Chinese scientists and companies must develop more technologies and products independently, rather than copying or importing them from foreign countries, said Vice Minister of Science and Technology Shang Yong at a conference on innovation held in Beijing on Thursday.

Technological standards and intellectual property rights have become serious barriers to the country's international competitiveness as a result of the relatively weak creativity of domestic industries, he said.

Encouraging innovation will be included in the country's long-term scientific plan (2005-2020) to tackle such issues as population, natural resources, environment and other important areas that are crucial to the national economy, according to Shang. Enterprises will take center stage in the process of innovation and commercialization of new technologies.

Jin Luzhong, a researcher from the Ministry of Science and Technology's Science Promotion, Development and Research Center, said innovation is important for domestic companies to compete with foreign counterparts.

"Innovation does not exclude cooperating with foreign companies. On the contrary, domestic companies can draw advanced experience from foreign counterparts, to improve themselves by upgrading their technologies," said Lu Feng, a professor from Peking University.

(China Daily February 18, 2005)