Building a national influential science and technology innovation center is an important measure to serve China’s innovation needs. It is also an urgent need to promote Chongqing’s high-quality development and strengthen its weak links in innovation.

Carrying out top-level design, strengthening science and technology management, making innovations in institutional reform, and building Western (Chongqing) Science City with high standards, the Two Sessions of Chongqing, a "cloud" interview was conducted with deputies to Chongqing Municipal People's Congress and members of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the CPPCC to discuss with them how Chongqing can step up efforts to build a national influential science and technology innovation center.

Integration of innovation chain with industry chain

Xu Hongbin, member of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the CPPCC, Party Committee Secretary and Director-General of Chongqing Science and Technology Bureau, said that Chongqing should focus on the innovation pattern of "one city playing the leading role, several parks playing a supporting role, linking work at selected spots with that in entire areas, and overall promotion" when building a national influential science and technology innovation center, to make innovation become a strong driving force for Chongqing's high-quality development.

Firstly, Chongqing should create strategic science and technology platforms. On the one hand, Chongqing should build a Western (Chongqing) Science City with high standards, and build CAS Chongqing Science Center with forward-looking planning, attract more national research agencies to settle here, and accelerate the completion of a comprehensive science center. On the other hand, it should build Chongqing Liangjiang Collaborative Innovation Zone with high quality, set up open, international and high-end R&D institutions for emerging industries, and improve the innovative R&D and industrial generation system for industrial needs.

Secondly, Chongqing should improve its technological innovation capability. For one thing, Chongqing needs to strengthen the leading position of enterprises in innovation, implement growth programs for technology enterprises and multiplication plans for enterprise R&D institutions, support leading enterprises in setting up innovation consortium, greatly increase high-tech enterprises, and focus on cultivating a number of backbone enterprises with strong driving forces, influence and competitiveness. For another, Chongqing needs to implement a reward system for key research projects to achieve breakthroughs in some bottleneck technologies, develop a number of "hardcore" products, promote the deep integration of the innovation chain with the industry chain, and try all means to build it into "a powerhouse of smart manufacturing," "a famous smart city," and an important national advanced manufacturing base.

High-quality development for Liangjiang New Area

Wang Zhijie, deputy to the Chongqing Municipal People's Congress, Executive Deputy Secretary of the Liangjiang New Area Party Work Committee, and Executive Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Liangjiang New Area, said that the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee and the Chongqing Municipal People's Government had issued the Opinions on the High-quality Development of Liangjiang New Area, proposing to accelerate the construction of a core bearing area of the scientific and technological innovation center. The Liangjiang New Area will pool its efforts to enhance the original scientific and technological innovation, highlight the core driving force of high-quality innovation development, accelerate the construction of a core bearing area of the scientific and technological innovation center, and help build a scientific and technological innovation center with national influence.

Led by the in-depth advancement of big data's intelligent innovation, Liangjiang New Area will hammer at enhancing the concentration of high-end and high-quality high-tech industries. It will catalyze the National Digital Economic Innovation and Development Pilot Zone and National Pilot Zone for New-Generation AI Innovation and Development. Centered on industrial parks like Yufu, Shuitu, and Longxing, the Liangjiang New Area will build intelligent industry clusters and intelligent manufacturing innovation corridors.

High-standard Construction of Western (Chongqing) Science City

Shang Kui, Deputy to the Chongqing Municipal People's Congress, Deputy Secretary of the Party Work Committee of the Chongqing High-Tech Industrial Development Zone (Chongqing High-Tech Zone), and Director of the Management Committee of Chongqing High-Tech Zone, said that this year is a critical year for the construction of the Western (Chongqing) Science City, which will be wedded to gathering innovative elements. Specifically, efforts will be made to start constructing the Chongqing Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Science Center of Chongqing University, and complete and put into service the Chongqing Institute of Big Data of Peking University. Additionally, by strengthening enterprises' role as the entities of innovation, the construction of a "special zone for talent" will speed up.

As for optimizing the innovation ecology, it is necessary to deepen the pilot reforms on the ownership or long-term use right of post-related scientific and technological achievements, promote the use of incubation platforms like ZGCZhiKu, build incubation clusters like the Science Valley area, R&F City section, and Xiyong area, accelerate the gathering of equity investment institutions and financial service institutions, as well as plan and organize events like the "Belt and Road" Science and Technology Exchange Conference.

The Western (Chongqing) Science City, as the core carrier of innovation in Chongqing, performs a key role in building a scientific and technological innovation center with national influence. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), with the overall positioning of "City of Science and Hub of Innovation," the Chongqing High-Tech Zone will accelerate the construction of "Home of Scientists and City of Entrepreneurs." It will also support Chongqing to play an exemplary and leading role in building a new model for high-quality development and high-quality life and to assume new missions, take new actions, and make new contributions to promoting the construction of a new development pattern and boosting the development of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle.