The Chinese Central Government has called for reform of the awards system for scientific and technological contributions to spur devotion and innovation among scientists.

The move is aimed at motivating sci-tech employees' enthusiasm for seeking innovation and breakthroughs amid the nation's efforts to transform its economy into an innovation-driven one, according to a State Council document published on June 9.

The reform should make the awards focus on encouraging innovation and ensuring fairness, the document said.

Government authorities should not interfere in jury prize selections and the appraisal procedure should be made transparent, according to the document.

The Central Government also called on academic institutes to supervise the selections, making scientific awards more credible and authoritative.

The Ministry of Science and Technology and the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council will be responsible for amending the regulation on national sci-tech awards and working out detailed reform measures.

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2017)