On the afternoon of November 30, 2022, former Chinese President Jiang Zemin passed away at the age of 96. He spent most of his life advancing the great cause of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and steered the country from difficulties to promise in the last decade of the 20th century.

At a young age, Jiang Zemin acquired first-hand experience of the deepening national crisis and made up his mind to search for ways to revitalize the country. He joined the CPC in 1946. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, he worked as an engineer at various posts in Shanghai before he was transferred to Changchun and later received further technical training in the Soviet Union. Upon his return to China, he worked briefly in Shanghai, Wuhan, and Beijing before heading back to Shanghai as mayor of the city. In 1989, he was elected General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee. Jiang Zemin served the country with tremendous dedication and energy, and his presence will be greatly missed.

Jiang Zemin served as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chairman of the CPC’s Central Military Commission, President of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China. Jiang was an outstanding leader enjoying high prestige acknowledged by the whole Party, the entire military and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups. He was a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, a statesman, a military strategist, a diplomat, a weathered communist fighter, and an outstanding leader in the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. He was the core of the CPC’s third generation of central collective leadership and the principal founder of the Theory of Three Represents.

While in office, President Jiang was especially supportive of building China’s science and technology museums. On April 12, 2000, he wrote the inscription for the newly-built second exhibition hall of the China Science and Technology Museum, which reads:“We must promote the spirit of science, popularize scientific knowledge, and spread science and scientific methodology.” Under his leadership, China’s science and technology museums experienced rapid development.

Guided by President Jiang Zemin’s vision, the China Science and Technology Museum has been working to increase the interactive science elements in its exhibits, educational campaigns, videos, and films to improve Chinese people’s science literacy. The museum has received over 60 million visits so far. Nationwide, China’s science and technology museums have also made remarkable progress in science popularization. By some estimates, the Chinese people’s science literacy rate had risen from 0.3% in 1996 to 3.27% in 2010, and to 10.56% by 2020. Most notably, since the 18th CPC National Congress, the country’s science and technology museums have coordinated development, improved their popular science capabilities, and increased access to popular science services. Together, they have registered a total of over 850 million visits, injecting strong impetus into the high-quality development of popular science.

Please find the detailed information of CAST Newsletter No. 15 in the attachment.

Download: CAST Newsletter No. 15.pdf