Beijing: On April 24, 1970, a young man in Liangjiahe, a village in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, was excited to get the news that China successfully sent its first satellite Dongfanghong-1 into space.
The young man, Xi Jinping, later became Chinese President. On May 15, 2021, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, extended congratulations on the successful landing of China’s first probe on Mars. He called for making new and greater contributions to exploring the mysteries of the universe and promoting the noble cause of peace and the development of humanity.
Stressing the importance of sci-tech innovation in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, Xi once noted that “We must blaze a new trail and rely on innovation to drive growth.”
Xi noted that satisfying people’s longing for a better life should be the foothold of sci-tech innovation, the goal of which should be to benefit, enrich and improve people’s lives.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Xi has put forward new requirements for sci-tech innovation. China clearly stated that people’s lives and health should be the top priority in the fight against the virus.
Last March, Xi visited the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and Tsinghua University in Beijing. He said that COVID-19 research must be taken as a major and pressing task, calling for accelerating its progress and overcoming major difficulties in epidemic prevention and control at an early date.
“Science and technology are the most powerful weapons in humanity’s battle against diseases,” Xi said. “Mankind cannot defeat a major disaster or epidemic without scientific development and technological innovation.” At the call of Xi, experts and professionals from various fields and disciplines in the country worked around the clock to build a tight “safety net” for more than 1.4 billion Chinese people and injected confidence into the global fight against the pandemic.
– The Daily Mail-Beijing Review News exchange item
