On the morning of May 20, the 2017 National Science Week (Shanghai Venue) & Shanghai Science Festival was officially kicked off at Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. The theme of the Festival was “Mass Innovation---Building a Science and Technology Innovation Center with Global Influence”. Vice Chairman of the National Committee of CPPCC and Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang and Mayor Ying Yong jointly unveiled the 2017 Shanghai Science Festival.
Other distinguished guests present at the launching ceremony included Deputy Secretary of Shanghai CPC Committee Yin Hong, Executive Vice Mayor Zhou Bo, Captain & Special-Class Astronaut of PLA Astronaut Brigade Nie Haisheng, DDG of China Science and Technology Exchange Center Zhao Xinli, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal NPC Zhong Yanqun, Vice-Chairwoman of Shanghai Municipal CPPCC Fang Huiping, President of Shanghai Jiaotong University Lin Zhongqin and Director-General of Shanghai Science Education Development Foundation Zuo Huanchen.
Before the launching ceremony, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, members of the C919 project team, R&D chiefs from Fortune 500 companies as well as other science and technology leaders walked on the Science Carpet and met the public. Participating guests visited the “Belt & Road Blue & White Porcelain Science and Technology Culture Exhibition. At the launching ceremony, the main venue of the 2017 National Science Week in Beijing interacted with the Shanghai venue, and Minister Wan Gang introduced the National Science Week at the Shanghai venue. As the flag of the Shanghai Science Festival rose slowly, the theme song of the Festival was played, making the official launch of the event.
The National Science Week is a grand gathering of the science and technology circle in China, co-sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the CPC Publicity Department and the China Association for Science and Technology. It is also an important platform to stage popular science events for the public and enjoys enormous popularity with people from all walks of life and netizens. Inaugurated in 1991, the Shanghai Science Festival is the most influential all-citizen science and technology event with the widest coverage in Shanghai. Incomplete statistics show that the 8-day 2017 Shanghai Science Festival had over 1,000 events held in 16 districts across the city.
Meanwhile, the “Belt & Road” International Science Popularization Garden, an important event of the 2017 National Science Week sponsored by the China Science and Technology Exchange Center (CSTEC) made its debut at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. During the event, scientists and science teachers from Poland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Singapore, Malaysia, the Czech Republic and other countries along the “Belt & Road” were invited to interact with the audience and spread scientific knowledge through interesting activities, including experiencing science and technology products, conducting scientific experiments and watching science movies. DDG Zhao Xinli of CSTEC took part in the interactive program, saying that the Interactive Exhibition of the “Belt & Road” International Science Popularization Garden marks joint efforts of experts from countries to deliver the “Belt & Road” Initiative. He wished that all participants could learn from each other and work together to raise the science literacy of citizens in countries along the “Belt & Road” region.