"Practice repeatedly tells us key core technology cannot be demanded, bought or begged," he said. "Only by firmly grasping key core technology in our hands can we fundamentally guarantee national economic security, national defense and other security."

One of the prime examples of achievement is hybrid rice. Almost half a century has passed since agricultural scientist Yuan Longping developed the first strain in 1970, and by the end of last year farmers in more than 40 countries had planted more than 7 million hectares of the crop.

In 2010, Jiaolong, China's first manned deep-sea research submersible - named after a mythical dragon - entered service, making China the fifth country in the world to have deep-sea exploration technology after the United States, France, Russia and Japan. Chinese designers started working on the project in 2002.