Minister of Science and Technology Xu Guanhua yesterday said their "challenging and pressing status evolution" is mainly as a result of heated global competition.

"If we just follow advanced international development, we cannot become patentees of scientific and technological achievements," Xu told a conference on science and technology.

Xu said legal disputes, between Chinese enterprises and overseas patent-holders, are likely to occur if China continues to remain heavily dependent on foreign technology.

In addition, it is difficult for China to obtain patent transfer in high-tech fields from developed countries because many barriers still remain, he said.

China has invested billions of dollars in its "following strategy" of science and technology development and research since the 1980s. Many achievements and breakthroughs, which have made great contributions to China's social and economic development, have been realized.

"But the international situation has changed a lot and we must wake up to it," Xu added.

At yesterday's conference, top officials from China's other ministerial departments related to science and technology, also echoed the minister's calling and emphasized that technological innovation plays a key role in economic development.

"Facing the challenge put forward by the development of a knowledge economy, the central government has been working on establishing a healthy mechanism for technological innovation since 1999," said President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Xu Kuangdi.

However, the president said that China's overall capability of innovation lags behind many developed countries, which means new strategies to further prompt innovation are crucial.

"Keeping a good balance between technology innovation and technology transfer from abroad is of top priority," he said.

At the same time, forging a nationwide interactive research and development system, supporting the construction of research and development centers in different regions and encouraging more communication and exchange between Chinese academics and their foreign counterparts, will also advance innovation, he said.

(China Daily January 7, 2003)