Xinhuanet, Beijing, June 3rd
Let engineering technology benefit mankind and create the future
——Keynote speech at the 2014 International Conference on Engineering Technology
President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping
Ladies, gentlemen and friends:
In this beautiful season, the International Engineering Science and Technology Conference was held in Beijing. I am very happy to have the opportunity to meet with experts and scholars of engineering science and technology from all over the world, and I am very willing to listen to your views on the development of engineering science and technology and the future of human society.
First of all, on behalf of the Chinese government and people, and in my own name, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the convening of the conference! I would like to express my sincere welcome to all the delegates attending the conference! Heartfelt congratulations to the convening of the Council meeting of the International Academy of Engineering and Technology!
Engineering technology is closely related to human survival. Learn from the past. Looking back at the history of human civilization, human survival is closely related to the level of social productivity development, and an important source of social productivity development is engineering technology. Engineering benefits mankind, and technology creates the future. Engineering technology is an important force to change the world. It originates from the needs of life and belongs to life. History has proved that engineering and technological innovation drives the rapid rotation of the wheel of history, provides an inexhaustible source of power for the progress of human civilization, and promotes human beings from ignorance to civilization, from nomadic civilization to agricultural civilization, industrial civilization, and to the information age.
Throughout the ages, human beings have created countless amazing engineering and technological achievements. Many achievements created by ancient engineering technology still exist today, witnessing the chronicle of human civilization. Such as ancient Egyptian pyramids, ancient Greek Parthenon, ancient Roman Colosseum, Indian Sun Temple, Cambodia Angkor Wat, India Taj Mahal and other ancient architectural wonders, such as Chinese papermaking, gunpowder, printing, Major technological creations such as the compass, and major projects such as the Great Wall, Dujiangyan, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal were all key factors and important symbols of the formation of human civilization at that time.
Since modern times, engineering technology has more directly linked scientific discovery with industrial development, and has become the main driving force for economic and social development. Every industrial revolution is inseparable from a technological revolution. In the 18th century, the steam engine sparked the first industrial revolution, leading to a major leap from manual labor to the production of powered machines, bringing mankind into the age of mechanization. From the end of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century, electrical machinery and chemical industry triggered the second industrial revolution, which brought human beings into the era of electrification, atomic energy, and aerospace, greatly improved social productivity and human living standards, and reduced the size of countries and regions. The earth becomes a "village" in terms of space and time distances from regions and people. In the second half of the 20th century, information technology triggered the third industrial revolution, which transformed social production and consumption from industrialization to automation and intelligence. Every major breakthrough in engineering technology will lead to profound changes in social productivity, and will push human civilization to a new and higher level.
In the more than 60 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially the more than 30 years of reform and opening up, China's economy and society have developed rapidly, and the driving force of engineering science and technology innovation has played an important role. A number of major engineering and scientific and technological achievements such as "two bombs and one satellite", manned spaceflight, and lunar exploration projects have greatly enhanced China's comprehensive national strength and international status. The successful construction of a large number of major projects such as the Three Gorges Project, West-East Gas Transmission, West-East Electricity Transmission, South-to-North Water Diversion, Qinghai-Tibet Railway, and High-speed Railway has greatly improved China's innovation capabilities and levels in basic industries, manufacturing, emerging industries and other fields. China's modernization process. The development of engineering science and technology in the fields of agricultural science and technology, population health, resources and environment, public safety, disaster prevention and mitigation has greatly improved the living standards and quality of more than 1.3 billion Chinese people, and brought historic changes to the face of China and the face of the Chinese people. .
