Jianguo Hou: major reforms in China's S&T funding mechanisms

In late June, the first batch of National Major R&D Projects was announced on the Public Service Platform of National Science and Technology Management Information System (http://service.most.gov.cn/index/). This signified a new round of major top-down reform of China's S&T program management reform, a reform generally considered to be unprecedented in both scope and depth. In line with rapid economic growth, China now produces more research articles than any other country except the USA, boasting the world's highest number of researchers (similar to 3.8 million). Yet, these impressive numbers are insufficient to meet the need for innovation in Chinese economy, which is still relying heavily on imported core technologies. The S&T program management has long been plagued by fragmentation, duplication and diffuseness, with widespread complaints by researchers on the lack of both openness and transparency in funding review processes. In a recent interview with NSR, the Vice Minister of Science and Technology Jianguo Hou elaborated upon the new reform of S&T program management that aims to address many of these problems, and new polices that impact on how research will be conducted in China.