President pins hope on innovation

President Hu Jintao, at a conference attended by more than 1,200 esteemed scientists and engineers on Monday, said that innovations were key to the country's development.

The scientists were attending the biennial conference of the country's two top think tanks with research capacities, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

More innovations would be needed as the country transformed its development pattern, restructured the domestic market and boosted domestic demand, Hu told the conference.

The country's current situation not only brought tough challenges but also provided great opportunities to scientists and engineers across the country, he said.

To fuel economic growth, the key was to foster "home-grown" innovations and achieve significant scientific and technological advances through the efforts of Chinese scientists and engineers, Hu said.

The president asked top scientists and engineers to focus on looking for solutions to major global challenges and ways to free up China's development bottlenecks as the country modernizes.

The country should also set up a "more scientific, vigorous and efficient" mechanism to boost innovations, so as to solve urgent problems that had been choking innovations, he said.

Li urges morality in food industry

Vice-Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday that the morality and integrity of the entire food industry must be raised as authorities are strengthening supervision of the industry and cracking down on food safety crimes.

Li urged the Office of the State Council Food Safety Commission to use innovative forms to promote integrity and strengthen external supervision, in a bid to create an environment that punishes wrongdoers and encourages good behavior.

He wrote in a document to the National Food Safety Publicity Week, which started in Beijing on Monday, that a long-term mechanism must be built to allow honest businesses to benefit while unscrupulous producers and retailers suffer, so that people in the food industry will not produce substandard food.

Gansu

Spacecraft faces risks as it waits for launch

The Shenzhou-IX manned spacecraft could be tested by lightning, high temperatures and other adverse weather conditions before its launch, experts said on Monday.

The spacecraft will be put into orbit sometime in mid-June to perform the first manned space docking mission with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module.

Li Dongxing, head of the meteorology office at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province, said lightning will be the greatest hazard for the craft, as well as strong winds, precipitation and electro-magnetic fields.

Nearly 30 meteorologists are working on precise weather forecasts for the craft's launch window, Li said.

Xinhua - China Radio International