High-tech R&D: How is China doing it?

This study investigates China’s tedious but patient path to development. Starting with the milestone year 1985, China’s first major step was to completely reform its science and technology (S&T) management system. This was followed up with the implementation of an ambitious long-term development plan linking S&T to the economy, including the highly successful Torch and Spark Programs which are still under way today. The institutional framework was supported by strong structural reforms such as the establishment of a new and comprehensive legal framework for technology-related issues and the construction of a modern information technology (IT) infrastructure within the country. Today, numbers clearly show that China has achieved its goal of becoming a major global player high-tech R&D and technology development. China’s efforts to promote its S&T system en route to becoming a modern, high-tech economy and the supportive measures that were taken to turn theory into practice should be taken as a primary example by countries that are willing to pursue a similar goal.