China's science, technology make breakthroughs in strategic sectors: minister

Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang (C), He Defang (2nd R), director-general of the Policies, Regulation and Supervision Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), and Xu Jing (2nd L), director-general of the ministry's Innovation and Development Department, take questions at a press conference on speeding up the construction of innovative country on the sidelines of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 10, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua/Xing Guangli]

China is taking a leading position in strategic high-tech sectors, such as space, deep-sea, super-computing and nuclear energy, Minister of Science and Technology said Saturday.

China's fundamental research achievements in the fields of quantum entanglement, Weyl fermions and embryonic stem cells, have had worldwide influence, Wan Gang, the minister said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress.

Satellites, such as dark matter probe satellite Wukong, quantum science satellite Mozi and BeiDou navigation satellites, have played an important role in deep space exploration, positioning and navigation and environmental monitoring, Wan said.

The construction of major fundamental facilities including the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), or Tianyan, as well as Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, have also made great progress, he said.

Technological innovation, fully engaged with the economy and society, has been a strong support to supply-side structural reform, Wan said. "It also has significantly improved people's lives in terms of air pollution control, poverty alleviation and health."

Wan said a situation of mass entrepreneurship and innovation is taking shape in China. 

So far, there have been more than 4,200 maker spaces, more than 3,000 high-tech incubators, over 400 start-up accelerators and over 150 state-level hi-tech industrial development zones across the country.

The innovation ecology and environment have provided services for nearly 400,000 small and medium scientific and technological enterprises, and created more than two million jobs, according to the minister.