China’s research and development system in an international environment

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to analyse the current status of the Chinese research and development (R&D) system in a global environment, compared to those of other nations.

Design/methodology/approach

Extracting meaningful information from organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD) (research intensity), Thomson Reuters (research output), UNESCO and cross-border education research team (C-BERT) (mobility) databases and analysing de facto international standards such as university rankings, the Chinese system is compared to those of other scientific powers (the world top expenders in R&D such as the USA, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and some European nations), both using absolute production values and those relative to the productivity of the R&D workforce, so a general view of such a system is offered to complement previous analyses.

Findings

A rather utilitarian approach to R&D policy, linked to economic growth, with a strong role of a Government-backed industry and based on applied R&D rather than on basic science, is found. The emergence of China as a scientific power relies heavily on a small number of institutions and efficiency becomes the priority, as confirmed by the growing presence of Chinese universities in university rankings – which is linked to some internationalisation efforts – and by the quantitative analysis of science and technology macro-indicators. Nevertheless, those results still remain modest when the overall size of the Chinese R&D system is considered.

Originality/value

A general view of the Chinese system is offered in this study by combining both the analysis of the inputs of the Chinese R&D (in a internationally comparable way) system and outputs (up to international standards).

Citation

Pérez Calle, E. (2014), "China’s research and development system in an international environment", Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 136-161. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTPM-05-2014-0026