Credit: China Association for Science and Technology
The roles of science and technology in revitalizing northeast were put under the spotlight at the annual meeting of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), co-hosted by the government of Heilongjiang Province.
With the theme of “Innovation-driven reform and opening-up: roles of science and technology in the revitalization of northeast China”, the meeting took place in the end of this June in Harbin, Heilongjiang’s capital city. It focused on three key issues; cutting-edge science and technologies, revitalization forces, and talent attraction. Its 35 sessions, including the China Science and Technology Forum, the Directors' Forum on Digital Economy, and the Entrepreneurs' Summit on Science and Technology Innovation, attracted nearly 6,000 stakeholders in science and technology, whose work will spur the revitalization and modernization of Heilongjiang province, and the wider northeast China region.
Summing up the annual meeting’s achievements, Huai Jinpeng, CAST’s executive vice president, outlined some of the highlights when in his concluding address.
Think tanks: Science and technology think tanks were set up before the meeting, with survey investigations carried out to consider a way forward for Heilongjiang, aiming for formulating plans for high-quality local development. Their inspiring study reports were presented at the meeting.
Industry-academia integration: A series of forums focused on encouraging collaboration between academia and industry, with a view to establishing long-term mechanisms to support local development.
Openness and innovation: The 15 international sessions at the annual meeting attracted experts from around 30 countries and 20-plus international organizations. This shows CAST’s intent to leverage global resources to help Heilongjiang grow.
Science popularization and talent attraction: A series of science outreach activities were organized at the annual meeting, with sights on more than a million people. CAST also helped Heilongjiang attract 60 original, ingenious and high-tech innovation projects from across the world, which will in turn, gather more talent.
CAST annual meetings capture the characteristics of our times. They have increasingly become a platform to spread the scientific spirit, showcase achievements, popularize science, attract talents, provide advices for policy-making, embrace openness and seek cooperation.