The 2025 Enterprise Science and Technology Innovation Development Forum, jointly held by Science and Technology Daily (S&T Daily) and the Federation of Guangdong Academicians (FGA), in Shenzhen, Guangdong province in south China, discussed how to tackle barriers in integrating sci-tech innovation and industrial innovation.

"Only when research and industry join hands can innovation truly thrive," Guo Renzhong, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of FGA, said, adding that the FGA has compiled a total of 345 industrialization requirements from academician teams, and served nearly 1,000 enterprises and public institutions.

Commercialization of sci-tech achievements is a key factor to promote the integrated development of sci-tech innovation and industrial innovation. Shenzhen has pioneered a system to serve the commercialization process.

Wang Hui, director of the Shenzhen Technology Promotion Center for New Quality Productive Forces, said the city has taken the lead nationwide in certifying senior professional technical managers, with 302 individuals currently holding the designation.

These technical managers are not only well-versed in cutting-edge science and technology, but are also familiar with industries and capital. They connect different stakeholders and provide comprehensive and professional support for technology commercialization in terms of early-stage startup service, scenario exploration and financing.

The attendees reiterated the principal role of enterprises in promoting the integration of sci-tech and industrial innovation.

Enterprises span both technological innovation and industrial innovation phases, so an outstanding enterprise must effectively manage the integration of both dimensions, according to Lin Xiaodong, vice president of ZTE.

Lin called innovation more of an investment behavior from the angle of enterprises, with the core goal being to achieve business success through delivering values to customers. So enterprises' management of the innovation process is of great importance.

Bai Jie, director-general of the high-tech innovation department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said the ministry will further encourage enterprises to increase R&D investment and support eligible enterprises to establish research centers.

It will also support enterprises in leading or forming consortiums to apply for national sci-tech projects, thus elevating their competitiveness through scientific research and technological innovation.

At the forum, S&T Daily launched a case library of hardcore sci-tech achievements during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). It aims to promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into tangible productive forces, fully unleashing society's creative potential.

The initiative features 35 high-quality achievements in its first batch of cases, serving as a cornerstone for establishing a high-level industry-academia-research collaborative innovation platform.

Wu Jing, member of the Communist Party of China Leading Group of the Ministry of Science and Technology and president of S&T Daily, said with the grand blueprint for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) drawn, the journey of scientific and technological innovation is now filled with vigorous competition.

She called for all innovators to work together to promote future sci-tech development.