Manufacturing

China intensified efforts to bolster the integration of sci-tech innovation and industrial innovation, with notable strides made in key and core technologies, as part of its broader push to drive the development of new quality productive forces during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).

Experts said the country has sent a clear signal that it is dedicated to implementing the innovation-driven development strategy to achieve greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology, boosting its core competitiveness globally and injecting strong momentum into high-quality economic growth amid external uncertainties.

Over the past five years, China's innovation capacity has steadily improved, and its foundation for becoming a technological powerhouse has been continuously strengthened.

The country's investment in sci-tech has continued to rise, with its research and development expenditure exceeding 3.6 trillion yuan ($505 billion) in an increase of 48 percent compared with 2020, said Minister of Science and Technology Yin Hejun.

R&D intensity reached 2.68 percent, surpassing the average level of European Union countries, while the total number of people engaged in R&D ranked first in the world, Yin said, adding that China's spending on basic research stood at 250.09 billion yuan last year, a rise of more than 70 percent compared with 2020.

China launched a Long March-8A carrier rocket at the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site on Thursday, sending the 12th group of low-orbit internet satellites into preset orbit, marking the 600th successful flight of the Long March rocket series, the Global Times learned from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) on Thursday .

The Long March 8A carrier rocket was developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology under CASC, while the satellites were developed by the China Academy of Spacecraft Technology, also under CASC .

China has achieved an important breakthrough in the development of its next-generation "artificial sun" with the prototype component of the divertor of China's Comprehensive Research Facility for Fusion Technology (CRAFT), passing expert evaluation and acceptance procedures on Monday, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei's device business group, unveils its latest foldable smartphone Pura X in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on March 20. 

Huawei Technologies Co unveiled on Thursday its latest foldable smartphone Pura X, which is the first to run its proprietary operating system HarmonyOS 5, as the Chinese tech company steps up push to revive its smartphone business.