Chinese President Xi Jinping has issued a rallying cry to the country’s scientific community, urging them to overcome weaknesses “strangling” China, especially its reliance on overseas technology. Xi told a forum in Beijing on Friday that more than ever before China needed scientific solutions to its problems, state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday. “Amid fierce international competition, unilateralism and protectionism, we must work out our own way to upgrade, become more innovative and make more breakthroughs from scratch,” he said.
The call came a day after the United States further restricted use of American technology by Chinese companies, and expanded bans on Chinese science students studying in the US.