The major hurdles to innovation are weak original innovative capacity and a low self-sufficiency rate in key technologies. Enterprises have not been established as the key innovators, the relations between universities, research institutes and enterprises have not been straightened out, while these actors of innovation should be more closely combined so as to improve their overall effectiveness, he said.

The allocation of scientific and technological resources is still too administration-driven, dispersed and repetitive, which has restrained China's innovative capability. To motivate scientists and engineers to engage in innovation, the government should reform the current science management and talent evaluation systems, adopt better measures to cultivate young talent and attract the best and the brightest, to foster a sound environment for innovation, Wan said.

Currently, a prominent issue in integrating science and technology with the economy is a low commercialization rate of research results.

Official statistics show that every year, nearly 6,000 new techniques in agricultural sectors were approved by provincial and ministerial-level governments, yet during the period from 2006 to 2010, only about 40 percent of these achievements were put into commercial use.

Pan Jiluan, a professor with the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Tsinghua University and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, blamed the situation on the inadequate performance evaluation system in research institutes and universities, where researchers tend to be judged by the number of projects they have worked on and the papers they have published, rather than by how many practical problems they have solved or how much economic value they have created.

Li Xiaolin, a professor with China Agricultural University, said that many of his colleagues are engrossed in writing papers and applying for patents, because papers and patents will help them to win academic titles and research funding, whereas they rarely seriously think about what farmers really need, and how to bring their research result to the field.

"Research results should be converted into productivity," Wan said. He said that research institutes and universities should increase their capability to serve economic and social development.

Foreign R&D Centers in China

- Innovation-friendly environment in China will not only benefit indigenous companies, but also attract foreign firms to engage in research and development in China. Official statistics show that in 1999, multinational corporations had no more than 30 research and development centers in China, whereas currently, more than 3,000 foreign companies have set up research and development centers in the country.

- On May 25, Microsoft's Asia-Pacific Research and Development Group Headquarters were officially opened in Beijing, symbolizing the company's focus on China as a key growth market and location for future innovation. Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corp. commented: "When Microsoft first opened in Zhongguancun in Beijing 20 years ago, it set into action a vision of growth and innovation that we shared with the Chinese Government and emerging local industry. That vision has come full circle with Microsoft's Asia-Pacific Research and Development Group Headquarters—which now lays a vital platform for Microsoft's future and our belief in China's ambitions to transform to an innovation-driven economy."

(Sources: Science and Technology Daily and Website of Microsoft Asia-Pacific Research and Development Group)

Email us at: tangyuankai@bjreview.com