China’s top science and technology advisory commission emerges from the dark as Beijing charts future economic course
- The members, function and organisation chart for the commission remain unknown as the Chinese government has disclosed little information about the body
- China’s Politburo has requested the body to project ‘the future trends of international and domestic technology development’
An advisory report prepared by China’s secretive National Science and Technology Advisory Commission was discussed at a political meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping on Thursday, state news agency Xinhua reported, confirming the influence of a body that is the country’s answer to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in the United States.
The members, function and organisation chart for the commission remain unknown as the Chinese government has disclosed little information about the body. This is the first time that its existence has been acknowledged by official channels.
The Xinhua report said that the commission has been there for “over two years” and has “actively advised the central leadership about national science and technology planning, the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, science and technology talent development as well as how science and technology can support China’s approach to carbon emissions and carbon neutrality”.
Advice provided by the body has provided an “important reference point for major national science and technology decisions”, Xinhua added.
For the Chinese leadership, the commission has a special role to play in charting the country’s future.