Key Technologies R&D Program

The Key Technologies R&D Program is the first national S&T program in China. It aims to address major S&T issues in national economic construction and social development. Initiated in 1982 and implemented through 4 Five-year Plans, the Program has made remarkable contributions to the technical renovation and upgrading of traditional industries and the formation of new industries. It has also boosted the sustainable development of our society and enhanced the national S&T strength and innovation capacity.

1. Orientation

As one of the national S&T program trilogy in the 10th Five-year Plan, the Program maintains its goal of serving national economic construction. It is geared to major demands of economic construction and sustainable social development. It focuses on promoting technical upgrading and restructuring of industries, and tackling major technical issues concerning public welfare. It works to provide technical support to industrial restructuring, the sustainable development of society, and the enhancement of living standards by achieving breakthroughs in key technologies, introducing technical innovation, and applying high and new technologies.

2. General Objective

The major goal of the Program is to address pressing major S&T issues in national economic and social development. The program concentrates on the R&D of key and common technologies that drive technical upgrading and restructuring of industries that promote sustainable social development. The program provides advanced and applicable new technologies, materials, techniques, and equipment to industrial and agricultural production, while facilitating the application and industrialization of high-tech achievements to enhance the international competitiveness of key industries and human welfare. It also aims to cultivate an elite group involved in key technology R&D and establish a number of internationally recognized technical innovation bases.

3. Major Tasks

By organizing and supporting a number of major projects, priority projects and guidance projects, while implementing relevant measures, the Program is expected to accomplish the following six major tasks during the 10th Five-year Plan period:

1) An initial effort is to promote in-depth agro-product processing by developing a number of key technologies and products for sustainable agricultural development. By doing this, the expectation is to upgrade the technical levels in agricultural pre-production, production, and post-production, optimize the agricultural structure, improve the quality and efficiency of agricultural development, and enhance the competitiveness of agricultural products.

2) With the manufacturing industry as a gateway to new innovations, redouble efforts to develop common key technologies for basic and pillar industries. Also, speed up the application of IT and other high technologies in traditional industries. Strengthen engineering research in application technologies, develop technologies and equipment for clean energy, intelligent traffic system, and textile post-treatment, enhance added value of products, boost the technical level and domestic content of complete set of equipment.

3) With informatization process in the financial sector as a priority, accelerate the development of IT and other high technologies, along with related industrial development, to render technical support to the informatization of the national economy.

4) With environmental protection and rational utilization of resources as priorities, develop key technologies in urban environmental pollution control, push forward the rational utilization of water resources, develop and demonstrate technologies for the improvement of regional ecology and environment, intensify technical research in exploration and the development of oil and gas fields and are strategic solid mineral resources, establish technical supporting systems for the disaster prevention and mitigation, and promote sustainable social development.

5) With the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as a gateway to innovation, develop key technologies in the TCM industry to secure its world-leading position.

6) With promotion of the social cause as a goal, intensify research on major public welfare technologies and develop advanced and applicable technologies and products to further enhance the living standards of the Chinese people. Intensify research on technical standards and measurements to facilitate the establishment of China’s technical standardization system.

4. Organization and Management

In line with the management principle of “standardization, rolling management, simplification and transparency”, the operating mechanism of the Program is based on mutual-independent of decision-making, implementation and supervision.

1) Improve the rolling-mechanism and strengthen management in dynamic ways.

Projects are approved on a rolling basis with their terms generally less than three years. The Program introduced intermediary agencies as part of its management mechanism. We have strengthened dynamic supervision throughout project implementation and made necessary adjustments on contents, objectives, and budgeting in line with the State demands, market changes, and project progress.

2) Classified Management

Major Projects: The project management panel is responsible for the overall design and implementation of sub-projects.

Priority Projects: In accordance with the characteristics and needs of the projects, the Ministry of Science and Technology authorizes relevant governmental agencies in industrial sectors, local governments or project initiators to take charge of management.

Guidance Projects: Local S&T authorities will manage and supervise projects.

Each project is managed through two-levels: project level and task level.

3) Promote the partnership of industry-university-research institute while bring the principal role of enterprises into full play.

Priority is given to supporting joint efforts made by universities, research institutes and enterprises to undertake projects. A major pre-condition for project approval is that enterprises take part in technical development and industrialization. Enterprises serve as the principal entity in the implementation of projects that are highly industrialized or involve intensive engineering.

4) Encourage bidding to enhance open and transparent management.

Projects are open for public bidding and contractors are selected on the basis of openness, justice, and equality. The goal is to optimize R&D resources distribution and promote efficient utilization of the R&D budget.

5) Strengthen the IPR management and actively implement the Patent Strategy.

Project approval requires necessary analysis and assessment of IPR such as patents, while project implementation emphasizes proprietary IPR acquisition, in particular invention patents. Encourage and support findings derived from the Program to apply for patents both at home and abroad, and incorporate IPR management into the Program management process.

5. Western Development Dedicated Projects and Olympic Games Dedicated Projects

To facilitate China’s Western Development Strategy and the host of the Olympic Games in 2008, the Program launches two dedicated projects.

Western Development Project:

A number of priority projects have been arranged and coordinated for the protection and improvement of the regional ecology and environment, exploitation of resources with comparative advantages and development of industries with local features, and the promotion of regional informatization. The Project is expected to enhance S&T innovation capacity in the western region, accelerate industrial restructuring and upgrading, facilitate the fast development of industries with local features and high-tech industries, and achieve coordinated development between regional ecology, environment and economic construction.

Priority tasks for the Project includes: optimize, restructure, and establish a number of S&T innovation bases, including R&D centers, project demonstration, and incubators; develop, integrate and demonstrate key technologies that serve the ecological and environment construction, and conversion and value addition of local featured resources; create new patterns for high-tech industrial development in selected areas of the western region; conduct S&T training covering different levels and involving extensive domains in order to build up a high caliber S&T contingent; preliminary establish a sound mechanism for east-west cooperation based on the supplementing and joint development of mutual strengths.

Olympic Games Project:

The Project addresses a number of hot issues and bottleneck problems needing to be solved for the successful holding of the 2008 Olympic Games, namely technical issues and technical demonstrations concerning the environment, traffic, digital Olympics, scientific research on sports, and S&T popularization. It will provide substantial S&T support to the creation of a clean, beautiful, safe, and convenient environment for the successful holding of Olympics with high quality.

During the 10th Five-year Plan period, the Project will work on major Olympics-related issues, such as sandstorm prevention and control, weather monitoring, sewage treatment, intelligent traffic control, digital news and information systems, an intelligent games management system, scientific training, sports facilities, and analeptic testing.