Reform of ministry to boost self-reliance

According to the State institutional reform plan approved by the country’s top legislature on Friday, the Ministry of Science and Technology will see some of its departments merge into other ministries. After the reform the ministry will no longer participate in the review and management of specific scientific research projects, but will be mainly responsible for guiding and supervising the operation and management of professional scientific research management institutions, strengthening the supervision and inspection of the implementation of scientific research projects and the evaluation and effectiveness of scientific research results.

The establishment of a central science and technology commission will help realize the Communist Party of China Central Committee’s direct leadership over the country’s science and technology work, and the Ministry of Science and Technology is expected to act as an administrative body of the commission.

The shortening of the distance between the decision-makers and policymakers and policy executors will be conducive to better mobilizing and concentrating national resources on key research to support breakthroughs in some bottleneck technologies and equipment, in a bid to ease the country’s reliance on foreign technologies and imported equipment in these fields at an early date. That’s a direct response to the increasing uncertainties and risks in the fast-changing external development environment.

The reformed Ministry of Science and Technology will focus on promoting the integration of the efforts of the government, the market and society so as to boost the country’s self-reliance and competitiveness in key technologies.

The other eye-catching move in the reform to be carried out according to that plan is the founding of a national data bureau that will be responsible for coordinating the sharing and development of the country’s data resources.

At present, duties related to data management are scattered among different departments. The to-be-founded bureau will put an end to the everybody’s-business-is-nobody’s-business scenario by strengthening the overall coordination. This will greatly contribute to the management and utilization of the data resources across the country and strengthen the protection of the country’s data security. The development of the digital economy and smart cities will benefit from that.