Mega-projects of Science Research for the 10th Five-Year Plan

To meet new challenges and demands after China’s WTO accession, and cater to domestic strategic economic restructuring, the Ministry of Science and Technology, with the approval of the 10th session of the State Science and Education Steering Group, has decided to organize and implement 12 mega-projects of science research based on the 863 Program and the National Key Technologies R&D Program. Through the implementation of dedicated projects, the Ministry hopes to take favorable positions in the science frontier in the 21st century and achieve significant technical breakthroughs, leading to industrialization in major fields related to national socio-economic development, all within 3 to 5 years.

Implementation Guidelines for the 12 Mega-projects are:

l Goal: Develop new products and nurture new industries, and realize leapfrog progress through project implementation while emphasizing on innovative breakthroughs and the principle of “leaving something undone to focus on others”.
l Mechanism: Introduce and explore new mechanisms; vigorously promote the implementation of three major strategies, namely Human Resource Strategy, Patent Strategy and Standards Strategy which form new breakthrough points for mechanism and system innovations; gather talented people and research teams through project implementation.
l Organization: Pool strengths from different sectors and vigorously promote collaboration among central government agencies and between central and local authorities in order to mobilize all concerned parties and establish a joint promotion mechanism.
l Implementation: Integrate government guidance with market-driven, promote innovation and input patterns with industries as the principal entities, and realize the integration of industry-university-research institute.
l Management: Practice classified management, establish a project responsibility system and strive to realize reform targets.

During the 10th Five-year Plan period, the 12 mega-projects will be granted a total investment of approximately RMB 20 billion (USD 2.4 billion). Basic principles for the approval of major projects are as follows:

1) The State provides priority support to promote projects concerning S&T issues that have strategic impacts on national construction and development.
2) The project provides technical support to address major issues that urge early solutions in national economic and social development.
3) The project promotes construction of an S&T innovation-based platform and helps build up national competitiveness.
4) The project strives for technical breakthroughs and leapfrog development while promoting the formation of new industries.

Implementation of the 12 mega-projects serves as a banner to demonstrate that S&T services national socio-economic development and leapfrog development. It constitutes another remarkable approach of S&T undertakings in the new era. It is an important step towards addressing issues raised from China’s WTO accession and the three major strategies on human resources, patents, and technical standards. It also represents significant reform and innovation in S&T planning and management. By adopting the mode of major dedicated S&T projects, it proves to be an effective way to address major issues in socio-economic development by pooling resources, redoubling efforts, and gathering strength from various stakeholders. This will introduce more breakthroughs in a shorter period of time. It is a feasible approach to embody major national strategic objectives, fully mobilize different sectors, and serve both S&T innovation and industrialization.