Xi Met China's Top Brains in Shanghai
A few observations on the basic research symposium: the venue, the speaker lineup, and the policy signals
This morning, Xi Jinping attended a symposium on strengthening basic research in Shanghai. The meeting was chaired by Ding Xuexiang, with Cai Qi also in attendance.
Speakers at the symposium included:
Yin Hejun, Minister of Science and Technology
Huai Jinpeng, Minister of Education
Hou Jianguo, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chen Jining, Party Secretary of Shanghai
Liu Ruochuan, Dean of the School of Mathematical Sciences, Peking University
Liu Chenli, Director of the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, CAS
Qiao Yu, Professor at Shanghai AI Laboratory (Pujiang Lab)
(He got over 120,000 citations on Google Scholar — ranked #1 in mainland China and #12 globally in the field of pattern recognition.)Zhang Pingxiang, Chief Scientist of Western Superconducting Technologies Co.
Other senior officials in attendance:
Yin Li (Party Secretary of Beijing)
Shi Taifeng (Head of the Organization Department of the CCP Central Committee)
Liu Guozhong (Vice Premier of the State Council, overseeing health and agriculture)
Zhang Guoqing (Vice Premier of the State Council, overseeing industry and information technology, workplace safety, and related areas)
Huang Kunming (Party Secretary of Guangdong Province)
Here are the key takeaways from Xi’s speech, along with some of my own observations:
Basic research has been elevated to an unprecedented strategic height — framed as the “wellspring” of the entire scientific system and the “master switch” for all technological problems. This signals that more substantive measures are likely coming on funding, evaluation mechanisms, and talent policy.
Xi's emphasis on “original and disruptive innovation” reflects the realities of the China-US tech rivalry and broader global competition. Beijing is signaling that China is no longer content to leverage its industrial strengths merely for 1-to-100 scaling. It now wants to seize the commanding heights in frontier basic research and pull off indigenous 0-to-1 breakthroughs.
The language around “tolerating failure” and a “differentiated evaluation system” speaks directly to a long-standing pain point in the scientific community: short-termist, utilitarian performance metrics. Of course, KPI-driven culture is hardly unique to this field — but I’m curious to see how evaluation reform will actually be implemented in the basic research area. How to balance openness and safety is also an ongoing problem worth observing.
Pairing youth talent development with science popularization suggests the leadership recognizes the generational continuity problem in the basic research workforce and wants to cultivate scientific curiosity from adolescence onward. Two scientists, Liu Ruochuan and Liu Chenli, born in 1980, and Qiao Yu, were also born at a similar age. They represent the new face of young Chinese scientists in basic research.
Usually, I’m the one doing the explaining, but I haven’t figured out why this meeting was held in Shanghai, rather than Beijing, where top universities are more concentrated, or the Pearl River Delta, which is stronger on industrial translation. But I do see the presence of the party secretary in Beijing and Guangdong. If any readers have thoughts, please enlighten me.
Below is the full English transcript of the official readout I made with the help of AI:
Xi Jinping Stresses at Symposium on Strengthening Basic Research: Reinforce Basic Research with Greater Efforts and More Substantive Measures to Further Consolidate the Foundations for Building China into a Country Strong in Science and Technology
On the morning of the 30th, Xi Jinping — General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission — attended a symposium on strengthening basic research in Shanghai and delivered an important speech. He emphasized that basic research is the wellspring of the entire scientific system and the master switch for all technological problems. Greater efforts and more substantive measures must be taken to strengthen basic research, enhance China’s capacity for original innovation, and further consolidate the foundations for building a country strong in science and technology.
Cai Qi, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, attended the symposium. Ding Xuexiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, chaired the meeting.
At the symposium, the following officials and scholars spoke in turn, sharing their work and offering recommendations on strengthening basic research: Yin Hejun, Minister of Science and Technology; Huai Jinpeng, Minister of Education; Hou Jianguo, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Chen Jining, Party Secretary of Shanghai; Liu Ruochuan, Dean of the School of Mathematical Sciences at Peking University; Liu Chenli, Director of the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Qiao Yu, Professor at Shanghai AI Laboratory (Pujiang Lab); and Zhang Pingxiang, Chief Scientist of Western Superconducting Technologies Co., Ltd.
After listening to the speakers, Xi Jinping delivered his keynote remarks. He noted that since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the CPC Central Committee has placed great importance on basic research, and through measures such as optimizing the research landscape, increasing funding and support, and innovating institutional mechanisms, China’s basic research capabilities have improved significantly. At present, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating, global tech competition is increasingly focused on frontier basic research, and the importance of original and disruptive innovation is becoming ever more pronounced. We must seize the opportunities, rise to the challenges, place basic research firmly on our priority agenda, and pursue it persistently to achieve continual progress.
Xi emphasized the need to strengthen overall planning and top-level design to optimize the systemic layout of basic research. We must adhere to the strategic orientation of the “Four Orientations,” further clarifying the main directions and priority areas of basic research. We must reinforce the leading role of national research institutions and top research universities, encourage and properly regulate the development of new types of R&D institutions, promote enterprise-led deep integration of industry, academia, research, and application, and connect the full innovation chain — from basic research and applied development to the commercialization of results. Greater efforts must be made to strengthen basic disciplines and to promote coordinated development between applied and foundational fields.
Xi pointed out that the development of education, science and technology, and talent must be advanced in an integrated manner, with comprehensive efforts in cultivating, attracting, and utilizing talent to expand the basic research workforce. We must respect the laws of talent development, improve educational quality, and steadily cultivate a reserve of basic research talent. We must optimize collaborative mechanisms between scientific research and education, and place emphasis on identifying and nurturing talent on the frontlines of research. We must adhere to a “mission-driven” approach, with senior scientists mentoring junior ones, and provide strong support for young researchers. The spirit of scientists should be championed, science popularization strengthened, and the imagination and curiosity of young people sparked — so that pursuing basic research becomes a life aspiration for more youth.
Xi stressed the need to strengthen support and safeguards for basic research. The proportion of funding allocated to basic research should be gradually increased, and a diversified investment structure formed. Major scientific and technological infrastructure should be systematically planned and developed, alongside intelligent research platform systems. A differentiated evaluation system tailored to the characteristics of basic research must be established, working and living conditions for researchers improved, and an innovation environment fostered that is open, inclusive, and tolerant of failure. Research integrity must also be reinforced.
Xi noted that China should proactively integrate into the global innovation network, deepen international exchanges and cooperation in basic research, jointly tackle major scientific challenges in areas such as climate change, energy and the environment, and life and health, and take an active part in global science and technology governance.
In chairing the meeting, Ding Xuexiang stated that General Secretary Xi Jinping’s speech fully affirmed the achievements of China’s basic research, comprehensively analyzed the new circumstances and challenges ahead, and laid out strategic plans and clear requirements for strengthening basic research. The speech, he said, is visionary in scope and rich in substance, with strong political, ideological, and guiding significance, charting the course and providing fundamental principles for advancing basic research. We must thoroughly study and internalize the spirit of the General Secretary’s remarks, accurately grasp the strategic intent of the CPC Central Committee, heighten our sense of urgency, responsibility, and mission, and — with firmer confidence and resolve, and more pragmatic measures and actions — comprehensively strengthen basic research, focus on enhancing original innovation capacity, and strive to achieve high-level technological self-reliance and build China into a country strong in science and technology.
Yin Li, Shi Taifeng, Liu Guozhong, Zhang Guoqing, and Huang Kunming also attended the symposium.
Also present were principal officials from relevant departments of the CPC Central Committee, state organs, and military units; leading officials from selected provinces and municipalities; and representatives from universities, research institutions, national laboratories, enterprises, and the scientific community.