Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday called for more international cooperation in science and technology to promote the development of developing countries.

Hu made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 14th Academician Conference of the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Scientific and technological civilization was created by all nations and history has proven that strengthening the communication between different civilizations could spark the creativity of human beings and promote scientific and technological progress in the world, said Hu.

In a time when information technology is developing fast, this practice is even more important, he said.

China always paid great attention to the communication and cooperation with other countries and regions, especially with developing countries, and has done a lot in this aspect. Hu said China would continue to promote international scientific and technological communication and cooperation through governmental channels and non-governmental forces.

Hu said developing countries should adopt proper strategies for scientific and technological development and make good use of their advantages in talents, huge market demand and rich resources.

Developing countries have achieved great progress in scientific development, but due to some historical or other reasons they still lag far behind developed countries in economy and culture, and especially in science and technology.

Hu called for the developing countries to pay more efforts to learn from the advanced experiences of the developed countries and promote the scientific development with dedication.

The developed countries, enjoying more advanced science and technology, should give more support to the developing countries in scientific development, while the developing countries should participate more actively in international cooperation and competition to enhance their strengths in science and technology, said Hu.

The success of China's first manned spaceflight was a great contribution made by Chinese people to world space navigation. China, along with the international community, would do more to promote the development of human beings' exploration of outer space, said Hu.

To realize the goal of building a well-off society in the next 20 years, China would continue to carry out the strategies of revitalizing the nation through science and education and sustainable development, said the president.

Hu also expressed his congratulations to the conference and the 20th anniversary of TWAS in his speech on behalf of the Chinese government and people. He spoke highly of TWAS for its 20 years of glorious development and contributions to world scientific development.

At the opening ceremony, the Chinese president was granted the President's Medal by the Third World Academy.

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2003)