How does China pursue sci-tech self-reliance?

Editor's note: China will hold its annual "Two Sessions" in early March. Ahead of this year's key political meetings, CGTN presents "A look at China during the Two Sessions," a special series that takes an in-depth look at the country's endeavors in promoting people's livelihood, rural revitalization, economic development, sci-tech innovation and opening up.

Nestled in a huge natural and round depression in southwest China's Guizhou Province, there is China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), currently the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world.

The telescope, since its launch in 2016, has identified over 800 new pulsars, discovered for the first time a new fast radio burst (FRB), and found key evidence for the existence of nanohertz gravitational waves, indicating China has entered front ranks in the study of nanohertz gravitational waves.

It took 22 years to build FAST. The big astronomical infrastructure represents a cutting-edge scientific achievement for China, which not only requires a huge amount of capital investment ($160 million) but also forefront science and technological talents. 

Sci-tech self-reliance as national strategy

Just like the case of FAST, China has been investing in science and technology for decades, with a focus on achieving self-reliance in sci-tech. Every ten years, China introduces technology development plans to realize the national strategy.

In 1995, the central government promulgated the Decision on Accelerating the Progress of Science and Technology to advance sci-tech system reform and policy support. The Decision also put forward the "Strategy of Invigorating China Through Science and Education," a roadmap stressing national development based on progress in science and technology. 

In 2006, China issued an outline of the National Medium- and Long-Term Program for Scientific and Technological Development (2006-2020), in which it stated, "China, being a large developing nation, is to accelerate its S&T development and narrow down the gaps with developed nations." Moreover, China in 2017 rolled out the New Generation AI Development Plan, emphasizing global leadership in AI by 2030.

Recognizing these advancements, Washington responded with efforts to curb China's access to top-tier technology, leading to increased tensions. Since the beginning of China-U.S. trade tensions in 2018, the U.S. has sanctioned a number of Chinese tech companies and enacted export control regulations targeting China's artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor industries, prompting China to intensify domestic efforts by encouraging sci-tech innovation, increasing funding for R&D, and reforming its sci-tech innovation system.

In China's annual Central Economic Work Conference in December last year, state leaders listed their work priorities for 2024, emphasizing the need to forge "new industries, models, and impetus with disruptive and cutting-edge technologies," and to nurture strategic emerging industries. The meeting also stressed enterprises' leading role in sci-tech innovation.

Enterprises as main body of innovation

"Compared with government departments and research institutes, enterprises have profound incentives for sci-tech innovation. For them, innovation is not only a development issue but also a survival issue," Wu Gangliang, a researcher at China Enterprise Reform and Development Commission told CGTN on Thursday.

He added that compared with private companies, state-owned enterprises in China have a strong R&D foundation and talent advantages. 

"In recent years, China deepened its reform in many sectors. For example, a large number of sci-tech research institutes have been transformed into enterprises and research talents are allowed to hold shares in their companies. It's a great breakthrough in the sci-tech system and mechanism reform," said Wu.

The government has also listed R&D expenditure as an assessment indicator for central enterprises and required them to invest 2-3 percent of their revenue in R&D. In January this year, the central government proposed a "dual-line" assessment standard for central enterprises, which evaluates not only the input of R&D but also the output effect.

Official data from the Ministry of Technology shows that China's investment in science and technology has grown significantly, with the total R&D expenditure increasing from 1.03 trillion yuan (about $143 billion) in 2012 to 2.79 trillion yuan (about $387.6 billion) in 2022, ranking second in the world. And 79 percent of national key R&D projects are led or participated by enterprises. 

Meanwhile, the investment in basic scientific research has increased by 3.4 times in 2022 as compared with 2012. In addition, the number of high-tech enterprises has increased from less than 50,000 to 330,000 in 2022.

So far, a large number of advanced technical equipment and systems independently developed by China have entered practical use, including supercomputing, 5G, high-speed railways, electric vehicles, smart grids, fourth-generation nuclear power, and ultra-high voltage power transmission technologies, which are all at the world's advanced level and have been rapidly upgrading China's industries. 

Even though China is actively pursuing sci-tech self-reliance in key industries given its national security and strategic development, it's still open to international cooperation. According to a 2022 report by the Intellectual Property Development Research Center of the State Intellectual Property Office, China's imported IP charges had been steadily increasing from $29 billion in 2017 to $52.6 billion in 2021.

China's 14th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development (2021–2025) also stated that China will implement a more "open, inclusive, mutually beneficial and shared" strategy for international sci-tech cooperation, and will more "actively integrate into the global innovation network."