Foreign Correspondents in HK Gather to Find out the Secret of Guangdong Innovation

HONG KONG, Dec. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- "Whether you want to focus on any particular area of technology? Would you want to see Guangdong being a specialist, for example, in one particular area? Is that important to you at all?" Tara Joseph from Reuters raised 3 questions in one time to the top science and technology official in Guangdong. She was one of the 80 correspondents from foreign media like Reuters, Bloomberg, New York Times, and Finanz und Wirtschaft who attended a lunch event to discover Guangdong's secret of innovation.

The lunch event focused on Guangdong's Push for Innovation was held at the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC) on Wednesday afternoon. The event has been held for the third year, which aims to brief the foreign press about Guangdong's latest social and economy development.

"Yes, it is very important." Today's speaker, Professor Huang Ningsheng, Director General of Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong, answered undoubtedly to Tara. He said Guangdong is now focusing in optimizing its capability on sectors of in-advanced manufacturing, life science and health, and Information Communications Technology (ICT).

"The purpose of boosting innovation is not only to promote development of socio-economy, but also to benefit the public." He said.

Huang added in his speech "In 2016, Guangdong is expected to invest 2.58% of its GDP in R&D, which is close to the level of R&D investment in innovation-driven countries (regions)." He said the percentage was increased by 0.01% year-on-year and he was optimistic about future growth of R&D investment of the province.

Directed by the Office of The Commissioner of The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC in Hong Kong SAR, the lunch event was organized by Information office of Guangdong, Guangdong Foreign Affairs Office and Guangdong's Office of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs, and Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong.

In recent years, in line with decisions made by the central government, Guangdong has been implementing the strategy of driving development through innovation with unprecedented determination and intensity. Taking innovation-driven development as the core strategy and the general starting point, the CPC Guangdong Committee and Guangdong Provincial Government have made coordinated efforts in terms of policies, capital, technology, human resources, platforms, etc and have achieved tangible results in driving development through innovation.