Chinese President Hu Jintao outlined major strategic tasks for building an innovation-oriented country at a national conference on science and technology that opened Monday in Beijing.

Hu said China will embark on a new path of innovation with Chinese characteristics, the core of which is to adhere to innovation, seek leapfrog development in key areas, make breakthroughs in key technologies and common technologies to meet urgent requirements in realizing sustained and coordinated economic and social development and make arrangements for frontier technologies and basic research with a long-term perspective.

Raising innovation capability should be given prominence to and the nation's competitiveness should be enhanced broadly, said Hu.

Innovation is the core of the nation's competitiveness and the strategic motif of China's future science and technological development. The practice of the world's scientific and technological development shows that only with strong capacity of innovation, can a country win the initiative in the international competition, said Hu.

The real core technologies cannot be purchased but can only be achieved by innovation, which should be given priority in the whole scientific and technological work, he said.

Raising the capability of innovation must center on serving the economic and social development and try best to tackle major issues in the field which hamper the economic and social development, said Hu.

Technologies of energy resources, water resources and environmental protection should be developed as priorities. The intellectual property rights of key techniques in equipment manufacturing and information industries should be regarded as breakthrough points in raising competitiveness, said the president.

Boosting manufacturing and information industries, raising agricultural production capacity, making breakthroughs in energy exploration, technologies of energy-saving and clean energy resources and optimizing energy structure should be goals to achieve in the scientific and technological development, he said.

The goals also include developing recycling economy, making breakthroughs in pharmacy and key medical equipment, developing technologies for national defense, and building up advanced scientist groups, research institutions and enterprises, Hu said.

To encourage the innovation vitality of the entire society and turn the scientific and technological achievements into productive forces are important tasks of building up an innovation-oriented country, Hu said.

"The government would play a leading role in the scientific and technological innovation, while the basic role of market will be given a full play in the allocation of scientific and technological resources," he said.

"Companies would play a principal part in the innovation, while research institutes and universities across the country would assume a key and leading role in the innovation," he said.

Hu also stressed the combination of the military and civil scientific and technological resources and the combination of the central and local innovative forces in the innovative undertaking.

"Innovation-related laws, regulations and scientific and technological development plans should be improved," he said.

"A favorable mechanism should be established so that the science and technology will accelerate the social development, and in turn, the society should increase investment into the scientific and technological innovation," he added.

He encouraged the share of scientific and technological resources among various departments.

Hu also called on to create a favorable financial environment for companies to conduct innovation.

Hu said that talented people are the key of scientific innovation. China will implement the strategy of building up the national strength with talented people in an all-round way.

He said China will train world first-class scientists, especially young and middle-aged scientists, based on national key scientific research projects and international scientific cooperation projects.

An incentive mechanism should be formed to increase the efficiency of innovation and provide more chances for the young talented people. China will introduce more overseas talented people and attract overseas Chinese graduates back to start businesses in China, Hu said.

China should not only inherit and develop traditional culture but also absorb the advantages of the cultures of other countries, said Hu.

Chinese research institutes and universities are encouraged to build joint laboratories and research centers with overseas research organs. China will support enterprises to increase export of high-tech products and establish research and development (R&D) bases overseas, said Hu.

International enterprises are also encouraged to set up R&D organizations in China, Hu added.

China supports scientists to take part in or play a leading role in international and regional key scientific projects, and join international scientific organizations, Hu said.

China will spend 15 years to turn itself into a innovation-oriented country, which means a broad and profound social reform, Hu said.

Hu urged the CPC and government officials at all levels to make contributions to increasing the capacity of innovation.

Hu pledged to step up efforts for the protection of intellectual property rights by improving the protection system and concerning laws and regulations while severely cracking down on violations according to law.

All the related departments of the central and local governments should take the development of science and technology, especially raising of the innovation capability, as a strategic investment by increasing the financial input, he said.

Hu said, all the efforts in enhancing China's innovation capability would yield to benefit the Chinese people by improving their living standards.