Reforming China's S&T System

Intergovernmental coordination, funding distribution, and performance evaluation must all be improved. There is growing anxiety among Chinese political and scientific leaders that, despite more money, better-trained talent, and sophisticated equipment, the domestic innovation system is still underperforming (1). Chinese scientists have yet to produce breakthroughs worth a Nobel Prize. Research and business sectors have been disconnected for decades, with few research results turned into innovative technology and products. With few exceptions, Chinese enterprises depend on foreign sources for core technologies (2). We discuss interwoven roots of these problems at macro, meso, and micro levels of governance of the science and technology (S&T) system and the need for political will if they are to be overcome.