Better known to some in the West for its penchant for stealing other people's technologies, China plans to use its home grown brains to account for 20 percent of its flagging GDP by 2020.

China's State Council, the equivalent of a governmental Cabinet, has released a new blueprint for domestic technological innovation development in the 13th Five-Year Plan from 2016 to 2020 where the country's knowledge-based industries are expected to contribute a fifth of GDP.

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Li Meng, vice minister of Science and Technology, said one of the plan's targets is to lift China's world ranking in comprehensive innovation abilities from 18th to 15th.

"What does ranking 15th in the world mean? It means stepping into being a globally recognized innovative country. We are not there yet," he said.

"Our science and technology contribution ratio needs to be improved from the current 55 percent to 60 percent. The knowledge intensive business services should be able to contribute 20 percent of the GDP, up from this year's 15.6 percent. This is a key index to evaluate if a country is moving up on the value chain."

By 2020, China aims to increase expenditure on scientific research and experiments to 2.5 percent and expects its comprehensive innovation capabilities to be ranked among the world's top 15. This compares to the 2.1 percent of total national expenditures amounting to over S211 billion in 2015.

Also by 2020, total factor productivity should account for up to 60 percent of the country's economic growth.

The communist party wants the number of China's patent applications to double over the next five years. It also wants 60 out of every 10,000 workers engaged in research and development.

The plan also calls for 15 major projects with a focus on sectors such as quantum telecommunications, advanced manufacturing, cyberspace and deep space.

China will also spend more resources in research areas key to its national strength and security such as computer chips, integrated circuit equipment, broadband mobile telecommunication, genetic modification and water pollution control.

Xu jing, head of the innovation department in Science and Technology said the manned space programs and deep-sea exploration are also priorities.

"During the 13th five-year-plan period, we are also considering the start of a Mars exploration program as well as a study on the overall development and utilization of aerospace, including the on-orbit service and the Space-Air-Ground network," he noted

"As for deep-sea resources exploration, there are still lots of key technology challenges waiting to be solved. Establishing a deep water station is also on the agenda."

TagsState Council, china, knowledge industries, Li Meng