Xi Tells Scientists to Make China a Leading Science Power by 2035

President Xi Jinping urged Chinese scientists to turn the country into a leading global power in science and technology by 2035, calling the 15th five-year plan period from 2026 to 2030 a critical phase for addressing what he described as difficult technological challenges. The message frames self-reliance in advanced fields as a national priority.

The push is unfolding as the United States extends export controls over semiconductors and, more recently, frontier artificial-intelligence systems, restrictions designed to slow China's access to the most advanced tools. Xi's directive reads as a response, an instruction to close the gap through domestic capacity rather than imported technology.

The drive extends beyond chips and computing. In Indonesia, the national research agency described a collaboration with China's Tsinghua University on a messenger-RNA dengue vaccine as a step toward health sovereignty, an example of how Chinese scientific partnerships are spreading across the Global South even as Western controls tighten.