13.01.2025 The Technocracy: Making the MOST of Institutional Power to Advance China’s Innovation

More than a year after Beijing touted the reorganization of the science and technology agencies at the March 2023 National People’s Congress, more clarity is emerging on the scope and purpose of these changes.

The 2023 restructuring resulted in three outcomes: creating a Central Science and Technology Commission (CSTC) at the Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) level endowed with decision-making authority; refining the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) by shedding its project management responsibilities and strengthening its focus on high-level strategic policy setting; and designating the entirety of the leaner MOST as CSTC’s executive office.

At a fundamental level, this organizational restructuring should be viewed through the lens of a leadership intent on imbuing its technocracy with two core features: 1) direct Chinese Communist Party (CCP) oversight of tech and innovation priorities and 2) better leveraging existing agencies as instruments of execution.

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Source: Marco Polo Think Tank

This article was written by the Marco Polo Think Tank. The Think Tank belongs to the Paulson Institute, an independent, non-profit organisation focused on US-China relations. The Institute was founded in 2011 by former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. and is based in Chicago with offices in Washington and Beijing.  You can find more information on the institute here.