863 Program
The 863 program (Chinese: 863计划) or State High-Tech Development Plan (Chinese: 国家高技术研究发展计划) was a program funded and administered by the government of the People's Republic of China intended to stimulate the development of advanced technologies in a wide range of fields for the purpose of rendering China independent of financial obligations for foreign technologies. It was inspired by the Strategic Defense Initiative proposed by U.S. president Ronald Reagan in 1983, and was absorbed alongside Program 973 into the "National Key R&D Program" in 2016. On March 3, 1986, the program was suggested by Wang Daheng, Wang Ganchang, Yang Jiachi, and Chen Fangyun in a letter to China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, who approved the program within 2 days. The program was initially led by Zhao Ziyang, who was the premier of China at the time, and received a governmental fund of 10 billion RMB in 1986, which accounts for 5% of the total government spending that year. According to the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the 863 program "provides funding and guidance for efforts to clandestinely acquire US technology and sensitive economic information." Among the products known to have resulted from the 863 program are the Loongson computer processor family (originally named Godson), the Tianhe supercomputers and the Shenzhou spacecraft.
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The 863 program (Chinese: 863计划) or State High-Tech Development Plan (Chinese: 国家高技术研究发展计划) was a program funded and administered by the government of the People's Republic of China intended to stimulate the development of advanced technologies in a wide range of fields for the purpose of rendering China independent of financial obligations for foreign technologies.[1] It was inspired by the Strategic Defense Initiative proposed by U.S. president Ronald Reagan in 1983, and was absorbed alongside Program 973 into the "National Key R&D Program" in 2016.[2][3][4]
On March 3, 1986, the program was suggested by Wang Daheng, Wang Ganchang, Yang Jiachi, and Chen Fangyun in a letter to China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, who approved the program within 2 days.[5][6] The program was initially led by Zhao Ziyang, who was the premier of China at the time, and received a governmental fund of 10 billion RMB in 1986, which accounts for 5% of the total government spending that year.[3][6][7] According to the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the 863 program "provides funding and guidance for efforts to clandestinely acquire US technology and sensitive economic information."[8]
Among the products known to have resulted from the 863 program are the Loongson computer processor family (originally named Godson), the Tianhe supercomputers and the Shenzhou spacecraft.[9][10]
History
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Named after its date of establishment (March 1986, 86/3 by the Chinese date format), the 863 Program was proposed in a letter to the Chinese government by scientists Wang Daheng, Wang Ganchang, Yang Jiachi, and Chen Fangyun and endorsed by Deng Xiaoping.[11] After its implementation during the Seventh Five-Year Plan, the program continued to operate through the two five-year plans that followed, with state financing of around 11 billion RMB and an output of around 2000 patents (national and international).[12]
In 2001, under the Tenth Five-Year Plan, the program was reevaluated in consultation with foreign experts. The result was a widened focus to strengthen the competitiveness of China in the global economy.[13] The evaluation practice has been included into the program as a project management system.[13]
In a 2011 court case, Chinese-born scientist Huang Kexue was found guilty of stealing commercial secrets from US-based corporations and passing at least some of this information to the 863 program.[14]
Outline
[edit]The program initially focused on seven key technological fields:[15]
Since 1986, two more fields have been brought under the umbrella of the program:
- Telecommunications (1992)
- Marine technology (1996)
It included substantial support for the advancement of optics and optoelectronics.[16]: 151
See also
[edit]
- Science and technology in China
- Allegations of intellectual property infringement by China
- Program 973
- State Key Laboratories
- Project 985
- Project 211
References
[edit]- ^ Wu, Hequan (6 August 2002). "The progress of communication technology subject of hi-tech research development plan of China". WCC 2000 - ICCT 2000. 2000 International Conference on Communication Technology Proceedings (Cat. No.00EX420). Vol. 1. Beijing. pp. 3–4. doi:10.1109/ICCT.2000.889157. ISBN 0-7803-6394-9. S2CID 60832883.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Zhi, Qiang; Pearson, Margaret M. (July 2017). "China's Hybrid Adaptive Bureaucracy: The Case of the 863 Program for Science and Technology" (PDF). Governance. 30 (3): 407–424. doi:10.1111/gove.12245. S2CID 152280888. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ a b Gewirtz, Julian (February 2019). "The Futurists of Beijing: Alvin Toffler, Zhao Ziyang, and China's "New Technological Revolution," 1979–1991". The Journal of Asian Studies. 78 (1): 115–140. doi:10.1017/S0021911818002619. ISSN 0021-9118.
- ^ "Press Conference on the "Launch and Implementation of the National Key R&D Program": Summary Transcript". Center for Security and Emerging Technology. 13 September 2021. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ "Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China". www.most.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ a b "1986年邓小平亲自决策启动"863"计划--邓小平纪念网--人民网". cpc.people.com.cn. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ Karplus, Valerie J.; Deng, Xing Wang (17 December 2007). Agricultural Biotechnology in China: Origins and Prospects. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-0-387-71138-6. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ "Foreign Spies Stealing US Economic Secrets in Cyberspace: Report to Congress on Foreign Economic Collection and Industrial Espionage, 2009-2011" (PDF). Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive. October 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ "Designing Quad-Core Loongson-3 Processor". english.ict.cas.cn. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ "Scientific Innovation and China's Military Modernization". thediplomat.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ Feigenbaum, Evan A. (2003). China's Techno-warriors: National Security and Strategic Competition from the Nuclear to the Information Age. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-8047-4601-4. OCLC 49415750. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- ^ Science & Technology Newsletter No.380: 863 Program Creates RMB 56 Billion, Ministry of Science & Technology of the People's Republic of China (MOST), archived from the original on 20 November 2014
- ^ a b "National High-tech R&D Program (863 Program)". Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2015.: 1. Orientation and Objectives, 2. Major Tasks.
- ^ "Chinese scientist Huang Kexue jailed for trade theft". BBC News. 22 December 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
- ^ Ke, Yan (2005). Chinas Wissenschaft und Technik (in German). 五洲传播出版社. p. 109. ISBN 978-7-5085-0671-5. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ^ de Seta, Gabriele (2025). "Technologies of Clairvoyance: Chinese Lineages and Mythologies of Machine Vision". In Bratton, Benjamin; Greenspan, Anna; Ireland, Amy; Konior, Bogna (eds.). Machine Decision Is Not Final: China and the History and Future of Artificial Intelligence. Urbanomic, MIT Press. ISBN 9781913029999.