Evolution and Features of China’s Central Government Funding System for Basic Research

Basic research is believed to be a crucial factor for building national innovation capacity and therefore was perceived as a key battleground for national technological and economic competition. Since the economic reform and opening up in the late 1970s, China has made great achievements in building...

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Published inFrontiers in research metrics and analytics Vol. 6; p. 751497
Main Authors Bai, Aruhan, Wu, Cong, Yang, Kejia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 2021
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Abstract Basic research is believed to be a crucial factor for building national innovation capacity and therefore was perceived as a key battleground for national technological and economic competition. Since the economic reform and opening up in the late 1970s, China has made great achievements in building up its national research system. However, the lacking capabilities to conduct ground-breaking scientific work remain one of the daunting challenges for the country. How to restructure its funding system for basic research so to reinvigorate its indigenous innovation capacity has been one of the main concerns for the Chinese government in recent years. To address this, the paper proposes a conceptual framework to analyze how China’s central government funding system for basic research has evolved since 1985. The paper concludes with a discussion of the identified problems and challenges that China is facing in its current funding system for basic research.
AbstractList Basic research is believed to be a crucial factor for building national innovation capacity and therefore was perceived as a key battleground for national technological and economic competition. Since the economic reform and opening up in the late 1970s, China has made great achievements in building up its national research system. However, the lacking capabilities to conduct ground-breaking scientific work remain one of the daunting challenges for the country. How to restructure its funding system for basic research so to reinvigorate its indigenous innovation capacity has been one of the main concerns for the Chinese government in recent years. To address this, the paper proposes a conceptual framework to analyze how China’s central government funding system for basic research has evolved since 1985. The paper concludes with a discussion of the identified problems and challenges that China is facing in its current funding system for basic research.
Basic research is believed to be a crucial factor for building national innovation capacity and therefore was perceived as a key battleground for national technological and economic competition. Since the economic reform and opening up in the late 1970s, China has made great achievements in building up its national research system. However, the lacking capabilities to conduct ground-breaking scientific work remain one of the daunting challenges for the country. How to restructure its funding system for basic research so to reinvigorate its indigenous innovation capacity has been one of the main concerns for the Chinese government in recent years. To address this, the paper proposes a conceptual framework to analyze how China's central government funding system for basic research has evolved since 1985. The paper concludes with a discussion of the identified problems and challenges that China is facing in its current funding system for basic research.Basic research is believed to be a crucial factor for building national innovation capacity and therefore was perceived as a key battleground for national technological and economic competition. Since the economic reform and opening up in the late 1970s, China has made great achievements in building up its national research system. However, the lacking capabilities to conduct ground-breaking scientific work remain one of the daunting challenges for the country. How to restructure its funding system for basic research so to reinvigorate its indigenous innovation capacity has been one of the main concerns for the Chinese government in recent years. To address this, the paper proposes a conceptual framework to analyze how China's central government funding system for basic research has evolved since 1985. The paper concludes with a discussion of the identified problems and challenges that China is facing in its current funding system for basic research.
Author Wu, Cong
Bai, Aruhan
Yang, Kejia
AuthorAffiliation 1 Institutes of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) , Beijing , China
2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing , China
3 Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School , Brighton , United Kingdom
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Keywords central government
basic research
funding system
China
historical evolution
Language English
License Copyright © 2021 Bai, Wu and Yang.
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Edited by: Abiodun Egbetokun, National Centre for Technology Management, Nigeria
Stijn Kelchtermans, KU Leuven, Belgium
Reviewed by: Jiang Wu, Wuhan University, China
This article was submitted to Research Policy and Strategic Management, a section of the journal Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics
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SubjectTerms basic research
central government
China
funding system
historical evolution
Research Metrics and Analytics
Title Evolution and Features of China’s Central Government Funding System for Basic Research
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