CHINA / Ministry Press Conference
Nation confident on 2020 innovation target
By Wu Chong and Jiao Xiaoyang (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-03-11 06:48
China is confident that it will become an "innovative country" by 2020
despite arduous tasks ahead, Minister of Science and Technology Xu
Guanhua said on Friday.
In 2001, China ranked 28th among 49 major countries in terms of
comprehensive scientific and technological innovation capability.
Xu Guanhua, minister of science and technology, answers questions from
reporters at a news conference in Beijing March 10, 2006. [newsphoto]
"We must enter the top 20 before we can say that we have realized our
target," Xu told a news briefing on building an innovation-oriented
country on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the National People's
Congress.
"Our per capita supply of energy, water and land resources is becoming
more stringent as we face pressing problems in resources and
environment," Xu said.
Only by promoting science and technology can China solve these problems,
he noted.
According to Xu, Chinese enterprises are under increasing pressure from
international competitors in globalization.
They have to pay high patent fees, for example, 20 per cent of a mobile
phone's price, 30 per cent of a computer's and 40 per cent of the price
of a program-controlled digital machine tool, to foreign patents owners.
To change the situation, the budget for science and technology this year
will reach 71.6 billion yuan (US$8.9 billion), up 19.2 per cent
year-on-year, according to Zhang Shaochun, assistant minister of finance.
He said the government will ensure that expenditures on research and
development (R&D) grow at a faster pace than fiscal revenues in the next
five years.
The government will also offer tax incentives to innovative businesses,
he said.
The new tax policies will allow an enterprise to use 150 per cent of its
spending on R&D to offset payable income tax of that year.
"In other words, the government will give tax rewards to companies that
are actively involved in R&D," said Fang Hanting, a senior researcher
with the National Research Centre for Science and Technology Development.
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