Innovation China, a major initiative of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) designed to integrate technological advances with economic development, has played an important role in meeting the scientific and technological needs of local economies and businesses, according to the Innovation China Conference 2020 held in Beijing on Jan. 18.

Launched in May 2020, the initiative has so far surveyed over 3,000 small and medium-sized enterprises to understand their requirements in resuming work and production affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and in seeking innovation-driven development, it was revealed at the conference.

Based on the results of these surveys, the first batch of 26 cities and industrial parks were selected to pilot schemes aiming at linking up enterprises and local governments with the CAST's scientific and technological resources. This move has allowed technological achievements to be applied where they are most needed.

A platform has also been created as part of the initiative to promote technological services and trade, featuring the release and analysis of needs, the appraisal of technological achievements and the connection of supply and demand. It also supports virtual technological roadshows, a feature particularly useful given the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, the platform has three libraries — Problem Library, Project Library and Open Source Library — which allow users to search for, subscribe to and receive notifications about information they are interested in.

Over 1,000 universities, research institutes, enterprises and service organizations have so far joined the platform.

As another major measure of Innovation China, 137 CAST-affiliated national societies and 279 local sci-tech associations have set up 105 service teams led by over 100 academicians to support local economies and businesses in need of innovation. Nearly 4,000 workers from the technology industry have participated in the program.

A three-year action plan was also released during the conference, which stated that the initiative will focus on improving the technology service and trade platform, building innovation city clusters, setting up an organizational system for facilitating industry-academia synergy, and improving sustainable service mechanisms over the next three years.

The establishment of two new institutions was also announced during the conference: the Innovation China Advisory Body and the Innovation China Union.

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