Shanghai blazes sci-tech frontiers to boost innovation-driven modernization

Shanghai, a leading force for Chinese modernization, is accelerating the pace of building itself into a science and technology innovation center with global influence.

The tech-savvy metropolis is now speeding up the transition from structure building to function strengthening. Taking strengthening the capability of fostering original sci-tech innovations as the main task, it is pursuing both sci-tech innovation and institutional innovation to significantly improve its comprehensive strength in science and technology as well as the overall effects of innovations.

Over the past 10 years since Shanghai began building itself into an international science and technology innovation center, it has reaped fruitful results in sci-tech innovation, which has pushed the metropolis' GDP across the 4-trillion-yuan (about 570 billion U.S. dollars) mark.

In 2023, Shanghai's total research and development expenditure accounted for 4.4 percent of its GDP, and the city's fiscal expenditure on science and technology rose by 36.7 percent to 52.8 billion yuan (about 7.47 billion U.S. dollars).

Driven by science and technology advances, Shanghai's industrial transformation has sped up. The combined scale of the three leading industries of artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, and biomedicine in the city has reached 1.6 trillion yuan (about 226 billion U.S. dollars).

At the National Local Joint Humanoid Robot Innovation Center in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Science City, Qinglong, an open-source general-purpose humanoid robot with a height of 182 centimeters and up to 43 active degrees of freedom, is being trained to pick up oranges.

"After some training, the robot will be able to complete this move by itself when it encounters a similar scenario in the future," said Shi Zhihua, trainer of robot Qinglong.

Thanks to an advanced control software, Qinglong can skillfully perform fast walking, avoid obstacles, go uphill and downhill, and resist impact.

"We plan to build a venue that can simultaneously train 1,000 robots by 2027," Shi said.

The Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), a third-generation medium-energy synchrotron light source facility with 46 laboratories, has been operating around the clock to serve researchers from around the country, whose experiments cover a wide range of fields such as life sciences, materials science and chemical catalysis.

"We are using the SSRF's light to observe the phase change process of this material when it's heated to 1,100 degrees Celsius," said Song Shuang, a PhD candidate of Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Our team is developing materials for the energy sector," said Miao Zhikai, a researcher of Tianjin University.

"We are developing cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries," said Li Guodong, a researcher of Fudan University.

Though the laboratories at the SSRF have been running at full capacity, researchers still have to apply for them months in advance, reflecting the vibrancy of innovation in Shanghai.

Shanghai blazes sci-tech frontiers to boost innovation-driven modernization

About 800 interdisciplinary experts from China and around the world convened in Beijing on Friday at the 2024 World Agrifood Innovation Conference (WAFI 2024), advocating a low-carbon transition in agrifood systems through sci-tech innovation to address climate change.

The conference, themed "Climate Change and Agrifood Systems Transformation," highlights the urgent need for innovation in the agricultural sector.

Experts at the conference acknowledged the numerous challenges facing agrifood system transformation and the need for global collaboration to share experiences and results through ongoing dialogue.

"One of the major highlights of the conference is multidisciplinary [observations]. Entrepreneurs and scientists are all on one platform. What we particularly emphasize is the dialogue among scientists, entrepreneurs, and investors, which is very crucial. How can a scientist's research results be transformed into productivity? This transformation necessitates industrialization, wherein businesses must leverage their technological innovations," said Fu Wenge, director of the MBA Education Center, at China Agricultural University.

During the conference, scientists, educators, entrepreneurs and investors from over 70 countries and regions will discuss various topics including smart agriculture, AI-driven breeding, transformations in livestock and aquatic food systems, genetic resources and germplasm innovation, as well as food nutrition and security.

David Nabarro, a World Food Prize laureate, highlighted that achieving sustainable agriculture requires not only national policy development but also international cooperation across industries, disciplines and stakeholders.

"This conference is about finding ways that innovation can help agriculture and food in China and beyond meet the needs that we're going to see now and in the decades to come. Well, this is a country that contains some of the world's brightest scientists who not only are good at doing the science, but also applying it and sharing it with others," said Nabarro.

Alongside the gathering of experts, the event is hosting the 2024 World AgriFood Technology Expo, showcasing cutting-edge achievements, advanced technologies, advanced models, high-quality projects, and innovative products in the global agricultural sector.

Initiated last year, WAFI aims to serve as a world-class platform for advancing global agrifood innovation. The conference is co-organized by the local government of Pinggu District of Beijing, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China Agricultural University and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Global experts in Beijing explore strategies to realize low-carbon agrifood systems