Ministry provides update on social organizations' progress

China has more than 40,000 social organizations in the field of science and technology, including 236 national-level social organizations and 17 international science and technology organizations, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Science and technology organizations have promoted academic exchanges and innovation, boosting China's development in the field, said Chen Xiaoyong, deputy director of the ministry's social organization management bureau.

The ministry has promoted the high-quality development of social organizations, Chen said.

For example, the ministry has cooperated with financial departments to issue policies and set up projects to support the development of those organizations.

Last year, national scientific and technological academic associations held more than 7,000 academic seminars and participated in more than 1,000 international exchange activities, boosting academic communication, science popularization and talent cultivation.

Social organizations in science and technology have also played an important role in international communication.

International conferences have been held, and academic journals published.

For instance, the IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica, a monthly academic journal founded in 2014 by the Chinese Association of Automation and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, has become one of the field's most influential English academic journals.

As of last year, China had more than 900,000 social organizations in total.