Li Xiang China: The height of scientific and technological innovation must be measured by the temperature of people's livelihood

Editor's note: Science and technology are the foundation of a country's prosperity, and innovation is the soul of national progress. From quantum information to fusion energy, from computing power development to deep space exploration, in recent years, a number of cutting-edge scientific and technological original achievements are coming out of Anhui, continuously contributing to the construction of national strategic scientific and technological capabilities. In 2026, Guangming.com plans to launch the "Reflecting on China and Navigating the Future" online theory dissemination project, organizing experts and scholars to go to Hefei, Suzhou, Anhui and other places to enter scientific research laboratories and industrial workshops to conduct in-depth investigations into the living practices and latest achievements of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation in the Jianghuai region. It will create a series of visit-style theoretical interpretation videos to vividly tell the innovation stories and advanced experiences of the frontline of scientific and technological innovation, and encourage scientific researchers to make new contributions to building a technologically powerful nation.

Guest of this issue: Zhou Shen, associate researcher at the Department of Science and Technology Communication, University of Science and Technology of China

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Hello everyone, I am Zhou Shen from the Department of Science and Technology Communication at the University of Science and Technology of China. Today, technological innovation, especially the rapid development of artificial intelligence, continues to enrich our lives and brings great convenience to our work. This is something that almost everyone can experience personally.

Doing good and benefiting the people has always been the value orientation of scientific and technological innovation. As General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “Satisfying the people’s yearning for a better life must be regarded as the foothold of scientific and technological innovation, and benefiting, benefiting, enriching and improving people’s livelihood must be regarded as an important direction of scientific and technological innovation.”

First of all, the fundamental purpose of our development is to meet the people's growing needs for a better life and let the people live a better life. Therefore, technological innovation must ultimately fall on “people”.

Secondly, our country has a population of more than 1.4 billion and a middle-income group of more than 400 million people. It has a very large market and rich technology application scenarios. People's daily needs are increasing day by day, and various industries are eagerly looking forward to new technologies and products. These are important driving forces for technological innovation, which provide direction for innovation, scenarios for application, and support for transformation. When the supply side matches the demand side, and when production and consumption interact deeply, a spark of innovation can start a prairie fire to form a new industrial blue ocean.

In the past two days, we have conducted research in Anhui and found that Anhui is working hard to open up a path: let papers get out of the bookshelf, let the results get out of the showcase, let the "first mile" of scientists connect with the "last mile" of industrial application, and transform high-precision technology into heart-warming products and services.

From smart inspections to protect subway safety, to traffic robots to divert urban traffic, to drones for low-altitude emergency rescue to seize the prime time of life, to non-sensory intelligent monitoring to protect the safety of the elderly at home, each "small but beautiful" scientific and technological innovation achievement is accelerating and deeply integrated with people's lives, making urban governance more refined and people's lives more secure.

During this survey, we also visited the Jianghuai Automobile Gigafactory and saw more concrete scenarios of technology benefiting the people—comfortable smart seats for all employees and constant-temperature storage configurations, making every family trip calm and comfortable.

The height of science and technology will ultimately be measured by the warmth of people's livelihood; the value of innovation will ultimately be reflected in the smiling faces of the people. The results of scientific and technological innovation must ultimately serve and benefit people. This is the key to the continuous driving force and sustainable development potential of scientific and technological innovation.