IV. Supporting All-Around Innovation
Education, science and technology, and talent function as basic and strategic underpinnings for Chinese modernization. We must fully implement the strategy of invigorating China through science and education, the strategy of developing a quality workforce, and the innovation-driven development strategy, make coordinated efforts to promote integrated reform of institutions and mechanisms pertaining to education, science and technology, and talent, and improve the new system for mobilizing resources nationwide, so as to boost the overall performance of our country's innovation system.
(13) Deepening comprehensive reform in education
We will work faster to build a high-quality education system and advance coordinated reforms in student training methods, school operation models, management systems, and support mechanisms. We will improve the mechanisms for fostering virtue through education, introduce integrated reforms and new approaches in the political education curriculum at all levels, from elementary school to university, and refine the systems for nurturing capable young people with sound moral grounding, intellectual ability, physical vigor, aesthetic sensibility, and work skills. We will increase the ability of teachers to impart knowledge and bring out the best in students and improve the long-term mechanisms for enhancing their professional integrity and conduct. In addition, we will further educational assessment reforms. We will improve the layout of higher education and work faster to develop world-class universities and strong disciplines with Chinese features. We will advance reforms of higher education institutions on a categorized basis and develop discipline adjustment mechanisms and talent training models to meet the needs of China's scientific and technological development and national strategies. This will see us making extraordinary moves to plan for disciplines and majors that are in urgent demand. We will also redouble efforts to develop basic disciplines, emerging disciplines, and interdisciplinary subjects and work harder to cultivate top talent, with a strong emphasis on fostering innovative capacity. We will refine the mechanisms for facilitating scientific and technological innovation in universities and ensure more efficient application of advances. Scientific and technological education and humanities education will be better coordinated. We will work faster to build a vocational education system that is well-integrated with both general education and industry and improve the mechanisms for student internships and work experience. We will better guide and regulate the development of private schools. We will promote high-standard opening up in the education sector, and encourage first-rate foreign universities of science and engineering to develop partner schools and programs in China.
With a view to optimizing the allocation of educational resources across regions, we will establish mechanisms for aligning the supply of basic public education services with demographic changes. We will improve the mechanisms for promoting high-quality, balanced development of compulsory education and explore avenues for gradually expanding the coverage of free education. The support mechanisms for preschool education, special needs education, and specialized education will be improved. We will also pursue the digitalization of education to facilitate the building of a learning society and provide greater support for lifelong education.
(14) Deepening scientific and technological structural reform
Targeting the global frontiers of science and technology, the development of the economy, the major needs of the country, and the health and safety of our people, we will refine the mechanisms under which major scientific and technological innovation projects are organized in order to mount a concerted push for breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields. We will see that the development of innovative capabilities, allocation of innovation factors, and ranks of innovators become more systematic, well-organized, and coordinated. To boost China's strength in strategic science and technology, we will refine the system of national laboratories and better define the roles and layout of our national research institutions, advanced-level research universities, and leading high-tech enterprises. We will promote closer collaboration between the central and local levels, work for coordinated development of technological innovation platforms of various kinds, and encourage and regulate the development of new types of R&D institutions. Giving play to the guiding role of China's enormous market, we will see that innovation resources are more effectively allocated and that our innovative capabilities are better organized, with a view to promoting integrated advancements in technological and industrial innovation. We will establish risk monitoring, early warning, and response systems to safeguard science and technology security, and ensure self-sufficiency in scientific and technological infrastructure. The management system for science and technology-related social groups will be refined. We will expand international science and technology exchanges and cooperation, encourage the establishment of international science and technology organizations in China, and improve the management mechanisms whereby China's universities, research institutes, and science and technology-related social groups engage in specialized exchanges and cooperation with their foreign counterparts.
We will improve the management of science and technology plans to ensure that they are forward-looking and play a guiding role in basic research, interdisciplinary frontier areas, and key fields. We will see that basic research is conducted in a better organized way, raise the share of total science and technology expenditure that goes toward basic research, and improve the basic research investment mechanisms to ensure support on both a competitive and ongoing basis. Regions, enterprises, social organizations, and individuals with the resources to support basic research will be encouraged to do so. We will also support researchers in diversifying their subjects for study and encourage high-risk, high-reward basic research. We will advance reform of the science and technology evaluation system, ensure that ethical standards are adhered to, and rectify academic misconduct.
Reinforcing the principal role of enterprises in innovation, we will establish mechanisms for fostering leading high-tech enterprises and strengthen enterprise-led collaboration between industries, universities, and research institutes. We will set up a reserve fund system for corporate R&D and back enterprises that volunteer to lead or participate in major national science and technology programs. Mechanisms will be rolled out to promote the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that use specialized and sophisticated technologies to produce novel and unique products. To encourage sci-tech SMEs to boost their R&D spending, we will raise the rate of additional tax deductions for their R&D expenses. We will encourage and guide higher education institutions and research institutes in authorizing the use of their proprietary scientific and technological advances by micro, small, and medium enterprises on a "use first, pay later" basis.
We will refine the mechanisms for allocation, management, and utilization of central government research funds and improve the institutions for the implementation of central government-funded science and technology programs and their management by specialized agencies. We will expand application of the contract system for government-funded research projects and grant scientists a greater say in deciding on technology roadmaps, spending funds, and allocating resources. We will establish a mechanism for adopting non-consensus projects based on real-name recommendations by experts. Public institutions engaged in scientific research will be allowed to implement a more flexible management system as compared to general public institutions, so that they can explore approaches to instituting corporate management.
We will further reform the mechanisms for applying scientific and technological advances. We will enhance the national technology transfer system, move faster to plan and build a number of proof-of-concept and pilot-scale testing platforms, refine the policies for the initial application of newly-developed equipment, materials, and software, and increase government procurement of independently innovated products. The pool of technology managers will be expanded.
Scientists and engineers will have a greater say in the distribution of gains from the transfer of their scientific and technological advances. We will establish a system to place scientific and technological outputs produced on the job under separate management and deepen reforms to grant researchers corresponding rights over these outputs. We will push ahead with the income distribution reform for universities and research institutes. A greater number of eligible SOEs will be permitted to provide diverse medium- and long-term incentives to encourage innovation and creativity among their research personnel.
We will develop a financial system for scientific and technological innovation to provide greater support for major national science and technology programs and sci-tech SMEs. We will refine policies for supporting the investment of long-term capital in projects at the early stages, in small enterprises, over long time horizons, and in advanced and core technologies. We will improve the mechanisms for spreading the risks associated with the development of major technologies and introduce a policy system for technology insurance. We will facilitate foreign equity investment and venture capital investment in China.
(15) Deepening institutional reforms for talent development
Our policies on talent will become more proactive, open, and effective. To improve the mechanisms for nurturing talent here at home, we will work faster to develop national hubs for high-caliber personnel and platforms for attracting and pooling talent. We will step up efforts to build a contingent of personnel with expertise of strategic importance, with a focus on cultivating science strategists, top-notch scientists and innovation teams, outstanding engineers, master craftsmen, and highly-skilled workers, while also working to improve the performance of all types of talent. We will develop a first-rate industrial technical workforce. We will improve the mechanisms for enabling orderly flows of talent to promote a more rational distribution across regions and foster closer personnel collaboration between the eastern, central, and western regions. We will also enhance the mechanisms for identifying, selecting, and training young innovators and ensure better pay and benefits for our young scientists and engineers. Relevant systems will be refined to ensure that researchers can concentrate on research.
We will enhance the incentive mechanisms for talent, granting more say to employers and creating a more accommodating environment for talent development. We will put in place a personnel assessment system based on innovation-related capability, performance, outcomes, and contributions. We will open up channels to enable flows of personnel between universities and research institutes on the one hand and enterprises on the other. We will improve the support mechanisms for recruiting talent from overseas and create internationally competitive personnel systems. We will also explore avenues for establishing an immigration system for highly-skilled personnel.
