Recently, Chongqing Science and Technology Bureau and Sichuan Provincial Department of Science and Technology officially launched the declaration of key research and development projects jointly implemented by Sichuan and Chongqing in 2020, according to Chongqing Science and Technology Bureau on August 16. They aim to speed up efforts to build a scientific and technological innovation center with national influence in the Chengdu-Chongqing region, pool superior scientific and technological resources of Sichuan and Chongqing, and jointly achieve breakthroughs in key and core technologies. It is the first time for Sichuan and Chongqing to implement research and development projects together.

Key projects implemented this time focus on the generic key and core technologies of artificial intelligence (AI) and massive health, and Sichuan and Chongqing will organize experts to select the directions of support. The two sides are going to invest 20 million yuan jointly and actively explore the mode of trans-provincial use of research funds. Relevant units in the two places should apply for the projects to their own administrative departments of science and technology, respectively. For projects that Sichuan takes the lead in applying for, cooperative units should comprise relevant units in Chongqing and vice versa, to guide innovation subjects of both places to strengthen collaborative innovation.

Chongqing has selected a total of eight supporting directions, each of which intends to support one to two research projects, and the financial support for each project will not exceed two million yuan, according to Chongqing Science and Technology Bureau—supporting directions in the field of artificial intelligence including research and application of critical technologies of new display park monitoring and production lines' reliability test based on artificial intelligence, research, and use of key technologies of the positioning enhancement service of low-earth-orbit satellites, research on identification methods and application of radio signals under the complex electromagnetic environment based on artificial intelligence, research, and application of key technologies of public service platforms of photoelectric hybrid artificial intelligence chips, etc.

In the next step, Sichuan and Chongqing are going to further focus on the demand of generic industrial technologies, and carry out joint research in modern agriculture, ecological and environmental protection and other fields. The two sides will also break through the bottlenecks in related technologies, strengthen the deep integration of basic research, applied basic research and technological innovation, and realize complementary advantages, integrated innovation, and win-win cooperation.