Innovation forum highlights Chongqing's emerging prominence
Chongqing is the City of Honor at this year's Pujiang Innovation Forum.
Chongqing plays a role as the nation's key central city, economic center in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the nation's major advanced manufacturing center and western China's financial center and transport hub.
It was invited to be the City of Honor at this year's Pujiang Innovation Forum. With the theme of "Innovation for A Better Life for Mankind," this year's forum will explore how science and technology can better serve people's lives and promote a more open, inclusive, balanced and win-win innovation landscape.
During the five-day forum, Chongqing will participate in sessions and seminars on topics that include urban development and the Belt and Road Initiative.
At the forum's Inno-Match Expo, it will display its achievements on its way to becoming an influential science and technology innovation center, and enhance its collaboration with Shanghai and other cities in the Yangtze River Delta region.
The most populous and the only municipality in west China is well known not only because of its rugged terrains, beautiful scenery, spicy food and overcrowded streets, but also due to its economic potential and the role it plays in developing China's vast west.
Innovation is the key and main force behind Chongqing's high-quality development.
The municipality has decided to promote innovation-driven development led by big data technology and intellectualization. Chongqing's scientific and technological innovation ability has been continuously improved, and high-quality development is ready to go.
Investment in research and development reached 2.1 percent last year, 91 well-known innovation institutions, such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University and Tsinghua University, carried out studies here, and the Smart China Expo was successfully held for three consecutive years.
The added value of the digital economy accounted for about one-fourth of Chongqing's gross domestic product, and the contribution rate of high-tech industries and strategic emerging industries to industrial growth was 37.9 percent and 55.7 percent respectively.
Chongqing has accelerated the construction of a scientific and technological innovation town with nationwide influence to lead its high-quality development in the new era.
Hence, Chongqing will implement the fundamental research program in facing the forefront of world science and technology by deploying fundamental research around mathematics, aerospace, new materials, life science and other fields, and carry out applied research in the fields of information, materials, energy, population health, advanced manufacturing and modern agriculture.
A rocket model on display at the Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade in Chongqing
Facing the main economic challenges, Chongqing will implement key technology focusing on key problems, deploy innovation chains around the industrial chain, lay out the industrial chain around the innovation chain and build a technology system to support and lead modern industries.
It will target the needs of advantageous industries, future industrial development and industrial foundation improvement to implement major projects of scientific and technological innovation and demonstration projects of intellectual property protection.
It will also accelerate the construction of the national digital economy innovation and development pilot zone and the national next-generation artificial intelligence innovation and development pilot zone and strive to build a world-class advanced manufacturing cluster.
Facing the major needs of the nation, Chongqing will strive to implement major scientific and technological tasks, actively integrate into the national strategy, strive for the layout of more national resources, focusing on the fields that need to be developed.
Meanwhile, Chongqing plans to undertake more major national projects in integrated circuits, smart manufacturing, new materials, ecological environment restoration in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and promote strategic high technology, equipment and system integration.
Night view of Chongqing
Chongqing will also implement a special innovation program to ensure people's livelihoods and health. Focusing on people's livelihood, it will strengthen science and technology, accelerate technological innovation and application demonstration in the fields of health care, smart city and public security, focus on ecological and environmental protection, strengthen scientific and technological support, and vigorously implement special scientific and technological innovation programs, such as achieving a peak in carbon dioxide emissions before 2030, carbon neutralization, new energy, comprehensive treatment of the Three Gorges Reservoir area and environmental pollution control.
Taking people's livelihood needs as the focus of scientific and technological innovation, Chongqing will use the power of science and technology to create a high-quality life for its people.
