How the guest list for Beijing’s summer retreat reveals its tech priorities

China's Communist Party Central Committee and State Council invited 60 experts to the Beidaihe summer retreat from August 1 to 7, with 15 named participants spanning defence engineering, semiconductors, deep-sea equipment, artificial intelligence, and other fields, according to state news agency Xinhua. The guest list signals Beijing's focus on innovation and breaking through technological 'chokepoints' amid intensifying scientific competition with the US, aligning with the 'self-reliance and strength in science and technology' objective in China's 15th five-year plan through 2030.

How the guest list for Beijing’s summer retreat reveals its tech priorities Experts in chips, defence, and deep-sea drilling gathered as China’s scientific competition with the US intensifies Yuanyue Dang /author/yuanyue-dang in Beijing annual summer retreat https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3362838/chinas-political-and-scientific-elite-head-beidaihe-summer-retreat-season?module=inline&pgtype=article , highlighting how the country is focusing on innovation https://www.scmp.com/tech/innovation?module=inline&pgtype=article and breaking through “chokepoints” amid fierce competition with the US. According to state news agency Xinhua, the Communist Party’s Central Committee and the State Council, China’s cabinet, invited 60 experts to the seaside resort of Beidaihe from August 1 to 7. five-year plan https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3345767/inside-chinas-15th-5-year-plan-ai-fusion-and-defence-drive-next-frontier?module=inline&pgtype=article . While Xinhua did not publish the full guest list, it named 15 participants. They covered defence engineering, semiconductors, deep-sea equipment, artificial intelligence, particle astrophysics, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, the digital economy and more. The selection suggests that Beijing is seeking to combine long-term basic research with efforts to address immediate technological and developmental needs. “Self-reliance and strength in science and technology” has been designated as a major objective in China’s 15th five-year plan, which runs through 2030.