The State Council issued a national scientific and technological innovation plan in a bid to build China into an innovative country and a scientific and technological power.

As the world’s second-largest economy undergoes economic transition for further development, technology innovation has never been more significant, the plan said.

Based on the idea that innovation is the prime development driving force, the plan is a blueprint designed for technological innovation development during the period of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020).

The plan aims to substantially improve China’s technology and innovation capabilities, and lift the country’s comprehensive innovation capabilities into the world’s top 15.

China has witnessed major developments in technology improvements, such as manned space flights and lunar probes, manned deep-sea submersible, deep earth exploration, super computers and quantum communication.

Some figures provide evidence of the nation’s efforts and development in technological innovation.

In 2015, nationwide expenditure on scientific research and experiments totaled 1.42 trillion yuan ($213.4 billion); it accounted for the world’s second largest number of published international science and technology papers; and the national comprehensive innovation capabilities ranked 18th in the world.

In addition, the contribution rate of technology to economic growth increased from 20.9 percent in 2010 to 55.3 percent in 2015.

The plan urged to play the key leading role of scientific and technological innovation in uplifting the industries to the medium- and high-end, developing new growth drivers, expanding new development space, improving development quality and efficiency.

The plan called efforts to accelerate the implementation of major national scientific and technological projects and launch the scientific and technological innovation 2030 project.

China should construct an internationally-competitive industrial technology system, make an integrated arrangement of modern agriculture, new generation of information technology, intelligent manufacturing and energy, promote the disruptive technological innovation and lead the industrial revolution, the plan said.

It also called for the building of a technology system which support the improvement of people’s livelihood and sustainable development, which can safeguard national security and strategic interests by developing strategic high-technologies in deep sea exploration, deep earth exploration, space exploration, and Internet technologies.

China should strengthen original innovation capabilities and cultivate important strategic innovation forces, said the plan.

The plan also said China should take the lead in organizing international big science plans and programs and strive to lead the world science direction in more advanced basic fields and make breakthroughs in more strategic fields.

The plan also called for the building of the innovation bases led by national laboratories and cultivation of world class scientists and technological talents.

The country should support Beijing and Shanghai to build scientific and technological innovation centers with international clout, set up a batch of innovative provinces and cities and regional innovation centers, promote the innovative development of national innovation demonstration zones as well as new and hi-tech development zones, according to the plan.

The plan also urged the building of a Belt and Road innovation community aiming to improve the country’s ability in allocation of global innovation resources and fully participate in the global innovation governance.

Furthermore, efforts will be made to further promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation, reform science and technology systems, improve social scientific literacy, and strengthen science popularization infrastructure, according to the plan.

The plan also urged to clear systematic barriers hampering innovation and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

To ensure effective implementation of the plan, efforts will be made to strengthen legal protection on innovation, improve inclusive and supporting policy system, implement intellectual property rights strategies, advance technology standard strategies, and enhance policy coordination, according to the State Council.