In a move to woo multinational corporations to set up R&D centers in China and conduct with Chinese partners, Wu Bangguo, Chairman of China’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, stresses that the Chinese government will protect the lawful rights and interests of all foreign investors and intellectual property rights holders in accordance with laws.

The move is part of the steps the Chinese government is taking to achieve the goal to turn China into an innovation-based country by 2020, Wu says in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of this year’s annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia.

“The Chinese government gives high priority to independent innovation,” Wu says.

The Chinese government has formulated the outline of the Medium and Long-term Scientific and Technological Development Program, which sets the targets for 2020, according to Wu.

The program contains three major goals: scientific and technological advances should contribute to over 60% of economic growth; dependence on imported technologies should be brought down to less than 30%; and third, research and development expenditures should increase to over 25% of GDP.

Wu outlined a number of steps the Chinese government is taking to achieve the goals, including fire the nation’s spirit of innovation, train high-caliber people with innovative drive, increase policy incentives to encourage innovation, other than encouraging multinational companies to set up their R&D centers to China.

“It is a national strategy we pursue in all endeavors of modernization,” Wu says.

In the mean time, Wu appeals other Asian states to accelerate scientific and technological innovation.

“In the face of the global trend of scientific and technological development and fierce competition, only by giving top priority to scientific and technological innovation can we Asian countries seize the opportunity and take the lead in development,” Wu says.

Wu acknowledges that to balance resources conservation and environmental protection on one hand and industrialization on the other is a major challenge for Asia. He characterizes the option of traditional path of massive consumption or resources and energy as “not workable”, and the one of discouraging developing countries from pursuing industrialization and modernization or even force then to give up such pursuit on the ground of resources and the environmental constrains as “unjust”, but should take the “third route”, which is high-tech driven, resources-efficient and environment-friendly.

Wu hence calls on developed countries to provide more assistance to developing countries in technological transfer.

Wu also calls on other Asian countries to maintain peace in Asia and enhance regional cooperation. The Asian countries and regions are eager to enhance win-win cooperation, Wu says, and regional and sub-regional cooperation is in full swing.

A number of cooperation mechanisms have been set up, including ASEA plus China, Japan and the ROK, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Asia Cooperation Dialogue, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and East Asia Summit.

Wu calls to make full use of the existing cooperation mechanisms, expand and improve ways and means.