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The Role of the Higher Education Sector in China's Research and Development System*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

R. J. Conroy
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Extract

Since 1978 science and technology (S&T) have been officially seen as the motors of future growth and modernization of the Chinese economy. Much effort has been devoted to the formulation and implementation of policy to reform the S&T sector to ensure that it will contribute much more than it has in the past to social and economic development. One objective of the reforms has been to mobilize under-utilized resources to expand research and develop ment (R&D) activities. It is in this context that policy-makers in China started to focus their attention on the higher education sector (HES). The sector's potential role as an important R&D performer has been progressively articulated over time in breadth and depth as policy-makers’ concerns have expanded, to examine the relationship between training S&T personnel and scientific research in the context of the rapid changes wrought by the “new technological revolution” (xin jishu geming).

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 117 , March 1989 , pp. 38 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1989

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References

1. For a summary of the range of reforms in the S&T sector see Conroy, Richard, “Science and technology policy in China” in Cheng, Joseph (ed.), China in the 1980s (forthcoming).Google Scholar

2. By 1970 the HES contained 44 research institutes and almost 800 laboratories undertaking some sort of research. Gvishiani, D. (ed.), The Scientific Intelligentsia in the USSR (Moscow, 1976), pp. 65, 178.Google Scholar

3. For a detailed discussion on university research in OECD countries, see OECD, The Future of University Research (Paris: OECD, 1981), passim.Google Scholar

4. For the affiliations of 96 institutions of higher education designated as “key” institutions see Chubanshe, Keji Puji (ed.), Quanguo zhongdian gaodeng yuanxiao jieshao (Introduction to the Nation's Key Higher Education Institutions) (Beijing, 1982), passim.Google Scholar

5. Beijing Review, No. 15 (1986), p. 23; Gaojiao zhanxian, No. 12 (1985) in US Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) China, Science and Technology (CST) 86–019, p. 26.

6. For a list and details of the 96 key HEIs see Nation's Key Higher Education Institutions.

7. See ibid. pp. 63, 92.

8. Zhongguo jiaoyu bao (Chinese Education News), 12 March 1985.

9. For more recent examinations of contemporary Chinese education see, e.g., Hayhoe, R. (ed.), Contemporary Chinese Education (London: Croom Helm, 1985)Google Scholar and Lofstedt, J-I, Chinese Educational Policy (Humanities Press, 1980).Google Scholar See also, Pepper, S., “Education and revolution-the ‘Chinese Model’ revised” in Asian Survey, Vol. XVIII (September 1978),Google Scholar and Fraser, S. and Hsu, Chinese Education and Society-A Bibliographic Guide (White Plains N.Y.: International Arts and Sciences Press, 1972).Google Scholar

10. Some institutions started re-enrolling students in 1970 others as late as 1974. See, e.g., the situation at Wuhan Surveying College, Nation's Key Higher Education Institutions, p. 119.

11. See, e.g., Beijing Agricultural Mechanization College and the China Mining College in ibid. pp. 68, 103, respectively.

12. This certainly holds for such topics of basic research as theoretical physics. See, e.g., the situation in Beijing and Fudan Universities in E. Friedman “Einstein and Mao: metaphors of revolution,” The China Quarterly, No. 93 (March 1983), pp. 69–71. This article provides a good insight into the ideological tyranny being wielded in the field of the natural sciences in the 1970–76 period.

13. For an overview see R. Conroy “China's science and technology policy,” in J. Cheng (ed.), China in the 1980s (forthcoming).

14. Renmin ribao (People's Daily), 13 January 1981, p. 3. This important article confirms that while the HES was regarded in the 1950s as playing an important role in the national R&D system (a perception articulated by Premier Zhou in 1956 in his reports on the question of intellectuals and by Marshal Nie Rongzhen the first minister of the State S&T Commission in 1959) it was only in 1977 that research was so heavily emphasized as a major activity.

15. See, e.g., the article in ibid. 13 January 1981, p. 3, by two high administrators from Beijing and Qinghua Universities on their return from a fact-finding trip to American and European universities.

16. ibid. 13 January 1981, p. 3. Note that over one-third of the top personnel in the HES were concentrated in just 5% of its institutions showing the relative importance of the universities run by the Ministry of Education.

17. This latter point appears to be endemic to all higher education systems to varying degrees and is clearly not simply a function of the type and amount of research being undertaken. Planning or forecasting the size and type of future S&T manpower needs is an extremely difficult and complex task, as the experience of such countries as the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom has shown in the past 20 years.

18. There has been considerable curriculum development since 1980 in a number of HEIs of courses with an applied bias. In Nankai University (a key comprehensive unit in Tianjin) for example, since 1980 the total number of departments has grown from 9 to 21 and specialities from 20 to 48. By 1985, 40% of the university's science students were studying applied subjects. Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 18 June 1986, p. 1. For a detailed discussion on the best way to reform courses and departments in polytechnics to meet current day needs, see ibid. 10 June 1986, p. 3.

19. Postgraduate training is also carried out in research institutions such as the Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences and a number of institutes run by central government departments.

20. By 1986, 320 HEIs were allowed to award masters degrees and 155 could recruit and award doctorate degrees. Renmin ribao (overseas edit.), 27 May 1986, p. 4.

21. ibid, (overseas edit.), 15 March 1986, p. 4.

22. This contention is supported by the widespread criticism of the high research: support staff ratio current in independent research institutes.

23. Nation's Key Higher Education Institutions, passim.

24. Liaowang (Outlook), No. 5 (1982), p. 24, in US Joint Publication Research Service (JPRS), China Report-Political, Social and Military Affairs 339, p. 90. Xiaobin, Zhang, “Organizational framework and management system of China's science and technology” in Proceedings of the Australia/China S&T Policy Symposium (Canberra: Department of Science and Technology, 1984), p. 4.Google Scholar

25. Shanxi ribao (Shanxi Daily), 18 May 1984, p. 1, in JPRS-China Political and Social 084–058, p. 47.

26. Zhongguo keji bao (Chinese Science and Technology), 16 May 1986, p. 2; Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 24 June 1986, p. 3; Jingji cankao (Economic Information), 18 July 1986, p. 5.

27. Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 6 May 1986, p. 1.

28. Beijing Domestic Service, 21 September 1984, in JPRS-CST-84–034, p. 18.

29. The World Bank has granted loans to upgrade the HES, especially agriculture related institutions. Instrumentation and equipment in many HEIs, even key institutions, is characterized by being “small-scale” and “obsolete.” See, e.g., the situation in Beijing Industrial College (run by the national defence sector) where of the 19,000 pieces of equipment only 360 cost more than 20,000 yuan. Gaoxiao zhanxian (Higher Education Front), March 1986, p. 26. With the rapidly increasing complexity of modern instrumentation and hence costs, such criticisms can be heard at any university in the world nowadays. Chinese scientists returning from advanced study abroad are particularly affected by the shortage of modern equipment because they sometimes have to abandon their previous lines of research. This represents a waste of intellectual and financial investment. The university sector appears to be significantly worse off in respect of acquiring advanced equipment, especially imported instrumentation, than CAS or the ministry research sector. Equipment sharing has been put forward as a partial solution, but this is often difficult to organize due to strong departmentalism.

30. ibid. March 1986, p. 26.

31. Wenhui bao (Wenhui Daily), 27 June 1983, p. 1, in JPRS 84524 CST No. 210, p. 180.

32. Guangming ribao (Guangming Daily), 21 June 1984, p. 2, in JPRS CST-84–036, p. 57.

33. Guangming ribao, 17 July 1984, p. 2, in JPRS CST-84–036, p. 13; Guangming ribao, 2 February 1985, p. 1. Note, however, that “competitive selection” is often not competitive, project allocation being decided by relationships rather than superior expertise. Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 24 June 1986, p. 3.

34. Guangming ribao, 2 February 1985, p. 1.

35. Renmin ribao, 23 August 1980, p. 4; Wenhui bao, 27 June 1983, p. 1, in JPRS 34524 S&T No. 210, p. 181.

36. This figure is derived from Jingji cankao, 17 April 1986, p. 1.

37. Renmin ribao (overseas edit.), 4 June 1986, p. 1. All of these activities appear to have been legal before the publication of this directive and were certainly being carried out. The regulations appear to be a response against “conservative” university administrators unhappy with the commercialization of university activities.

38. Guangming ribao, 17 July 1984, p. 2, in JPRS CST-84–036, p. 11. Between 1978 and 1983 the university had attracted 12 million yuan through research contracts and had an income of 6–9 million yuan from technical services. This compares with assigned research funds of 11 million yuan in 1983 alone. Such a situation might be expected in one of China's leading technical institutions. Beijing Review, No. 34 (1984), p. 20.

39. Gaojiao zhanxian (Higher Education Front), May 1986, p. 26. Note that the former is a key institution directly subordinate to the State Education Commission and the latter a key institution under the national defence system.

40. Many universities control a range of ancilliary manufacturing operations. These were originally set up as workshops to maintain and produce laboratory equipment. They became an integral part of university life after 1969 as teaching and research bases, though even then they had many problems with procuring materials and parts. A number of factories in the more important universities became key experimental bases for the trial production of advanced technology products such as numerically controlled machine tools, electronic components, and so forth, in the 1970s, and have become the intermediate units to develop research ideas into actual products which can then be sold or the technology transferred.

41. Kexuexue yu kexue jishu guanli (Science of Science and S&T Management), No. 11 (1985), in JPRS CST-86–012, p. 73.

42. Guangming ribao, 22 March 1985, p. 1.

43. Renmin ribao, 23 August 1980, p. 4; Guangming ribao, 21 June 1984, p. 2, in JPRS CST-84–033, pp. 56–7. Kexuexue yu kexue jishu guanli, No. 4 (1981), p. 63.

44. For examples of this phenomenon, see Wenhui bao, 27 June 1983, p. 1, in JPRS 84524 S&T, 210, p. 181.

45. Jingji cankao, 17 April 1986, p. 1.

46. Keyan guanli (Scientific Research Management) No. 1 in JPRS CST-84–031, pp. 119–20.

47. At Jiaotong University, for example, 60% of the school's total future investment will go to developing new S&T fields such as new materials, electronics, informatics, and so forth. Guangming ribao, 18 July 1984, p. 2, in JPRS CST-84–036, pp. 13–15. Fudan University has recently won approval from the State Education Commission to establish to country's first life sciences college for teaching and research. Renmin ribao (overseas edit.), 10 April 1986, p. 1.

48. Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 27 October 1984, p. 1, in JPRS CST-85–005, pp. 2–3.

49. Renmin ribao (overseas edit.), 11 June 1986, p. 1.

50. The two directives are “CPC decision on the reform of the S&T system,” and the “CPC decision on the reform of the education system.” The full texts are in Renmin ribao, 20 March 1985, pp. 1,3 and Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 1 June 1986, pp. 1–2.

51. Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 8 March 1986, p. 3.

52. Jiaotong University has decided that not less than 20% of its research should be of a basic theoretical nature. Guangming ribao, 17 July 1984, p. 2, in JPRS CST-84–036, p. 12.

53. For Jiaotong's experience in expanding autonomy see Guangming ribao, 19 July 1984, p. 2, in JPRS CST-84–036, pp. 15–17. Such reforms do not appear to have been uniformly implemented in the HES as shown by the suggestions contained in Kexuexue yu kexue jishu guanli, No. 11 (1985), in JPRS CST-86–012, pp. 74–75.

54. For details of this case, see Xinhua-Chinese, 21 June 1984 in British Broadcasting Corporation, Summary of World Broadcasts, Part 3: The Far East, FE/7679/B11/1–2.

55. For further details on the environment in which the S&T community works, see Conroy, “China's S&T system.” A few figures give some indication of the extent of the “talent gap.” In Shanghai, for example, the number of college graduates per 1,000 population for the 41–50 age group is 51.5 but only 5.6 for the 26–35 age group, a difference of over nine times. In absolute numbers there are 65,000 of the former and only 14,700 of the latter. Zhongguo keji luntan (China S&T Forum), No. 1 (1985), in JPRS CST-86–009, p. 16. The death rate among young and middle-aged S&T personnel is said to be twice that of older (55 years and above) scientists.

56. Guangming ribao, 2 February 1985, p. 1.

57. Renmin ribao (overseas edit.), 27 May 1986, p. 4. Note that masters courses are of 2 to 3 years in duration and sometimes require a project to be submitted at the end of the course. In 1985, 76% of doctoral students were studying scientific and engineering subjects, Beijing Review, No. 30, 1985, p. 8.

58. Doctoral students have been recruited into 316 disciplines and specialities and masters students into 618. Renmin ribao (overseas edit.), 27 May 1986, p. 4. In 1985 the HES trained 80% of postgraduate students. Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 30 July 1985, p. 4. Some university teachers consider that undergraduates “lack creativeness, imagination and practical skills,” Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 11 July 1986, p. 1.

59. Renmin ribao (overseas edit.), 14 March 1986, p 4.

60. During the period 1986 to 1990, it is planned to produce 180,000 postgraduates, and the State Education Commission estimates that by the year 2000, 770,000 will be needed. ibid, (overseas edit.), 16 July 1986, p. 1.

61. At Chongqing University the proportion was 56%. Keyuan guanli, No. 3 (1984), in JPRS CST-85–020, p. 19.

62. Keyuan guanli, No. 1 (1984), in JPRS CST-84–031, p. 122. Zhongguo keji luntan. No. 1 (1985), in JPRS CST-85–009, pp. 15–17. For measures to improve the management of postgraduate training recommended at the first postgraduate work-study meeting, see Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 23 July 1985, p. 2.

63. Renmin ribao (overseas edit.), 27 May 1986, p. 4.

64. Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 25 March 1986, p. 1.

65. Guangming ribao, 19 July 1985, p. 2, in JPRS CST-85–032, pp. 28–29.

66. Guangming ribao, 11 July 1985, p. 1, in JPRS CST-85–035, pp. 6–7.

67. Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 28 December 1985, p. 1. Personnel were recruited through open competition. See, e.g., the advertisement by Beijing University for 22 researchers in Renmin ribao (overseas edit.), 25 March 1986, p. 8.

68. Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 8 March 1986, p. 3.

69. Renmin ribao (overseas edit.), 15 March 1986, p. 4.

70. Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 25 May 1985, p. 2.

71. Guangming ribao, 2 February 1985, p. 1; Guangming ribao, 20 July 1984, p. 2 in JPRS CST-84–036, p. 18.

72. China Daily (Business Weekly), 11 April 1988, p. 4.

73. For more details of this issue, see Kexuexue yu kexue jishu guanli, No. 11 (1985), pp. 33–35, in JPRS CST-86–012, pp. 66–70. In a survey of 500 staff in 172 research-related units in Shanghai on their opinions of the factors adversely affecting their enthusiasm to participate in the technology market, the most important issue for HES personnel was the low economic benefits accruing to R&D personnel. See the table in Shijie jingji daobao (World Economic Herald), 26 May 1986, p. 10.

74. Xinhua-English, 29 January 1988 in SWB, FE/0064/B2/5.

75. China Daily, 13 April 1988, p. 3.

76. ibid. (Business Weekly), 11 April 1988, p. 4.

77. See, e.g., the reforms at the Huadong Chemical Engineering College in Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 3 June 1986, p. 2.

78. Renmin ribao (overseas edit.), 5 July 1986, p. 1; Zhongguo keji bao, 11 July 1986, p. 1. See also an additional article in the latter on the need for research organizations and universities to carry out more research into basic theories jointly. See also the proposals for co-operation between Fudan University and CAS institutes in Shanghai. Jiefang ribao (Liberation Daily), 7 January 1986, p. 1, in JPRS CST-86–013, p. 47.

79. For example, universities in Shanghai are co-operating with each other on a number of projects. For details see Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 21 June 1986, p. 1.

80. ibid. 8 March 1986, p. 3.

81. Renmin ribao (overseas edit.), 5 May 1986, p. 4.

82. Zhongguo jiaoyu bao, 8 March 1986, p. 3. Note that this approach appears to run counter to the strategy of establishing national laboratories in the HES, a plan that is being implemented and one which also cites the placing of national research facilities abroad within the HES sector. For a detailed discussion of the advantages see ibid. 24 June 1986, p. 3.

83. Renmin ribao, 3 February 1985, p. 3.

84. The average salaries of staff have increased by 63% between 1978 and 1986 after taking inflation into account. Keji ribao (Science and Technology Daily), 1 April 1988, p. 1. Qinghua University had a budget deficit in 1987 of 6.5 million yuan after a budget allocation of 39 million yuan. China Daily, 13 April 1988, p. 3.