BEIJING: China must resolve issues in key technological fields from the bottom up as it deals with a growing number of mainly US export controls on advanced technology, President Xi Jinping has said.

Xi told a study session of the 24-person Politburo on Tuesday that China needed to strengthen basic research in the fields of science and technology if it is to achieve self-reliance and become a global tech power, the state news agency Xinhua reported.

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“To cope with international science and technology competition, achieve a high level of self-reliance and self-improvement … we urgently need to strengthen basic research and solve key technology problems from the source and the bottom,” Xi was quoted as saying.

The call comes as China deals with the latest round of technology export controls imposed by the United States, which this month reached an agreement with Japan and the Netherlands to restrict shipments of some advanced chip-making equipment to China.