China to implement innovation-driven development strategy over next five years: minister

China will implement the innovation-driven development strategy during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030), injecting strong impetus into the development of new quality productive forces and the realization of high-quality development, a senior official said at a press conference in Beijing on Friday following the conclusion of the fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The key Party meeting, which concluded on Thursday in Beijing, deliberated on and adopted the Recommendations of the CPC Central Committee on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development.

Speaking at the press conference, Science and Technology Minister Yin Hejun said the ministry will accelerate the rollout of major science and technology innovation missions, promote deeper integration between scientific and industrial innovation, and enhance total factor productivity.

These goals will be achieved through efforts in four key areas, the first of which is to continuously increase the supply of high-quality science and technology, Yin said.

"We will coordinate national strategies with economic and social development needs, accelerate the layout and implementation of major national sci-tech projects, and systematically promote basic research with strategic orientation. We will strengthen innovation in key common technologies, cutting-edge leading technologies, modern engineering technologies, and disruptive technologies, while enhancing self-sufficiency in sci-tech infrastructure and promoting the collaborative synergy of national strategic sci-tech forces, so as to accelerate the production of a series of major landmark and original achievements," said Yin.

The second aspect is to support the development of a modern industrial system. The ministry will coordinate sci-tech innovation with industrial development to promote the seamless integration of the innovation chain and the industrial chain, he said.

"We will cultivate and strengthen a number of emerging industries in fields such as next-generation information technology and artificial intelligence (AI). In areas like quantum technology and biotechnology, we will establish future industries to seize the high ground in future technologies and industries. We will actively apply digital and intelligent technologies to transform and upgrade traditional industries, promoting the transition of industries toward intelligence, sustainability and integration," said the minister.

Comprehensively deepening the reform of the sci-tech system is another important aspect where the ministry will make efforts, according to Yin.

"We will strengthen policy coordination to promote efficient collaboration among science and technology, finance, taxation, industry, education, and talent. By improving the organizational mechanisms for major sci-tech missions, we will advance the systematization, institutionalization, and collaboration of sci-tech capabilities, innovation resources, and talent pools. We will reinforce the leading role of enterprises in sci-tech innovation and accelerate the cultivation of leading sci-tech enterprises. Efforts will also be made to deepen reforms that grant researchers corresponding rights over their on-the-job sci-tech outputs and place these outputs under separate management, establish an academic discipline adjustment mechanism and a talent cultivation model driven by sci-tech innovation, industrial development, and national strategic needs, and build a sci-tech financial system aligned with sci-tech innovation," he said.

Efforts will be made to develop new quality productive forces in accordance with the actual conditions of different regions, according to the official.

"We will strengthen macro guidance and overall coordination for local sci-tech innovation and industrial layout and encourage local authorities to leverage their resources and endowments to forge sci-tech strengths and industrial characteristics, achieving differentiated development. By enhancing cross-regional innovation collaboration and industrial cooperation, we will foster a number of world-class industrial clusters. We will also encourage regions with favorable conditions to promote the deep integration of sci-tech innovation and industrial innovation, and to develop sources of original innovation and leading hubs for industrial sci-tech innovation," Yin said.

China to implement innovation-driven development strategy over next five years: minister

Torrential rain from Wednesday evening has pounded dilapidated homes and crumbled tents across Gaza Strip, claiming lives and compounding the humanitarian situation in the war-torn region.

At least 14 people were killed in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours as homes collapsed and tents sheltering displaced families were flooded during a powerful winter storm, Gaza's Civil Defense said on Friday.

A woman taking shelter in a war-damaged house voiced concerns that the makeshift shelters, which were previously destroyed or severely weakened during recent Israeli bombardments, offer no real protection from the storms.

"The house leaks and stones would fall when it rains. It's not safe. We're afraid it could collapse on us any moment. But we have no choice and no other place to go, so we have to stay here," she said.

Rescue teams responded to 13 collapsed or partially collapsed houses, saving 52 people and moving them to safer locations. Search operations are ongoing after more than 15 homes were damaged across the territory.

"From the early hours until now, rescue crews and Civil Defense teams in northern Gaza have been working to retrieve the missing from beneath the rubble of this house. So far, they have recovered one victim and a child who was injured, but five people remain trapped under the debris and their condition is still unknown," said a rescue worker.

Victims died beneath the rubble rather than from missiles, highlighting the compounded dangers facing displaced families forced to shelter in unsafe ruins, with no alternative refuge available after more than two years of war.

"People sat peacefully at home, taking shelter from the wind, rain and cold. Suddenly, around three or three-thirty, the house collapsed on them for no reason except the torrential rain and flooding," a resident said, recalling the disaster.

Torrential rain brings more deaths, destruction to war-torn Gaza