The PLA at Home and Abroad - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

a new Defense Industry Alliance was established with
the organizational assistance of the Shenzhen municipal
government. 113 The Alliance brings together
any enterprise in the defense industry or the civilian
sector willing to sign on to military or dual-use economic
activity under the principles of “voluntary participation,
equality and cooperation.” This is a novel
concept because it organizes a highly atomized and
dispersed, yet innovative and fluid IT industry (epitomized
by Shenzhen) into a collective body with which
the defense industry can interact. Many IT enterprises
are too small, and so individually their access to defense
contracts is constrained. Through this common
platform, many of the barriers to communication and
cooperation, such technical exchange, integrated R&D
efforts, are drastically reduced. 114
THE S&T CATALYST
China’s national science and technology system
stands at the heart of China’s goal to transform itself
into a globally innovative power, and by extension
the ability to indigenously innovate for national defense
purposes. In the span of 3 decades, China has
gone from being a nominal to a formidable player in
the world-wide technology revolution. The body of
China’s national S&T program covers a vast array of
commercial, civilian, and defense-specific programs,
funded and overseen by an equally diverse range of
government, military, academic, and enterprise institutions.
These efforts range from targeted programs
like Key technologies R&D Program, 863, 973, Torch,
and Spark, 115 but also includes far more broad-based
efforts such as the 80 engineering R&D centers spread
around the country in defense labs and academic in-
509