China’s top science bodies may hand out honorary titles to private sector amid tech push
- CAS and CAE – which give policy advice to the government – have nominated at least seven specialists from private firms for the titles since start of the year
- The unusual move is seen as ‘major progress’ and comes as Beijing pursues goal of becoming global tech superpower
China’s top scientific institutes are trying to get the private sector more involved in the country’s research and development push by awarding more honorary titles to its high achievers.
At least seven private sector specialists have been nominated for such titles by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) since the start of the year, according to their websites.
The CAS and the CAE are China’s top two scientific organisations and provide policy advice to the government. Appointing honorary academics from the private sector would be an unusual move for the academies – those roles usually go to academics at research institutes and universities, and experts from state-owned enterprises.
It follows a call in January from the China Association for Science and Technology – which represents scientists and engineers – for the CAS and the CAE to appoint more specialists from the private sector.
The CAE responded positively, saying engineers who had made an outstanding contribution should be given more consideration for positions at the academy.
