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China cements place in scientific elite
Last Updated: 2019-01-16 07:23 | China Daily
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The country has taken a range of measures to ensure development and provide breakthroughs.

On March 31, 1978, an 86-year-old man wracked with pneumonia made his final public appearance in front of a packed audience at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

He was too ill to read his speech, so an announcer read it on his behalf. No matter-the 1,750-word address opened a new age for China's scientific development. The elderly scientist died just three months later.

That man was Guo Moruo, first president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his speech was called "The Spring of Science". In the address, Guo encouraged the nation's scientists to cast aside the shadow of a decadelong anti-intellectual movement, and to work hard, cross new frontiers and contribute to the country and its people.

"Please do not let your fantasies be monopolized by poets," Guo's final address told his illustrious peers, adding that global breakthroughs, from exploring the moon to probing the depths of the oceans-feats that were cornerstones of Chinese folklore-had been made possible through science and technology.

"Go and create. Inscribe our masterpiece not on finite papers, but in the infinite cosmos," the speech said. "The most glorious spring for science in our nation's history is here; let us open our arms and warmly embrace this moment."

Guo's words concluded the two-week National Science Conference, a seminal meeting during which Deng Xiaoping, the architect of the reform and opening-up policy, gave the green light for scientific development and called on the nation to respect and support intellectuals.

The impact of that meeting is still being felt today. Indeed, last year will go down as one of the most pivotal for China's scientific ambitions. It not only marked the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up, which created the socioeconomic stability and prosperity crucial for scientific development, but also saw scientists forge new ground and break through technological blockages to turn the country into one of the world's most influential science and innovation hubs.

From stars to cells, new discoveries and milestones were made almost every other month.

The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, discovered its first millisecond pulsar, a special kind of neutron star that rotates hundreds of times per second. The discovery could help scientists to detect new types of gravitational waves.

Back on Earth, China's scientists produced the world's first cloned monkey, created the first healthy mice pups born from same-sex parents, and discovered that a type of jumping spider can produce a milk-like substance to feed its young.

"We are in the best era in history for the development of science and innovation," Bai Chunli, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in March at a forum to celebrate the 40th anniversary of "The Spring of Science".

(Editor:王苏)

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China cements place in scientific elite
Source:China Daily | 2019-01-16 07:23
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