The 2023 Greater Bay Area Science Forum was held in Guangzhou

On May 21, the opening ceremony of the Greater Bay Area Science Forum was held in Guangzhou. This year’s forum fully implements the spirit of the 20th Party Congress and the important speeches and instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s inspection of Guangdong, as well as the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s congratulatory letter to the 2021 Greater Bay Area Science Forum, with the theme of “Wisdom of the Bay Area, Bay and the World”, attracting nearly 100 academicians and experts from all over the world to gather online and offline. The forum will further promote global scientific and technological innovation exchange and mutual understanding, cooperation and win-win solutions, and strongly promote the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Huang Kunming, Party Secretary of Guangdong Province, Liang Zhenying, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and Wan Gang, Chairman of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, attended the opening ceremony. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr. Li Ka-chiu, and the Chief Executive of Macao Special Administrative Region, Mr. He Yicheng, delivered video messages.

The opening ceremony was also attended by Huang Xiaowei, Secretary of the Party Group and Vice Chairman of the All-China Women’s Federation; Wang Weizhong, Deputy Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Governor of Guangdong Province; Bai Chunli, Chairman of the Alliance of International Science Organizations and member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Lin Keqing, Chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee; Ding Zhaozhong, Nobel Laureate in Physics and foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Michael Levitt, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and professor at Stanford University; Daniel Korman, professor at the University of California, Berkeley; Alessandro Annoni, President of the International Society for Digital Earth; and others.

Mr. Leung said that President Xi Jinping emphasized in the 20th National Congress report that it is necessary to uphold science and technology as the leading productive force, talent as the primary resource and innovation as the primary driving force. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is a gathering place for high-end talents from home and abroad, and the integration of the cities in the Greater Bay Area in the fields of science and technology innovation will unleash enormous potential that is unmatched by the cooperative efforts of other city clusters. By making good use of Hong Kong’s international financial services, international trade services and international intellectual property protection and trading services, the science and technology innovation industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will flourish like a tiger given wings. The insights of the distinguished guests at the Greater Bay Area Science Forum will bring new inspiration to the cooperation and development of the science and technology innovation business in the Greater Bay Area and globally, and make important contributions to scaling the peak of Science in the Bay Area together.

Mr. Wan said that since its inception, the Greater Bay Area Science Forum has been committed to building a common platform for extensive discussion, construction and sharing based on the Bay Area, in collaboration with Hong Kong and Macao, and facing the world. Looking to the future, we expect the Greater Bay Area Science Forum to better focus on the world’s scientific and technological frontiers and common problems, to continuously gather a new consensus on cooperation, create a new mechanism for collaboration and establish a new vision for the future. The Chinese Association for Science and Technology (CAST) will strive to give full play to its organizational and talent advantages, actively support the Greater Bay Area Science Forum to play a greater role in the pooling of talents, scientific and technological innovation, scientific popularization and strategic advice, and help Chinese scientists better integrate into the global innovation network and more widely coalesce the power of the international scientific and technological community to build a community of human destiny.

Mr. Li said that innovation and technology is an important element driving the quality development of society and economy. The SAR Government is fully committed to dovetailing with the national development strategy and incorporating the promotion of innovation and technology development into its policy priorities. Cities in the Greater Bay Area have different advantages that can strengthen the development of collaborative innovation between industry, academia and research. Guangdong Province has a thriving high-end manufacturing industry, providing solid support for the mass production of technological R&D results. Hong Kong has the advantages of internationalization and a strong research base, which can bring together innovation resources from the Greater Bay Area and the world. Hong Kong will complement the strengths of other cities in the Greater Bay Area to align with the major strategic needs of the country and contribute to building the country into a world power in science and technology.

Mr. He said that the Macao SAR Government is now seizing the opportunity to develop the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in a high quality manner and speed up the planning of the “1+4” moderate and diversified development strategy, of which high technology is a key part. With an eye on the future, Macau will continue to make full use of the advantages of the “one country, two systems” system, focus on the development positioning of “one center, one platform and one base”, actively participate in the construction of the science and technology innovation corridor in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, strengthen the collaborative development of key industries, support the construction of a science and technology cooperation platform, realize the smooth flow of science and technology factors, build a “Science and Technology Exchange and Cooperation Center for China – Portuguese-speaking Countries”, and help the Greater Bay Area to build a global summit for science and technology innovation.

According to Mr. Wang, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is dense in science and innovation resources and active in innovation and entrepreneurship. In recent years, the three places have joined hands to promote the construction of the international science and technology innovation center and comprehensive national science center in the Greater Bay Area, promoting the efficient connection of innovation factors, the continuous enhancement of innovation efficiency and the vigorous development of innovation industries, and continuously releasing the “Bay Area Power” of science and technology innovation. In the future, Guangdong will fully implement the spirit of the 20th Party Congress and the important speeches and instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping during his visit to Guangdong, deeply implement the innovation-driven development strategy, build a comprehensive innovation ecological chain, strengthen the innovation synergy and resource sharing among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and expedite the building of an industrial science and technology innovation center with global influence. We will strive to make the Greater Bay Area a strategic fulcrum of the new development pattern, a demonstration site for high-quality development, and a leading site for Chinese-style modernization. Scientists and innovative talents from all over the world are invited to Guangdong and the Greater Bay Area to carry out academic exchanges, scientific research cooperation and transformation of results, and to create and share a bright future of innovation development.

Mr. Bai said that this year is the 10th anniversary of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, which has received enthusiastic responses and extensive participation from an increasing number of countries and international organizations. In order to give full play to the power of the scientific and technological community and promote the high-quality development of the “Belt and Road” project, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has set up a major consulting project on the innovation and development of the “Belt and Road”, and released the “Belt and Road” High-Quality Development Report – Science and Technology Innovation” at this forum. It is hoped that the report will unite stakeholders concerned with the science and technology sector and global development, so that a collaborative effort will be made using science and technology for the betterment of human welfare, and that Chinese science and technology will make greater contributions to the building of a community of human destiny.

At the opening ceremony, the He Xiangjian Science Foundation was also announced. Zhang Tao, vice president and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Li Zhongping, vice president and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Wang Xi, Zhang Xiaoqiang and Liu Ya Hong, provincial leaders, Guo Yonghang, mayor of Guangzhou, and Liu Liehong, chairman of China Unicom, attended the opening ceremony.