BEIJING — A Chinese sci-tech official has called for efforts to promote the brilliant spirit of scientists at a symposium held in Beijing.

The spiritual wealth created by the older generation of scientists should be carried forward and given new meaning in the new era, said Vice-Minister of Science and Technology Li Meng on Nov 6.

The recently-released communique of the fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China stressed that China will take self-reliance in science and technology as a strategic underpinning for national development.

The implementation of the strategic tasks planned at the session depends on the support and guidance of the spirit of scientists, Li said.

Among those attending the symposium were Zhang Boli, an expert in traditional Chinese medicine who was honored as "the People's Hero" in COVID-19 fight, Yao Tandong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Jiang Peng, chief engineer of the FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope).

They said they will carry forward the spirit of scientists, conquer scientific peaks, and make greater contributions to improving the country's scientific and technological power.