BEIJING, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory letter to the World Conference on Science Literacy 2018, which opened in Beijing Monday.

Science and technology (S&T) is the primary productive force, and innovation is a crucial driving force behind development, Xi said.

Strengthening the coordinated innovation of the S&T industry and all sectors of the society while advancing openness and cooperation between countries is a significant way to enhance the role of the S&T development in the progress of human society, he said.

Xi stressed that China had been active in exchanging ideas with other countries on promoting science and enhancing science literacy.

He said he hoped participants in the three-day conference would exchange opinions, learn from each other, contribute to improving science literacy, help share scientific achievements and advance the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, read the letter at the conference's opening ceremony, and delivered a speech.

Xi has always highly valued S&T innovation and the S&T cause, and emphasized that S&T innovation depends on the rise of people's science literacy, asking for an equally significant position for science popularization with that of S&T innovation, Wang said.

The new challenges brought by the development of S&T need to be answered by humanity as a whole, and S&T innovation must be based on the consistent enhancement of people's science literacy and abilities, he noted.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also sent a congratulatory letter to the conference.

Before the conference opened, Wang met with foreign guests attending the conference.

Themed "Science Literacy for a Shared and Better Future," the conference has over 1,000 participants, including representatives from 23 international science organizations and 58 national science organizations from 38 countries.