Two humanoid robots provide services to participants of the 2025 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference in Beijing on March 27, 2025. Photo: Tao Mingyang/GT

The 2025 Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum) Annual Conference commenced in Beijing on Thursday, bringing together participants from more than 100 countries and regions. Under the theme "New Productive Forces and Global Science and Technology Cooperation," the five-day event features 128 activities encompassing forums, technology transactions, achievement showcases, competitions and various supporting events. 

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing addressed the opening ceremony. He said that China has implemented the innovation-driven development strategy in depth, and achieved fruitful results in the integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation. 

China is willing to work with other countries to explore a new model of global scientific and technological cooperation that is mutually beneficial and win-win, Zhang said, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

This year's ZGC Forum Annual Conference focuses on exploring the latest advancements and industrial trends in cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence, humanoid robots and 6G, bringing together more than 1,000 attendees from more than 100 countries and regions, including business leaders, investors and scientists.

Maintaining multilateralism today is very necessary, as the trends of "small yard, high fence" and protectionism are rising in the world, and China is resolutely promoting multilateralism in that respect, former Belgian ambassador to China Patrick Nijs, who is attending the forum for a third time, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"We have witnessed the rapid growth of China's economy, particularly in the fields of science and technology. We are drawing practical lessons from China's advancements in science and technology to promote economic development in Rwanda and the continent as a whole," Janvier Bikorimana, public service ethics and values promotion specialist in Rwanda's Ministry of Public Service and Labor, told the Global Times on Thursday. "This is an opportune moment to strengthen collaboration between countries like Rwanda and China, and we aim to enhance this partnership through this forum."

Despite challenges posed by external technological suppression, China's commitment to sci-tech self-reliance and international cooperation is accelerating the development of new quality productive forces and facilitating a transition toward high-quality economic growth, attendees and experts said.

China balances independent innovation with international technological cooperation through platforms like the ZGC Forum. This approach allows China to challenge international technological hegemony and emerge as a key player in promoting fair and open global technological collaboration, Chen Jing, vice president of the Technology and Strategy Research Institute, told the Global Times.

The ZGC Forum is expected to further enhance its role as a platform to promote international scientific and technological cooperation, facilitate the transformation and application of scientific and technological achievements, and attract international research institutions and enterprises to participate in collaboration, thereby creating an open innovation ecosystem with global competitiveness, Chen added.

At the opening of the 2025 ZGC Forum Annual Conference on Thursday, China's Top 10 Scientific Advances of 2024 were announced, including samples returned by the Chang'e-6 mission, which revealed lunar far-side volcanism 2.8 billion years ago, and large-scale photonic chiplets that empower the training and inference for artificial general intelligence.

The annual Top 10 Scientific Advances aim to spotlight China's progress in fundamental research, inspire scientists, and boost public understanding and support, Dou Xiankang, president of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, said on Thursday.

Among the cutting-edge technological advancements showcased at this year's event is the presence of about 100 robots from 15 companies, actively engaging in various scenarios including welcoming guests, performing and providing services.

The scientific advances presented at the forum are highly impressive and encompass an incredible range of fields, highlighting the progress China has made in basic scientific research, Brent Clothier, former president of the Royal Society of New Zealand and a principal scientist of plant and food research, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the ZGC Forum on Thursday.

The ZGC Forum also serves as an important link between the business community and the basic scientific and technological research sectors, facilitating the translation of scientific research results into commercial applications, Clothier noted.

Established in 2007 with "Innovation and Development" as its permanent theme, the ZGC Forum has successfully held 15 sessions, organized thousands of parallel forums and supporting activities, and attracted hundreds of thousands of attendees.