China's Science and Technology Policy - a New Developmental State

This paper provides an overview of China’s efforts to become a world power in science and technology, identifying a number of key issues. It first overviews China’s current “great leap forward” in science and technology, analyzing such indicators as government spending, talent, and infrastructure. It examines the evolving role of state policy as a key driver, evaluating China’s changing role in the global innovation system, both as collaborator and competitor. What does China’s rise as a science and technology power portend not only for China, but also for the rest of the world? The Chinese state clearly has a variety of overlapping (and often conflicting) industrial policies aimed at fostering economic growth through high-tech development: does China’s state-led approach to science and technology constitute a new, more effective form of the developmental state? Major themes include the evolving role of state policy in driving/supporting S&T development, China’s recent leap forward in science and technology, China’s evolving role in the global innovation system, and some thoughts on what this might mean for China, for the West, and for international S&T.