Source: Xinhua

The 13th National People's Congress opened its first session on March 5 at the Great Hall of People in Beijing. Premier Li Keqiang delivered a government's work report on behalf of the State Council. As for the "proposal for the work of government" in 2018, Li noted that moving faster to make China a country of innovators. The latest global revolution in science and technology and industrial transformation are trends we must be on board with. We will do more in implementing the innovation-driven development strategy, and keep on making the Chinese economy more innovative and competitive. We would strengthen the protection of intellectual property, and enforce a punitive compensation system for intellectual property rights infringements.
 

In the work over the past five years, Li pointed that with a commitment to innovation-driven development, and a focus on unlocking public creativity, we had achieved a remarkable improvement in our general capacity for making innovations and for seeing that innovation delivers. We had put into action the innovation-driven development strategy and worked to build a better ecosystem for innovation, giving shape to innovation involving multiple actors making across-the-board advances. Research institutes and universities now had greater say over their research; research projects and funding were better managed, and the way of managing rights and interests relating to scientific and technological advances had undergone reform. We had supported Beijing and Shanghai in building themselves into centers for scientific and technological innovation, and set up 14 new national innovation demonstration zones, thus creating a number of regional innovation hubs. With enterprises as the main actors, we had boosted the development of a system for technological innovation. China had seen the emergence of a number of world-class innovative enterprises and new-type R&D institutions. We had launched and taken bold moves in the nationwide business startup and innovation initiative, adopted support policies designed to benefit all entrepreneurs and innovators, and improved the incubation system. China's market entities, all types included, now totaled over 98 million, an increase of more than 70 percent over the past five years. The number of in-force Chinese invention patents issued in China had tripled, and the volume of technology transactions had doubled. In the global race of scientific and technological innovation, China had shifted place, from following others to keeping pace and even leading the pack in more and more areas. Our country had become a globally recognized fertile ground for innovation and business ventures.
 

Li added, for government to deliver this year, we must act on Xi Jinping's economic thinking for new-era socialism with Chinese characteristics, continue following the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability and regard stability and progress as being indivisible. Specifically, we will do the following: first, we will strongly promote high-quality development. Second, we will be bolder in reform and opening up. Third, we will ensure success in the three critical battles against potential risk, poverty, and pollution, battles that are important for decisively bringing to completion the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects.
Li stressed, we would deliver a solid performance in the nine areas of work in 2018: stepping up supply-side structural reform, moving faster to make China a country of innovators, deepening reforms in fundamental and key areas, fighting three critical battles, making strong moves in the rural revitalization strategy, making solid progress in the coordinated regional development strategy, actively increasing consumption and promoting effective investment, creating a new landscape in all-around opening up and doing more to ensure and improve people's wellbeing.
 

Li added, we would improve property rights systems and mechanisms for market-based allocation of the factors of production. The property rights system was the cornerstone of the socialist market economy. We would improve the relevant laws and regulations to see that property rights were protected, contracts were honored, the market was unified, exchanges were equal, and competition was fair. All types of infringements on property rights would be rigorously dealt with in accordance with law, and all property rights dispute cases would be reviewed and settled in accordance with law. We would strengthen the protection of intellectual property, and enforce a punitive compensation system for intellectual property rights infringements. We would speed up reforms making the pricing of factors of production like technology and land increasingly market-based, deepen reform of the pricing mechanisms for resource products and public services, break government monopolies, and protect against market monopolies. We would see that strong protection of property rights and fluid flows of the factors of production enable a great increase in market dynamism and public creativity.