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Xi Jinping calls on science to solve the big problems choking China
- Xi urges researchers to put their minds to solving a range of weaknesses undermining social and economic development
- Answers must be found for issues from pollution to the country’s reliance on overseas supplies of imported crop seed, he says
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Chinese President Xi Jinping has issued a rallying cry to the country’s scientific community, urging them to overcome weaknesses “strangling” China, especially its reliance on overseas technology.
Xi told a forum in Beijing on Friday that more than ever before China needed scientific solutions to its problems, state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday.
“Amid fierce international competition, unilateralism and protectionism, we must work out our own way to upgrade, become more innovative and make more breakthroughs from scratch,” he said.
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The call came a day after the United States further restricted use of American technology by Chinese companies, and expanded bans on Chinese science students studying in the US.
On Thursday, the US State Department announced it had revoked the visas of more than 1,000 Chinese nationals who were studying or doing research in the US, accusing them of having ties with Chinese military, a move the Chinese side described as “sheer political persecution and racism”.
Xi said China faced “deep and complex” changes in the domestic and international environment, which demanded faster advances in science.
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