Not long ago, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology released to the public a special plan for boosting China’s R&D infrastructures during the 12th Five-year period (2011-2015), in a bid to effectively implement the tasks defined by the national medium and long term scientific and technological development plan (2006-2020), and the national scientific and technological planning for the 12th five-year period, enhancing the support to R&D infrastructures, and to building an innovative country. The plan says by 2015 China will strive to accomplish the following objectives:
1) R&D infrastructures will be further optimized in distribution. Facilitate the development of major scientific and technological infrastructures, research and experiment bases, and R&D infrastructure platforms, making them more consistent with the needs of economic, social, and S&T development.
2) R&D infrastructures will be significantly enhanced for proprietary innovation activities. Develop new principles and new methods for scientific instruments making, striving to master the core technologies for key components, and to develop 20 or more original scientific equipment and 200 or more proprietary major scientific equipment enjoying the core competitiveness in the industry. Further enhance the R&D capability of reagents, laboratory animal resources, and national metrological standards, and further deepen the development and diffusion of innovative methods and processes.
3) Further enlarge the opening and sharing of scientific research infrastructures. Perfect the opening and sharing mechanism of scientific research resources, optimizing the configuration and raising the utilization of scientific research resources, and further enhancing the service capabilities of S&T infrastructures.
4) R&D infrastructures personnel contingent shall be further strengthened. Perfect the training, motivation, and evaluation system of R&D infrastructures personnel, and foster a stable S&T infrastructure personnel contingent with high quality.
5) S&T infrastructure management system shall be further improved. Boost the role played by the marketplace in optimizing the distribution of S&T resources, creating an agreeable policy environment for the proprietary innovation and opening/sharing of S&T infrastructures, and nurturing 3-5 businesses with proprietary innovations and an annual output exceeding RMB 2 billion.