12/05/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/05/2025 08:04
BEIJING, Dec. 5 -- China's innovation is open and open-source, and the country is willing to share indigenous technologies and innovation scenarios with the world, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a briefing here on Friday.
Lin made the remarks in response to a query related to foreign media reports that China has transformed from the "world's factory" to the "world's laboratory," and that Western countries need to catch up in this competition.
"'Innovation' has indeed become a key word in China's economic and social development," Lin said, noting that the word was mentioned 61 times in the recommendations for formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development, which was adopted at the fourth plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee.
Lin said that over recent years, major scientific and innovation outcomes have kept emerging in China, which has gone up the Global Innovation Index ranking, from the 34th in 2012 to the 10th in 2025.
"For years, China has taken science and technology as its primary productive force," Lin said, adding that China has provided guidance of visions and policies and advanced reform of the system, taken good use of its market and talents, let enterprises take up the principal role in innovation, and made sustained efforts.
"China has blazed a successful path whereby sci-tech innovation spearheads industrial innovation and industrial upgrade propels sci-tech evolution, and made innovation the underlying driving force of China's economy," Lin added.
He noted that there may be competition in innovation, but innovation is not about winning. "China's innovation is open and open-source, and we aim to achieve win-win results," Lin said.
For instance, the first batch of cooperation projects aboard China Space Station involves 23 institutions from 17 countries. China's FAST telescope accepts observation application from scientists worldwide. China initiated the establishment of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization and proposed the AI+ International Cooperation Initiative as part of the effort to promote the open and inclusive development of AI for good and for all. DeepSeek launched an open-source model for global developers to use and improve. "The examples are ample," said Lin.
China is willing to promote mutual empowerment and common development through openness and cooperation, and deliver more outcomes of innovation to the whole humanity, the spokesperson said.