  The 9th edition of Xixian's Innovation Cloud Forum, co-organised by IIDPF under the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Centre for Science and Technology Strategy and Policy Research, was held online on 5 January 2022 from 11:00-13:00. Professor Sun Yutao of Dalian University of Technology was the keynote speaker at the Xixian Innovation Cloud Forum, giving a lecture entitled The logic of China's science and technology planning: Insights from medium- and long-term planning. Some of the findings have been published in the Nature subjournal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-021-00895-7). The forum was hosted by Professor Jingjing Zeng, Director of the Center for Science and Technology Strategy and Policy, and more than 200 students and faculty from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Peking University, Wuhan University and Zhongnan University of Economics and Law attended the forum online.
  China's continued breakthroughs in science, technology and innovation are in part linked to the "grand experiment" of the National Medium and Long Term Science and Technology Development Plan (2006-2020) (MLP), which was released by the Chinese government 15 years ago. Professor Sun's talk is a comprehensive review and analysis of China's MLP (2006-2020). The sharing is divided into six parts: Frameworks for analyzing S&T planning, Strategic actions and progress, Planning system, Organize activities, Daunting Challenges and Lessons from MLP and Outlook for the new MLP.
  1. Frameworks for analyzing S&T planning
  China's Medium and Long Term Science and Technology Development Plan (MLP) released in 2006 launched an independent innovation strategy and set the goal of building China into an innovative country. The old MLP (2006-2020) has come to an end and a new MLP (2021-2035) is about to be launched. What has been the policy impact of the old MLP (2006-2020) on China's planning as a tool for STI governance?
  Three logics of science and technology governance are academic logic, market logic and administrative logic. The most important of the academic logic is peer review, publication of results and peer recognition; the market logic is technology development, intellectual property protection, consumer payback and economic return; and the administrative logic is meeting national needs and accomplishing national goals.
  There has been a great deal of academic research in the area of evaluation. In the area of science and technology management and governance, the two traditional evaluation methods are case studies and input-output analysis, but case studies and input-output analysis are difficult to evaluate for large science and technology programmes such as the MLP. Professor Sun and his team therefore propose a new approach to evaluating whether the MLP (2006-2020) has achieved its national goals, based on an administrative logic perspective.
  The basic framework of China's science and technology planning consists of four parts, namely Strategic actions, Planning system, Organize activities and Output and outcomes.
  The central decision maker in strategic action is the central government, followed by the coordinating agency and the National People's Congress (NPC), whose main responsibility is to work with the central government, and the NPC is the legislative body in science and technology governance; the planning system is to break down the major planning objectives of the MLP into five-year plans and annual plans; the organisational activities cover policy tools implementation, actor practice and Outputs and outcomes refer to the achievement of objectives. The following is a brief description of these four dimensions.
  2. Strategic actions and progress
  The decision-making body for science and technology work in China is the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the main coordinating body is the National Leading Group for Science and Technology. Professor Sun believes that the change from the Leading Group of Science and Education to the Leading Group of Science and Technology: on the one hand, separates science and technology work from education; on the other hand, it lies in the fact that science and technology is the first productive force and science and technology work should be closely integrated with economic activities.
  The administration of science and technology work has undergone a major restructuring in 2018, with the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) absorbing the former State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) being attached to the MOST, signifying an attempt to strengthen the role of foreign experts in science and technology in China. In addition, the adjustment of the English name of China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), originally translated as State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), is now translated as National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA), from Office to Administration, making it clear that the NIPA has administrative functions and strengthening the role of the government; at the same time, the NIPA is attached to the State General Administration of Market Supervision, emphasising the economic and market character of IPR protection.
  China's science and technology laws are enacted or amended by the National People's Congress. The Law on Scientific and Technological Progress was adjusted once in 2008 and the Patent Law was adjusted for the third time in 2020, and the amendment of science and technology laws can better promote scientific and technological innovation.
  The MLP (2006-2020) is guided by strategic actions (Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, coordinating bodies, National People's Congress) and sets targets such as GERD / GDP, contribution to scientific and technological progress (STP), foreign technological dependence (DFT), patent ranking, paper ranking, etc. In 2020, all targets are achieved, except for the R&D intensity target, which is not achieved.
  3. Planning system
  Professor Sun believes that planning is a form or instrument of governance, and that policy-related research in particular cannot be separated from planning. Planning is a programmatic compass for every year, every 5 years, every 10 years, every 15 years and even every 30 years in the future. The objectives set out in the MLP (2006-2020) have been cascaded into five-year plans and annual plans by the central government. "The 13th Five-Year Plan. "The Eleventh Five-Year Plan focuses on 16 major science and technology projects; the Twelfth Five-Year Plan focuses on the development of strategic emerging industries; and the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan emphasises the five development concepts and innovation-driven development. The MLP (2006-2020) annual plan refers to the central government's annual work report, from 2006 to 2009, the Central Government Work Report put forward the objectives and tasks of implementing the MLP and organised a number of science and technology tasks. Since 2015, the science and technology section of the central government work report has increased significantly.
  In addition, at the central and local government levels, the science and technology planning system in China follows a combination of top-down and bottom-up logic, as local governments in China can carry out science and technology planning and budgeting relatively independently. On the one hand, the central government assigns personnel to go to each local government to conduct research and formulate national-level science and technology plans based on the findings and national development needs; on the other hand, local governments also take the initiative to communicate with the central government when formulating science and technology plans, so that the central government is informed of local development needs. Thus, China's science and technology planning is the result of linkage between the central and local governments, reflecting both local and national interests.
  4. Organize activities
  The objectives of the MLP (2006-2020) cannot be achieved without supporting policies, priorities and actors. Firstly, on 7 February 2006, the State Council issued the Supporting Policies for the Implementation of the National Medium and Long Term Science and Technology Development Plan (2006-2020), which encourages enterprises to expand their R&D activities through tax incentives; encourages and regulates the establishment and operation of venture capital guidance funds; gradually improves China's capital market and continuously improves the intellectual property protection system. Secondly, with limited resources, how can the government efficiently invest in research funding to promote science and technology development? The government gives priority to funding national science and technology major projects, national key R&D programmes, national natural science funds, base and talent special projects, and technology special guidance special projects (funds). Finally, there are three main types of subjects involved in science and technology innovation: (1) central authorities; (2) local governments; and (3) companies, universities and research institutions. These three build a company-centred innovation system under a state-led system, i.e. the central agency formulates national strategies and policies; local governments implement central policies and formulate local policies; and companies, universities and research institutions conduct scientific research.
  5. Daunting Challenges and Lessons from MLP
  The MLP (2006-2020), an "ambitious experiment", has led to historic developments in science and technology in China, but in the process of implementing the plan, China still faces more challenges. Firstly, the proportion of funding allocated to basic research is low, while the proportion of funding allocated to development is heavy, which may constrain the long-term development of our science, economy and society. The second is the ambition of major science and technology projects. Some major projects have indeed led to the development of related industries in China, but some exploratory major projects have not fully achieved their expected goals. Thirdly, the effectiveness of the reform of national science and technology programmes. For example, the National Key R&D Programme aims to link basic research, applied research and development research. In practice most projects have gone towards application and short-term, and basic research has been neglected. Fourthly, attracting overseas talent, China is still facing a serious shortage of top-level scientific and technological talent.
  In addition, a comprehensive review of the tremendous achievements of the MLP (2006-2020) shows that the success of this 'grand experiment' can be summarised in five lessons. Firstly, China's science and technology planning system is centred on the leadership of the Communist Party of China, supported and supported by coordinating and legislative bodies; secondly, the central government has decentralised the MLP targets into five-year plans and annual plans, with constant communication and coordination between the central and local governments to review, feed back and adjust the implementation of the plans in order to achieve the final targets; thirdly, China has has improved the policy environment for the development of science and technology innovation through the introduction of a series of policy tools. Fourthly, the Ministry of Science and Technology has given full play to its advantage of 'pooling resources to do great things' through initiatives such as the reform of the national science and technology plan and attracting and supporting talent; fifthly, the region is an important part of our national innovation system and local governments have become a very active player in our innovation system.
  6. Outlook for the new MLP
  China has been working on a new MLP (2021-2035) since 2019. Although it is not yet publicly available, the outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the 2035 Vision outlines an overview of China's science and technology trajectory and its likely impact. "The 14th Five-Year Plan outlines that China will "insist on the centrality of innovation in the overall public development of China, and make technological self-sufficiency and self-improvement a strategic support for national development." To achieve China's ambitious goal of becoming an innovative country by 2035, the Outline sets out four main tasks: "strengthening the country's strategic strength in science and technology", "improving the technological innovation capacity of enterprises", "stimulating the vitality of human resources innovation vitality" and "improving the institutional mechanism for science and technology innovation". The next MLP is likely to develop along these lines.