University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation

Chinese President Xi Jinping has advocated for scientific and technological self-reliance amid increasing global tensions over emerging technologies. So far though, reforms to China’s innovation ecosystem have fallen short of the goal of developing domestic versions of many of the technologies at the center of U.S.-China competition. In this policy brief, Michael Laha, a Berlin-based analyst and former German Chancellor Fellow at MERICS, explores the Chinese Ministry of Education’s new program called “organized scientific research,” which seeks to address this shortcoming. In so doing, the ministry aims to channel research resources toward strategically relevant sectors—especially those susceptible to U.S. restrictions—while maintaining space for free scientific exploration.