Enhancing innovation-driven development to accelerate the cultivation of new growth drivers is one of the major strategic tasks for China's economic work in 2026. In the context of the rapid global acceleration of technological development and strong pushes from the West toward de-globalization and protectionism, China's efforts will require the continued deep integration of technology with its institutions, personnel, culture and market.

Strengthening the leading role of the business community in innovation means tilting resource allocation and policy incentives in favor of enterprises, especially technology-based ones. This requires the government to create a fairer market environment and put in place tax incentives and other policies to reduce the cost and risks of innovation. In the meantime, it should build a technology innovation system led by enterprises that features deep cooperation between industry, universities and research institutes, ensuring that the innovation chain precisely connects with the industrial chain.

However, if innovation achievements are not effectively protected, the source of innovation may dry up. This is especially true in the emerging and cutting-edge fields such as AI, biotechnology, new energy and new materials, where rapid technology iteration poses unprecedented challenges to intellectual property (IP) protection. Therefore, it is also essential to improve the IP protection system and address the protection needs of new business forms. At the same time, it is imperative to increase the cost of infringements, remove obstacles hindering rights protection and establish an efficient, fair and convenient administrative and judicial collaborative protection mechanism. Only in this way can innovators invest with confidence and can IP truly become the core asset for enterprises competing globally.

Innovation also hinges on the availability of highly qualified and talented personnel. As knowledge creators and cradles of education, universities have the mission of continuously supporting enterprises and the development of the emerging fields through the provision of human and intellectual resources. They must go beyond the traditional disciplinary boundaries and the one-way teaching approach, and focus on the global frontiers of technology as well as the major demands of the country.

The business community, IP protection and university education are never isolated from one another, but rather form a dynamically interconnected and mutually reinforced "innovation triangle."