Rand Note Industrial Innovation In China With Special Reference To The Metallurgical Industry

Along with the political and economic reforms that have characterized the post-Mao era in China there has been a potentially revolutionary change in Chinese science and technology. Here sixteen scholars examine various facets of the current science and technology scene, comparing it with the past and speculating about future trends. Two chapters dealing with science under the Nationalists and under Mao are followed by a section of extensive analysis of reforms under Deng Xiaoping, focusing on the organizational system, the use of human resources, and the emerging response to market forces. Chapters dealing with changes in medical care, agriculture, and military research and development demonstrate how these reforms have affected specific areas during the Chinese shift away from Party orthodoxy and Maoist populism toward professional expertise as the guiding principle in science and technology. Three further chapters deal with China's interface with the world at large in the process of technology transfer. Both the introductory and concluding chapters describe the tension between the Chinese Communist Party structure, with its inclinations toward strict vertical control, and the scientific and technological community's need for a free flow of information across organizational, disciplinary, and national boundaries.

Since the early 1980s, a prominent and consistent conclusion drawn from research on China's defense-industrial complex has been that China's defense-production capabilities are rife with weaknesses and limitations. This study argues for an alternative approach: From the vantage point of 2005, it is time to shift the focus of current research to the gradual improvements in and the future potential of China's defense-industrial complex. The study found that China's defense sectors are designing and producing a wide range of increasingly advanced weapons that, in the short term, are relevant to a possible conflict over Taiwan but also to China's long-term military presence in Asia. Part of a larger RAND Project AIR FORCE study on Chinese military modernization, this study examines the current and future capabilities of China's defense industry. The goals of this study are to 1.

"This Note describes and evaluates efforts in the People's Republic of China (PRC) to develop a modern electronics industry. It draws upon an extensive survey of primary and secondary sources on Chinese science and technology, interviews, and field research in China during November 1984; observations and reports from other visitors to the PRC; interviews with Chinese R & D personnel studying in the United States; and interviews with American businessmen involved in trade and technology relations with the PRC. It focuses on China's ability to introduce new products and processes in the R & D production system. The study suggests that, while many factors have impeded technological change, many of the obstacles seem more matters of infrastructure and management than of the availability of technology per se. The Chinese have introduced a number of reforms, with mixed results. On balance, the Chinese electronics industry has achieved noticeable gains in its pursuit of technological innovation, but their full effects are not likely to be felt for some time."--Rand abstracts

Includes publications previously listed in the supplements to the Index of selected publications of the Rand Corporation (Oct. 1962-Feb. 1963)