China Daily:

In recent years, we often see in the media that the CAS has made world-renowned achievements, such as the submersible Deep Sea Warrior, quantum computing prototype, and synthetic starch from carbon dioxide. Mr. Hou, could you please introduce the representative achievements the CAS has made over the past ten years as a national strategic scientific and technological force? Thank you.

Hou Jianguo:

Thank you for your question. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has required the CAS to take the lead in achieving leapfrog development in science and technology, building innovation talent centers, developing national high-level think tanks for science and technology, and establishing world-class research institutions. The CAS is also required to accelerate building sources of innovation and making breakthroughs in key and core technologies and strive to seize an advantageous position in sci-tech development. We feel honored to take the mission and are aware of the heavy responsibility. Over the past ten years, the research staff of the CAS has been committed to this mission, overcome difficulties, and scaled new heights to deliver a slew of global leading landmark achievements.

First, we have stuck closely to national strategic needs, playing a key role in guaranteeing major national projects and breaking through technical bottleneck problems. For example, during the manned space flight projects, the CAS has taken charge of space application systems and developed hundreds of sets of payloads. Amid the lunar exploration programs, we have mainly undertaken tasks including ground application systems and payload subsystems, providing crucial technical support for the "Chang'e" lunar probe to conduct scientific explorations. During the construction process of the BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System, we have undertaken the task of researching and developing a total of 12 satellites. Centering on the commanding heights in the fields of deep space and deep sea, a batch of science satellites, including "Wukong," "Mozi," "Huiyan," "Taiji" and "Guangmu," developed by CAS, have helped boost China's standing in space science international competitions. We have successfully developed a set of spectral deep-sea equipment such as those manned submersibles "Shenhai Yougshi," "Fendouzhe," and "Haidou-1," marking the ability for China's deep-sea scientific research to reach depths of 10,000 meters. Focusing on major needs for components and parts such as aviation engine blades, super-resolution lithography machines, bionic synthetic rubbers, high-end bearings, and special high-performance materials, we have given full play to the advantages of a systematic and institutional system, made breakthroughs in a number of core technologies, and provided strong technical support to ensure the safety of industrial chains.

Second, we have developed cutting-edge technologies and strengthened fundamental research, constantly improved initial innovation capabilities, and accelerated the construction of original innovation sources. We have produced a set of major high-level original achievements in frontier fields of condensed matter physics, molecular science, nanometer materials, and stem cells, such as iron-based superconducting materials, nano-confined catalysis, quantum computer prototype, and artificial method of synthesizing starch from carbon dioxide, helping China to become a leader of such technologies in the world. In a nature index ranking that measures the quality of fundamental research, the CAS has ranked first among all global science institutions for nine consecutive years. The CAS has researched and developed an array of world-leading major sci-tech infrastructures that are known to all, such as the "China Sky Eye," large, high-altitude air shower observatory, and the Chinese "artificial sun." Those products have become tools for us to conduct fundamental research and scientific breakthroughs and supported us in producing a batch of major original achievements in the fields of pulsar research, neutrino oscillation, magnetic confinement fusion, and so on. At this point, I would like to clarify that all infrastructures mentioned above are open to scientists at home and abroad. At present, the "China Sky Eye" has provided scientific observation services for 27 scientific programs from 14 countries.

Third, we have promoted scientific research achievements to go commercial, transformed approximately 110,000 scientific results into commodities over the last decade, and boosted the high-quality development of China's enterprises. For example, the "Shuguang" supercomputer, artificial intelligence chips, stem cells to repair technology, and carbon ion cancer treatment devices developed by the CAS have promoted the development of related emerging industries. Multiple CAS-branded technologies, including producing ethanol and low-carbon olefin from coal, have successfully achieved commercialization and provided technology-driven solutions to promote clean and efficient utilization of coal resources and energy security. We have actively conducted scientific research to combat the epidemic, separated the world's first novel coronavirus strain, and developed multiple kinds of vaccines, detection reagents, and medicines to support the battle against COVID-19 with science and technology. In a bid to reinforce the protection and utilization of black soil, together with local provinces, we have mobilized over 1,000 scientists from 40 research laboratories to conduct the "Science and Technology Battle of Black Soil Granary" in the three provinces in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. This battle has gained initial success. Please refer to the handout for more detailed information on our latest sci-tech achievements.

Thank you.