By LI Linxu

As local two sessions were wrapped up across the country, education, sci-tech and talent have become buzzwords in local government reports.

This is in response to the 20th CPC National Congress report, which vowed to give high priority to the development of education, build China's self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and rely on talent to pioneer and to propel development.

Education, sci-tech and talent have become buzzwords in local government reports. The picture shows a Long March-2D carrier rocket blasting off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Jan. 13, 2023. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

Shanghai will further advance the integration of education, sci-tech, and talent resources, according to its government work report for 2023, noting that it will kick off a new batch of municipal sci-tech major projects and roll out a series of measures to attract talent.

Statistics show that in 2022, the metropolis's R&D expenditure as a percentage of its GDP climbed to 4.2 percent.

Like Shanghai, Beijing also pays great attention to the importance of education, sci-tech and talent resources in achieving its 2023 goals.

As a sci-tech and education heavyweight, Beijing is determined to leverage its education, sci-tech and talent advantages, so as to inject new dynamic impetus into the capital's innovation-driven development.

Focusing on advanced, sophisticated, and high-tech industries, Beijing has cultivated two industrial clusters worth more than one trillion RMB in the fields of new generation information technologies and sci-tech services, and five industrial clusters worth more than 100 billion RMB in the fields of medicine & health, smart equipment, artificial intelligence, energy conservation & environmental protection, and integrated circuits.

In Guangdong, one of the country's most economically vibrant provinces, education, sci-tech and talent are high on the agenda in its government work report for 2023.

Aiming to build an education, sci-tech innovation, and talent hub, the province is accelerating the establishment of a whole-process innovation eco-system, so as to attract sci-tech and innovation talent from around the world.

In recent years, great progress has been made in the country's innovation-driven initiatives. Local governments are rolling out targeted policies and measures in light of their own conditions, to create a more favorable ecosystem for innovation.

Of particular note is that Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai-Suzhou are among the top 10 S&T clusters in the 2022 edition of World Intellectual Property Organization's Global Innovation Index.

Now, China is on a par with the U.S. in terms of the number of top 100 S&T clusters, with 21 each.