems from the source and the bottom.
The article points out that the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China highlights the need to strengthen basic research, highlight originality, encourage free exploration, make strategic arrangements, and put them in place. First, strengthen the forward-looking, strategic and systematic layout of basic research. Basic research is at the beginning of the scientific research chain from research to application and then to production. Only when the foundation is firmly laid can the science and technology building be built high. To strengthen basic research, we should highlight forward-looking and strategic demand orientation, optimize resource allocation and layout structure, and provide basic theoretical support and technology source supply for innovation and development. Second, deepen the reform of the basic research system and mechanism. The world has entered the era of big science, the degree of organization of basic research is getting higher and higher, and the impact of institutional guarantee and policy guidance on the output of basic research is increasing. It is necessary to optimize and refine the reform plan and give full play to the value-driven and strategic traction role of systems and policies. Third, build a high-level support platform for basic research. In recent years, my country has made great efforts to build world-class scientific and technological journals and build a number of major powers. The construction of basic research support platforms has made great progress, but there is still a long way to go to fundamentally solve the problem of "two ends outside. It is necessary to coordinate the construction of a national laboratory system with Chinese characteristics, scientifically plan and lay out forward-looking, strategic-oriented, and application-supported major scientific and technological infrastructure, and fight the battle for the localization of scientific and technological instruments and equipment, operating systems, and basic software. Fourth, strengthen the construction of basic research personnel. Strengthening basic research, in the final analysis, depends on high-level talent. In recent years, my country has deeply implemented the strategy of strengthening the country with talents, deepened the reform of the talent system and mechanism, and achieved remarkable results, but the basic research talent team still has obvious shortcomings. We must make great efforts to build a systematic and high-level basic research talent training platform, so that more basic research talents will emerge. Fifth, extensive international cooperation in basic research. At present, international scientific and technological cooperation is facing the impact and challenge of unilateralism and protectionism of a few countries. To solve the problem of common development, mankind needs international cooperation and open sharing more than ever before. No country can become an independent innovation center or enjoy the fruits of innovation exclusively. China should persist in expanding international exchanges and cooperation such as basic research with more open thinking and measures, and create an open innovation ecology with global competitiveness. Sixth, shaping an innovation ecology conducive to basic research. To carry out basic research requires not only material guarantee, but also spiritual encouragement. The spirit of "two bombs and one satellite", the spirit of moving westward, the spirit of manned spaceflight, the spirit of scientists, the spirit of lunar exploration, and the spirit of Beidou in the new era, which have been forged by several generations of scientific and technological workers in China, have jointly shaped the innovation ecology with Chinese characteristics and become an inexhaustible driving force to support the development of basic research. It is necessary to vigorously promote the scientific spirit of pursuing truth and bravely climbing peaks in the whole society, strengthen the construction of national science popularization capabilities, effectively promote the integration of science and education, and cultivate young people who have the potential of scientists and are willing to devote themselves to scientific research.
The article emphasizes that party committees and governments at all levels should incorporate the strengthening of basic research into the important agenda of scientific and technological work, strengthen overall coordination, increase policy support, and promote the high-quality development of basic research.

Source: Xinhua News Agency