Those points resonate in 2025. China has become an important player in research and development (R&D). Yet, most of the outside world has still not woken up to this fact. On 23 October, China's Communist Party announced that, for the next five years, it will focus on "high-quality development" with "innovation as the fundamental driving force". This will require, it says, "substantial improvements in scientific and technological self-reliance and strength" (see go.nature.com/4ahcvj8). Policymakers should take this statement seriously for three reasons.