By LI Linxu

China has more than 40,000 social organizations in the field of science and technology, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA).

Among them, there are 236 national-level organizations, and 17 international sci-tech organizations.

Social organizations have become an important force in building a sci-tech powerhouse, said an official from MCA.

The ministry has always attached great importance to the high-quality development of social organizations in the field of science and technology, rolling out a series of preferential policies, financial support measures, and talent incentive mechanisms, according to MCA.

Experts from a sci-tech social organization guide farmers on scientific breeding of Hu sheep, Changhua town, Hangzhou city. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

With the country's rapid development of science and technology, all forms of sci-tech organizations are thriving in China. This is demonstrated not only by the number of such organizations, but also by the number of their activities and the internationalized level of such activities.

Last year, national-level sci-tech organizations held more than 7,000 academic seminars and took part in more than 1,000 international exchange activities, effectively facilitating disciplinary research, academic exchanges, science popularization and talent cultivation.

Meanwhile, more and more Chinese scientists and researchers have participated in the activities of or been involved in setting up international sci-tech organizations.

Of particular note is that Beijing is pooling resources to build a cluster for the headquarters of international sci-tech organizations, taking measures catering to the needs of these organizations for infrastructure, finance, personnel exchanges and services.

It has already attracted a number of international sci-tech organizations to settle in Beijing, such as the International Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association, the World Robot Cooperation Organization, and the International Coalition of Intelligent Manufacturing.

China vowed to expand science and technology exchanges and cooperation with other countries, cultivate an internationalized environment for research, and create an open and globally-competitive innovation ecosystem, as per the 20th CPC National Congress report.