By Ma Mingjie & Zhang Xin, Research Department of Innovative Development, DRC

Research Report, Special Issue, No.33, 2019 (Total 1661) 2019-5-5

Abstract: During the forty years of reform and opening up, the sci-tech system reform in China can be roughly divided into five stages. The first stage is from 1978 to 1984, with the focus on restoring the sci-tech system and launching pilot reforms. The second stage is from 1985 to 1994, with the focus on streamlining administration, delegating powers to lower-level governments, and supporting basic research and high-tech development. The third stage is from 1995 to 2000, with the focus on adjusting the scientific research system and highlighting the status of enterprise innovation. The fourth stage is from 2001 to 2011, with the focus on building an innovation-oriented system and enhancing the capability of independent innovation. The fifth stage is from 2012 to the present time, with the focus on promoting sci-tech system and comprehensively deepening the reform. In the past 40 years, China’s reform of sci-tech system has achieved remarkable results, but the basic and systematic defects have become the key restraint restricting China’s sci-tech progress and innovation capability. The new round of sci-tech system reform still needs to focus on stimulating the enthusiasm and creativity of various innovative entities, deepening the reform of national sci-tech program and research funding management, and removing institutional barriers that constrain innovation and the transformation of sci-tech achievements.

Key words: sci-tech system, reform, course, prospects