At a press conference held by the Information Office of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on November 6, officials highlighted the progress made under the "Breakthrough" project in science and technology since its launch in 2023. The initiative has significantly boosted innovation efforts across cities, departments, universities, and research institutions, fostering a collaborative environment for technological advancement.
Key developments include:
1. **"7+1" Strategic Layout**: The project focuses on integrating technological and industrial innovation, targeting key clusters in Inner Mongolia. It encompasses 75 critical tasks across energy storage and new power systems, rare earths, hydrogen energy, specialty dairy, "AI+," low-altitude economy, biotechnology, and major scientific infrastructure. Enterprises or major innovation platforms led by businesses are spearheading these tasks, with total fiscal investment exceeding 670 million yuan, leveraging 2.8 billion yuan in broader societal funding. This approach promotes simultaneous upgrades in traditional industries, breakthroughs in emerging sectors, and foundational work for future industries.
2. **Landmark Achievements**: Several industry-first production lines and products have been developed, directly translating into industrial applications. For instance, 10 pilot rare earth production lines are operational, yielding 21 new products. Energy-saving coating materials alone have been adopted by 10 steel and rare earth companies, generating 300 million yuan in added output. In dairy, a breakthrough in β-casein purification (over 80% purity) achieved a 20% higher yield than international competitors. Advances in energy storage and hydrogen technologies have also injected vitality into Inner Mongolia's energy transformation, shaping a multi-energy complementary system integrating wind, solar, thermal, storage, and hydrogen.
3. **Talent Development**: The project has attracted 24 academicians, including Xu Nanping and Tang Guangfu, and mobilized over 4,000 researchers from 261 universities, institutions, and enterprises. Zhang Heping’s team, for example, established China’s largest R&D center for lactic acid bacteria, addressing core fermentation challenges in dairy processing. Notably, 15.2% of the region’s top science awards and 20% of youth innovation prizes were awarded to teams involved in the "Breakthrough" project.
Moving forward, Inner Mongolia’s Department of Science and Technology will align the project with the upcoming "15th Five-Year" innovation plan, concentrating efforts on upgrading traditional industries, expanding emerging sectors, and nurturing future industries. The goal is to enhance overall innovation efficiency through targeted breakthroughs, supporting the "Inner Mongolia Model" for Chinese modernization.
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