China’s Endless Frontier

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. The Ministry of Education’s new program called “organized scientific research” seeks to address this shortcoming. In so doing, the ministry aims to channel research resources toward strategically relevant sectors—especially in technologies susceptible to U.S. restrictions—while maintaining space for free scientific exploration.