DPM Heng Swee Keat at the Opening Ceremony of the 2025 Zhongguanchun Forum Annual Conference

His Excellency Zhang Guoqing, Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China,

His Excellency Yin Li, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee,

His Excellency Mo Gaoyi, Central Publicity Department Vice-Minister and State Council Information Office Director

Scientists and innovators all around the world, and Excellencies from all over the world,

Let me first say a few words in mandarin.

各位来宾，大家早上好。

我很荣幸，受中方邀请，参加今年的中关村论坛。

中关村论坛自2007年创办以来，汇集了科学、技术和商业领域最杰出的人才，以“创新与发展”为永久主题，促进了全球科技创新交流与合作。

今天，我将与大家分享新加坡在推动科研和技术发展方面所做的努力。希望借此，能激发更多的新中双边，还有区域性的多边合作，共同推动科学和创新技术，为我们的人民谋福祉。

接下来，让我以英语发言。

Across the ages, science, technology, and innovation have driven civilisational progress.

The concept of zero, with its roots in India, China, and the Middle East, is fundamental to advanced mathematics and physics, and these in turn power our digital economies today.

Gears or齿轮 were used by ancient civilisations in Greece, India, China and Egypt, such as for water clocks in ancient China. These are now integral to mechanical engineering, robotics and even space exploration.

The compass or 指南针, one of China’s Four Great Inventions, was adopted by western Europe and the Islamic world. It enabled trade and globalisation, which improved the lives of all our people.

So the initials of these - Zero, Gears and Compass, is also the initial of the Zhongguancun (ZGC). Now indeed, China’s Four Great Inventions or 四大发明, the Compass, Gunpowder, Paper-making and Printing, all had a major impact in advancing civilisations across the world.

Today, innovation continues all around the world. In fact, the pace of discovery is faster than ever.

Game-changing advances in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, biotechnology, and nuclear energy are changing the way we live and work.

Humans have a creative instinct which we should harness to improve the lives of our peoples.

I am glad that China, and the rest of Asia, are doing our part to advance scientific discovery.

Data from the World Intellectual Property Organisation show that Asia accounts for 70% of global intellectual property (IP) filings, with China, Japan, and Korea among the top 5 countries in the world!

In fact, respect for IP is an important foundation for innovation. So I am glad to see Mr Darren Tang, our Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation here with us.

Creativity and innovation to tackle shared societal challenges

Now, while our creative instinct and drive for innovation is strong, the challenges facing the world are also very complex. Ageing populations, pandemics, and climate change are just a few examples.

And moreover these challenges do not respect borders. I think we all remember a very common phrase during the COVID-19 pandemic: No one is safe until everyone is safe.

We must not forget how interconnected we are. Hence, we must come together, to share our ideas, resources, and expertise, to harness innovation, to solve humanity’s common challenges. And I am glad that Zhongguancun has gathered over so many years talented scientists and leaders of research organisations and companies to come together to address this issue.

So issues like how can we combine AI with precision medicine to develop new vaccines and therapeutics?

How can we better understand the human brain, to help our students and workers prepare for the age of AI and automation? I think the age of AI is going to fundamentally change the human skills and competencies that we need, to be able to use AI to augment human capability and not to fear being replaced by AI.

Or to develop new sources of energy so that we can grow sustainably? Climate change is a global challenge and we must do our best to address this global challenge.

Now, Singapore seeks to contribute to this global effort by connecting the best minds globally to advance these goals.

The National Research Foundation (NRF) which I chair, established the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE). Now, this CREATE structure brings together top global universities, including Shanghai Jiaotong, to collaborate.

We have also launched a series of “Grand Challenges” to apply R&D to major societal challenges.

Last year, we launched a Grand Challenge on Decarbonisation. This served to bring together the best researchers globally to help green our growth.

Our next Grand Challenge will promote heathy and successful longevity.

People around the world are all living longer and ageing very quickly. 1 in 5 Singaporeans are aged 65 or older today. This is similar in China which is at 15.6%, but China’s issue is on a much larger scale, with 220 million seniors!

Other countries in Asia and Europe, like Japan, Korea and Germany, face similar challenges.

As our populations age in the coming years, we must prepare our economies, and our healthcare and social support systems.

So, we invite all with good ideas to partner us on these Grand Challenges!

Innovation ecosystems to accelerate impact

While research is important, to turn scientific insights into real-world application, it requires further efforts.

For example, the Compass was invented during the Han Dynasty.

It was only much later in the Song Dynasty that the Compass was widely used for navigation.

But with pressing issues like ageing and climate change, we must turn scientific discovery into impact quickly.

A robust innovation ecosystem, like Zhongguancun, can play a very valuable role.

Singapore has similarly been developing our ecosystem. Our public researchers work closely with companies, through 20 Corporate Labs and 10 Centres of Innovation.

Specialised infrastructure help our scientists commercialise their research, including the National Semiconductor Translation and Innovation Centre (NSTIC) and the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Initiative (NATi).

And as a global financial centre, more than 4,500 tech startups, 500 venture capitalists, and 220 incubators and accelerators form a vibrant start-up community.

And the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) brings together global innovators including start-ups, corporates and venture firms to collaborate on commercialising and scaling innovations. Each year, we organise the Global Young Scientists Summit, where top young minds come from around the world to discuss science to benefit society, and to discuss this together with Nobel laureates and the Touring prize winners and Millennium Technology Prize winners.

Now, we also have a Global Innovation Alliance Network that connects enterprises in Singapore and key markets across 24 cities, including our Global Innovation Nodes in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Suzhou, as well as in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.

Conclusion

Earlier, Party Secretary Yin Li mentioned about Beijing being the leading position in scientific talent and development in China. Indeed, there are many important nodes of innovation all over the world, and the theme of this forum of how we bring together the global community to look at innovation is most appropriate.

So, I look forward to Singapore, Beijing and Zhongguancun working closely together. And, I look forward to Singapore and all countries that have an interest to pursue science and technology to resolve the challenges facing humanity, to work together with us. I want to wish all our leaders and all our participants in this year’s Zhongguancun a success in the years ahead, and I want to thank Zhongguancun Forum for organising this and for inviting me to speak here.

Thank you very much.

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