China set to become science super power
CORDIS, (07.02.2007 2007)Abstract
China is well on its way to becoming a science super power, thanks
to massive public investment in research and development (R&D) and
a strong science and technology workforce. But its rise may still
be hampered by the country's rigid political system and 'research
misconduct', warns a recently published report by Demos, a UK think
tank.
'The Atlas of Ideas: mapping the new geography of science' includes
reports on the speed of scientific innovation in the emerging economies
of China, India and South Korea. On China, the report describes the
key factors leading to the country's increasingly sturdy research
base, which include government spending. 'Right now, the country
is at an early stage in the most ambitious programme of research
investment since John F Kennedy embarked on the race to the moon,'
say the authors of the report.
Since 1999, China's investment in R&D has increased by more than 20%
each year. In 2005 it reached 1.3% of gross domestic product (GDP),
up from 0.7% in 1998. By 2020, the country plans to spend as much
as 2.5% of GDP on research. In December 2006, the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced that China
had moved ahead of Japan for the first time, to become the world's
second highest R&D investor after the US. Meanwhile, countries across
Europe are struggling to make headway towards the Lisbon targets
of 3% of GDP, notes the report.
Another factor determining the country's scientific innovation is
the strength of its scientific workforce. The report estimates that
Chinese universities are churning out 4.2 million new students per
year, four times the figure for the mid-1990s: a large percentage
of these are studying science -engineering and information technology
(IT). Overall, there are currently 2.25 million scientists and engineers
in China. China has also seen the return of some of the scientific
workforce that left during and after the Cultural Revolution. The
report estimates that in the past five or six years, what was a trickle
of returnees has become a steady flow: approximately 170,000 people
have been attracted back by a mix of national loyalty, family ties
and government incentives.
As a result of a replenished and well-qualified scientific workforce,
China has seen a marked increase in the number of its scientific
publications and citations. In terms of the quantity, China's contribution
has risen sharply, from around 2% of the world share in 1995 to 6.5%
in 2004, compared to 35% for the EU15 - the 15 countries that made
up the EU until its enlargement in 2004. As for patents, invention
applications have increased by 23% annually since 2000. The report
suggests that these aggregate figures hide areas of real strength
in the Chinese research base. It points to a recent analysis of nanoscience
publications which shows that China now ranks third globally, just
behind Japan, with the US some way ahead.
Similarly, national figures conceal strong performances by some individual
universities. One study found that Beijing University was in the
top 1% of world institutions for citations for physics, chemistry,
engineering, materials, mathematics and clinical medicine. Five other
Chinese universities were in the top 1% for at least one of these
fields. But in spite of the wealth evidence to suggest that China
is rising fast and high, the report also finds some weaknesses in
the current system. Probably the biggest challenge, according to
the report, will be opening up the system to allow people and ideas
to flow freely. 'Creativity depends ultimately on openness and the
freedom to debate and disagree,' argue the authors of the report.
'Further reform of the education and political system is needed,
but with 1.3 billion brains to draw on, the prospects for Chinese
innovation have never looked brighter.'
Also crucial to China's success is tackling the governance and regulation
of the country's research base. Several incidents of high-profile
plagiarism and research misconduct prompted the Ministry of Science
and Technology (MOST) to introduce a series of measures, including
the creation of a special office for research integrity, tough new
penalties for plagiarism and falsifying data, and a tightening up
of the system for project evaluation.
But it will take time for these policies to have an effect, say the
authors of the report who, in the meantime, suggest the need for
more and better alliances between Chinese scientists, ethicists and
policy-makers and their counterparts overseas. In doing so, both
sides are set to benefit, argues the report. An example of a successful
ethical alliance is the EU-funded BIONET project. It brings together
scientists, social scientists and practitioners from China and Europe
to exchange ideas and develop shared approaches to the governance
of biomedicine. The goal of the network is to support joint research,
inform policy, and build the capacity of participants to address
the ethical questions raised by their work.
Nikolas Rose, the coordinator of BIONET, says that they plan to start
by looking at two areas: stem cell research and pharmacogenetics.
Attempts to harmonise ethical frameworks should not, he argues, involve
'the unitary imposition of European values on China at the expense
of its own ethical traditions and culture'.
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