China is among the world research leaders in chemistry, materials science and physics and has built major scientific instruments such as the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility and the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, he said.

Some notable Chinese scientific and technological achievements highlighted by Xi included hybrid rice, the cloning of a macaque monkey using somatic cells, quantum information technologies, supercomputing, deep-sea and deep-Earth exploration, high-speed rail, and research in vaccine production and disease prevention and control.

As innovation is the driving force of development, Xi said efforts must be made to ensure high-quality science and technology to underpin the development of a modern economy.