The State Council issued in Beijing Thursday the guidelines on national medium- and long-term program for science and technology development (2006-2020), which sets the proportion of research and development expenditure in the gross domestic product at 2.5 percent.

By 2020, the progress of science and technology will contribute 60 percent and above to the country's development. Meanwhile, the country's reliance on foreign technology will decline to 30 percent and below. The number of patents granted to Chinese nationals and the introduction of their academic essays are expected to rank among the first five throughout the world.