The 2026 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference is being held in Beijing from the 25th to the 29th. Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech, emphasizing that China will accelerate its drive towards high-level technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, and stated that only openness and cooperation are the right path.
In his speech, Ding Xuexiang said that during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, China will speed up efforts to achieve high-level technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, focus on building an international center for scientific and technological innovation, and create important strategic resources for building a technological powerhouse. The international science and technology innovation center built by China has some common characteristics, complete strategic capabilities for scientific and technological innovation and a national strategic science and technology force system, plays a central role in breakthroughs in key core technologies, and produces more original results.
Ding Xuexiang also stated that science and technology innovation, led by high-end industries, is deeply integrated with industrial innovation, continuously giving rise to new quality productive forces and nurturing a number of emerging and future industry clusters that hold technological leadership. The convergence of scientific and technological resources and talent resources, the expansion of high-level institutional opening-up in the field of science and technology, enables effective allocation of international innovation resources and attracts and brings together outstanding talent globally.
Ding Xuexiang also proposed the construction of a more open and inclusive innovation network. He said that scientific and technological progress is a global and era-defining issue, and only openness and cooperation are the right way. "We must join hands to break down barriers that hinder the flow of knowledge, technology, talent, capital and other elements of innovation, and foster an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory international scientific and technological development environment."
He also stated that broader and more diverse scientific and technological cooperation should be carried out to achieve sustainable economic and social development, which places increasingly higher demands on scientific and technological innovation. In addition, efforts should be made to promote a more equitable and benevolent technology.
The Zhongguancun Forum was founded in 2007. According to Xinhua News Agency, this year’s annual Zhongguancun Forum will organize and plan 31 supporting activities in three major areas: enterprise sessions, industry sessions, and science and technology culture-related events.