Present there were President Hu Jintao and senior party and state officials.

Xi Jinping, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the C.C., the Communist Party of China and vice-president of China, delivered a speech at the congress.

He noted that in the past five years the Association played a key role in ensuring the steady and relatively fast development of the country's economy and improving people's livelihoods, making positive contribution to building a comprehensively well-off society and speeding up the construction of an innovative state.

He called on the Association to push forward the country's innovation drive while promoting scientific literacy among the public.