China is producing more STEM graduates, publishing more high impact research papers, and filing for more patents than any other country today.
People are amazed with the seemingly sudden outburst of Chinese scientific and technological prowess. But few understand how this has happened.
I’ll dive into some arcane programs launched since Deng’s reform to explore the root of such progress. Unlike the Made in China 2025 plan or the Belt and Road Initiative, these are barely known outside of the country, even unfamiliar to many Chinese. However, their impact is profound and directly power the more visible high-profile programs.
Program 863
Program 863 (863计划 in Chinese), also known as State High-Tech Development Plan, was a program launched in March 1986 (86/3 in Chinese date format hence the name) to stimulate development of advantaged technologies in a wide range of fields.
The goal was to achieve technological independence amid superpower competition.
In 1983, US president Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and technological competition between the US and the USSR drastically intensified.
Inspired by the technical progress of the super powers, on March 3, 1986, four scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) wrote a letter to suggest the program to Deng Xiaoping, who approved it within 2 days.
