To maintain driving force for growth, global cooperation is imperative: China Daily editorial

In a congratulatory letter sent to the 2021 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit on Sunday, President Xi Jinping noted that digital technology is being fully integrated into all fields and the whole process of economy, politics, culture, society and ecological civilization construction with new ideas, new forms and new models, having extensive and profound impacts on the production and life of humankind.

Xi, also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, described innovation as a driving force for economic development when he delivered a message via video on Friday to the opening ceremony of the Zhongguancun Forum, the country's most authoritative forum on technology and science.

Both messages point to the importance the country attaches to innovation, research cooperation and the development of science and technology.

When addressing the Zhongguancun Forum, Xi said that China will continue to strengthen international exchanges on science and technology with a more open attitude, actively participate in the global innovation network, join in global efforts to promote basic research, push the industrial transfer of research findings, cultivate new driving forces for economic growth and protect intellectual property.

These remarks reflect how important it is for scientists from all over the world to join hands to further tap the potential of science and technology for the well-being of humanity.

Zhongguancun in west Beijing is known as China's Silicon Valley, as it accommodates a cluster of China's high-tech companies. This year's forum, the 14th for the annual event, has attracted representatives of high-tech firms and entrepreneurs from all over the world.

It is the country's reform and opening-up policies that have benefited the rapid development of the companies in Zhongguancun and the district itself as a cradle of the country's innovations in science and technology.

It is also the country's reform and opening-up that has made it possible for Wuzhen, in East China's Zhejiang province, to hold the World Internet Conference.

China cannot expect to further its economic growth and development of science and technology unless it opens its doors wider to the world. And it will be almost impossible for the international community to address the threats the world faces such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic without the participation of China.

Innovations in science and technology are urgently needed to address the problems hindering the realization of sustainable development. The joint endeavors of scientists from all countries have proved to be of vital importance for human progress, and now they are needed to address the threats humanity faces from nature.

That explains why President Xi emphasized the significance of exchanges between Chinese scientists and their counterparts from the rest of the world and the exchanges between the country's high-tech firms and their counterparts from other countries.

Innovation is important for any country, but joint global endeavors for innovation are vital for the future of humanity.