Premier Wen Jiabao has called for reform to China's scientific and technological system to make it better serve the country's development, at a conference attended by China's top scientists and engineers.

The system should suit the socialist market economy as well as laws and regulations, Wen said.

The speech, which was publicized on Monday, was originally delivered on June 11, at the biennial conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Efforts should be made to combine science and technology with economic and social development and give full play to the market in optimization of resources, according to Wen.

The premier said he believes enterprises' motives in scientific and technological innovation, as well as the establishment of a pioneering system that is market-oriented and with the enterprises as the mainstay, are important for systematic reform.

He urged sharing resources and better handling the relationship between different research approaches such as those for basic theories, public interests and applicable techniques.

In addition to this reform, Wen championed efforts to formulate and implement major plans for scientific development.

Despite past efforts, China still has a lot of work to do in its research in this area from a macroscopic, strategic and comprehensive view, according to Wen.

Strategic planning on scientific development is especially important for China, a country with more than one billion people and which can never rely on others for its development, he said.

Core technologies can not be bought or imported, Wen argued; they can only be developed by Chinese intellectuals.

In his speech, Wen said he believes it is important to promote the research and application of science and technologies that have a direct bearing on social and economic development.