Sci-tech self-reliance

China will take self-reliance in science and technology as a strategic underpinning for national development, according to the draft outline.

However, there are still weak links in China's drive to build an innovative country, although it has made a series of sci-tech achievements, said Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang.

"China is not yet self-reliant in some key and core technologies," Wang said, noting that self-reliance is the prerequisite and foundation for opening up and cooperation based on equality and mutual respect.

Zhou Yumei, a national political advisor and a researcher at the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, called for more support for the IC industry.

China's self-developed chips have already been widely used in the Beidou Navigation Satellite System and supercomputers, but there is still a gap compared with the world's most advanced technologies in the area, Zhou said.

According to the five-year plan, China will strengthen its original sci-tech innovation and pool resources to develop key technologies in fields including biosafety, medical equipment, core components and basic materials, among others.