The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) signed Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation with the China FAW Group Corporation in Changchun on December 8, 2012. The signing ceremony saw the presence of Zhou Ji, President of the CAE, Wang Huawen, Vice Governor of Jilin Province, Huang Danhua, Vice Chairperson of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council, CAE Members Wang Xingzhi, Wang Zherong, Wang Yuming, Guo Konghui, Tang Renyuan, Xie Youbai, Yang Yusheng, Rao Fangquan, Jin Donghan and Huang Chongqi, Fu Yuwu, Chairman of the Society of Automotive Engineers of China (SAE-China), Dong Yang, Executive Chairman and Secretary-General of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Xu Jianyi, Chairman of the China FAW Group Corporation, Xu Xianping, General Manager of the China FAW Group Corporation as well as Zhang Xiangdong, Vice President of Jilin University. Zhou Ji and Xu Jianyi signed the Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation on behalf of the Academy and the Enterprise. Zhou Ji, Wang Huawen, Huang Danhua and Xu Jianyi addressed the signing ceremony. 

Zhou, first of all, expressed warm congratulations on the signing of the Agreement on behalf of CAE. He then extended thanks to Jilin Provincial People’s Government, SASAC of the State Council as well as China FAW Group Corporation for their genuine concern and sustained support to the CAE in the past. Zhou also said in his address that, automobile industry’s an important basic and pillar industry for China’s national economy. Entering the 21st century, China’s automobile industry had enjoyed rapid development, making itself one of the major automobile manufacturers in the world. However, the structure of China’s automobile industry was not reasonable, technical level was not high, the independent development ability stayed weak and the consumption policy was not perfect. While these problems remained prominent, new problems such as those from energy, environmental protection and urban transportation emerged. China was a “big” manufacturing nation, yet not a “powerful” manufacturing nation. And the fundamental reason lied in innovation capabilities of enterprises. If labels like “Designed in China” and “Created in China” could be added to the old “Made in China”, the economic and industrial structure would be fundamentally transformed. That was to say, the innovation capabilities of enterprises, to a large extent, could determine the prospects of China’s economy in the future, and determine whether China could struggle its way from a “big” to a “powerful” manufacturing nation. 

Zhou also emphasized that scientific development depended on scientific decision-making, and scientific decision-making depended on scientific consultation, and as the highest honorary advisory academic institution in terms of engineering science and technology in China, CAE acted as the national think tank in engineering science and technology. Therefore, to be able to serve the local and industrial development was an important way for CAE to play its part as a national think tank. CAE had attached great importance to the cooperation with the SASAC of the State Council as well as other central and state-owned enterprises, and had signed a series of cooperation agreements with them. The signing of the Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement between CAE and the China FAW Group Corporation this time marked a great milestone on the cooperative efforts made jointly by both sides. We should earnestly implement the Agreement, encouraging CAE Members and their research teams to focus more on problems facing the China FAW Group Corporation as well as the automobile industry in China, conducting more cooperative studies and strengthening the industrialization and commercialization of research achievements, hoping to make greater contributions to the enhancement of innovation capabilities of the China FAW Group Corporation, as well as the development of automobile industry in China. 

Xu Jianyi said in his speech that, the China FAW Group Corporation and CAE had long enjoyed close cooperative relation. And the CAE had conducted a lot of academic exchanges, technical diagnosis and decision-making consultations as to key science and technology problems facing the automobile industry, such as the development of automotive technology, industrial structure adjustment and the upgrading of industrial technology for the China FAW Group Corporation. The signing of the Cooperation Agreement this time would have an important strategic significance for the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy, the transformation of research achievements, academic exchanges as well as talents cultivation, thus exerting far-reaching impact on the economic restructuring and transformation of development pattern of the China FAW Group Corporation. 

After the signing ceremony, President Zhou met with Wang Rulin, Governor of Jilin Province. During the meeting, Zhou spoke highly of gratifying achievements Jilin Province had made in terms of scientific economic and social development as well as the acceleration of the transformation of the economic development pattern through innovation-driven development in the past year facing economic downward pressure. Zhou also looked back at the close cooperative relationship between CAE and Jilin Province in recent years, saying that a number of CAE Members had already contributed to the innovation-driven development of Jilin Province through extensive and in-depth cooperation mainly in fields like mechanical engineering, chemical industry, agriculture and medicine. Zhou also promised that CAE would continue to make contributions to the scientific and technological innovation and development of Jilin Province and the China FAW Group Corporation through strategic studies and consulting services. 

Wang Rulin thanked CAE for consulting services and science & technology support it had provided for the scientific development of Jilin Province through the years. Wang also briefed on economic and social development in Jilin Province in recent years, hoping for continued support and assistance from CAE and SASAC of the State Council, with broadened fields for collaboration, etc. (By Zhao Wencheng, December 2012; translated by Liu Chang)