I'm reading through the CCP's Fourth Plenum decision, which was just released today. While I'm not seeing anything unexpected, the decision does reiterate a couple of key points on tech and defense issues that I wanted to highlight. web.archive.org/web/2019110522…
The word "innovation" is mentioned 31 times in the document, relative to 27 references to "reform" and only 14 allusions to "opening."
In the decision, AI is mentioned twice, and informatization (信息化) and intelligentization (智能化) each come up once.
"Establish and improve systems and regulations for administrative management employing technological methods, such as the Internet, big data, and artificial intelligence."
"Advance government data construction, strengthen data ordering and sharing, protect personal information in accordance with the law."
The Party-state sees data and artificial intelligence as important instruments for governance and to be governed.
"Perfect systems and mechanisms for S&T innovation. Enhance the scientific spirit and the artisan spirit; accelerate the construction of an innovative-type nation (创新型国家); strengthen national strategic scientific and technological capabilities..."
"perfect the national laboratory system; build a new type of nationwide system for key and core (关键核心) technology breakthroughs under socialist market economy conditions."
The Chinese government is seeking to create and refine a national architecture for innovation and technological development that combines state support and market dynamism.
"Intensity investments in basic research; perfect the institutional mechanisms to encourage and support basic research and original (原始) innovation."
"Establish a technology innovation system with enterprises as the mainstay (企业为主体), market orientation as the direction (市场为导向), and deep fusion of production, education and research..."
There's much more here, from the importance of supporting enterprises to calling for strengthening standards leadership (强化标准引领).
"Perfect the systems and mechanisms for S&T talent discovery, cultivation, and incentives; strengthen the S&T management system and policy system of systems in accordance with the natural laws of scientific research."
Talent is a core priority, and the Chinese government is also looking to improve its management of scientific research overall, as well as paying greater attention to issues of ethics and governance:
"Improve the S&T evaluation system of systems (体系); and perfect the system of S&T ethics and governance."
The Chinese government is also looking to increase its global "discourse power" on issues of tech and ethics, in ways that may legitimate its own model and system.
So too, there is extensive, but again, unsurprising, discussion of the Party's absolute leadership over the 'people's army,' which is called upon to fulfill its missions in "the new era."
“Accelerate the pace of the deep development of military-civil fusion, and construct an integrated national strategic system and capabilities. Improve the national defense scientific and technological innovation and the weapons and equipment construction system."
