Chinese Technology

Science and technology in China is currently experiencing rapid growth. Unlike Europe, the country did not experience a historical scientific revolution and fell technologically behind the Western world for centuries during the late Ming dynasty. As China has become better connected to the global economy, the government has placed more emphasis on science and technology. This has led to increases in funding and an improved scientific structure for research purposes. This has led to advancements in numerous fields including agriculture, medicine and genetics.

Communist Party Oversight

In 1995, the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on the Acceleration of Progress in Science and Technology". This set an overall goal, both public and private, to attain R&D spending equivalent to 1.5% of GDP by the year 2000. It urged scientific academies and institutes of higher education to set up high technology companies noting that science and technology are the chief forces of social and economic development.

The “Decision” called for a reform of the Chinese science and technology structure to meet the needs of the socialist market economy. Science should move out of the institutes into private enterprise. Government research institutes should enter into cooperative ventures with Chinese and foreign companies, decide on the direction that their research should take and become responsible for whatever profits or losses they incur. There is recognition that the flow of personnel, information and capital must become efficient so that companies can orient their research programs according to market needs.

Peer Review

Peer review by funding organizations such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC) over the past decade has improved the effectiveness of science funding and raised the quality of Chinese science. In 1999, the NNSFC funded 16% of the 20,000 grant applications it received from an annual budget of RMB 800 million (USD 100 million). The NNSFC budget has increased nearly 20% annually since being founded. The NNSFC awards more research grants on a competitive basis than does the Ministry of Science and Technology. Grants often serve as seed money attesting to the quality of a project with local government money following thereafter.

The NNSFC budget is becoming an increasingly large part of China’s basic research spending. Three types of programs; young scientist, building science in developing regions and new high technology concepts account for 80% of the funding. The young scientist program also provides support for short-term (up to six months) training overseas and for the support of visiting foreign scientists.

Agriculture and Medicine

The NNSFC has provided significant funding for research in agriculture. Important progress has been made on proteinase inhibitors that kill insects by halting their digestive processes.

Work on medicine and drugs in China include the development of hepatitis vaccines. Some Chinese research had focused on examining the traditional Chinese medicines to understand their active ingredients. However, this approach was not very successful and now this research examines the effect of traditional Chinese medicines on the whole body. These include efforts to understand the effectiveness of traditional pharmaceuticals in such areas as post-stroke rehabilitation. Some Chinese traditional medicines are now used to reduce suffering and extend the lives of HIV victims in China.

Genetics and Biodiversity

The NNSFC began funding projects on biodiversity in 1993. Today there are six research groups working in this area. China’s Genome project is headquartered in Shanghai and has carried out genome structural analysis and developed techniques for human genome research informatics. Projects focus on disease-causing genes in such diseases as liver cancer, esophageal cancer and psychological disorders. Shanghai has become a major Chinese center for biotechnology and human genome research. Twelve institutes and nineteen research groups are involved in the human genome project.

Additional Research Areas

Global change research projects include the carbon cycle in ice zones of Antarctica and the relationship between elevation of carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and aquatic organisms. Global change research efforts in China are linked to several international programs on global change.

Chinese science strategists see a great opportunity in newly emerging fields such as biotechnology and computers, areas where there is still a chance for China to become a significant player. Although most Chinese students who went abroad have not returning, they have build a network of contacts that will greatly facilitate U.S.-China scientific cooperation in coming years.

The United States is often held up as the standard of modern scientific development. Photos of the Space Shuttle often appear in Chinese advertisements as a symbol of advanced technology. China’s small but growing space program successfully carried its first human safely into space in 2003 and is a source of national pride.

The U.S.-P.R.C. Science and Technology Agreement is a framework for bilateral cooperation in research. Signed in 2001, there are many active protocols under the Agreement covering cooperation in areas such as marine conservation, renewable energy and health. Both Japan and the European Union have high profile science and technology cooperative relationships with the People’s Republic of China.

A continued focus on education of scientists, increased funding of research and international cooperation in research are critical for the continued economic growth in China, as well as the health and well being of its citizens.