Why is China Building a New System for Mobilizing Resources Nationwide for Scientific and Technological Innovation? A comparative study of the Chinese system and the EU system of scientific and technological innovation

         
Author Name MENG Jianjun (Visiting Fellow, RIETI) / PAN Motao (Wuhan University)
Creation Date/NO. April 2023 23-J-015
Download / Links

Abstract

In recent years, the government of China (GOC) has carried out the institutional design of scientific and technological innovation in line with the concept of a new system for mobilizing resources nationwide. From the perspective of a comparative analysis of the scientific and technological innovation system of the European Union–"open strategic autonomy"—this paper aims to explain the inevitability and rationality of the GOC's choice of a new system aimed at the nationwide mobilization of resources and form a more objective understanding of the deep logic behind the system design. Officially defined as a new system for mobilizing resources nationwide by GOC, it is “a new system that systematically concentrates national power and resources within key national undertakings”. The practical attribute of solving problems is far higher than the political attribute of surpassing strategy in science and technology. In contrast, the EU's “open strategic autonomy” is the current development strategy which is the product of risk active response in the era of Sino-US competition and cooperation. The specific scientific and technological innovation policies are subject to this strategic system and emphasize the dependence on the openness of internal countries to maintain independence in Sino-US competition and cooperation. From the perspective of system design, this paper compares China's new system for mobilizing resources nationwide and the EU's "open strategic autonomy". Through the comparison of the background, organizational form, talent, and capital allocation of China and the EU systems, we will briefly evaluate the effects and point out any problems that the two systems contain.