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China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration (1992)

Chapter: Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research

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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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3
Overview of Institutions Revelant to Global Change Research

ORGANIZATION

The current organization of science in China has implications for Chinese global change research and for individuals or foreign institutions that may wish to collaborate. This chapter reports on the basic organization of major institutions that conduct research, fund, or set policies that bear significantly on the conduct of global change science in China.1 Chinese institutions conducting global change research are organized into several separate, vertically integrated administrative systems (Figure 3-1). For example, the State Meteorological Administration (SMA) has its own Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences (CAMS), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has 123 institutes covering the range of scientific disciplines, the State Oceanographic Administration (SOA) has its own research institutes, and the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA), an independent agency only since 1988, has already established five institutes and its own Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES). Administrative, funding, and personnel policies in turn reinforce this type of vertical organization.

The lack of internal and external disciplinary or programmatic integration of scientific institutions can lead to unnecessary duplication of efforts, and problems communicating data across institutional structures limits the effectiveness of research. The problem of paral-

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Figure 3-1 Simplified organization of institutions involved in Chinese global change research, policy, or funding (CAMS: Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences; CAS: Chinese Academy of Sciences; CAST: China Association of Science and Technology, CRAES: Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences; NEPA: National Environmental Protection Agency; NSFC: National Natural Science Foundation of China; SEDC: State Education Commission; SEPC: State Environmental Protection Commission; SMA: State Meteorological Administration; State Oceanographic Administration; SPC: State Planning Commission; SSTC: State Science and Technology Commission).

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
×

lel vertical organization and resulting lack of integration is especially relevant for global change research, given the need for multi- and interdisciplinary research programs. For example, both SMA and CAS are trying to develop general circulation models—a huge and duplicative investment of scarce science resources. And, the CAS Institute of Atmospheric Physics, instead of working with the CAS Institute of Botany (a center of excellence in vegetation modeling), is contemplating starting its own ecological division for climate-vegetation interaction studies.

Chinese scientists are aware of these inefficiencies and compensate through ingenuity and individual collaborations. Fortunately, as Chinese participation in international global change research programs increases, it appears to promote larger scale multidisciplinary and interinstitutional research projects that span various administrative systems. While integration is still limited, it is a significant first step in mitigating constraints imposed by vertical organization.

One of the biggest problems resulting from the way science is organized in China is the effect on the collection, management, and accessibility of data. Emissions data collected by ministries are controlled by bureaucrats who are suspicious of any access or analysis because these data are often considered important to national security. Data collected by individual scientists often remain undocumented, and basic scientific data management principles do not appear to have been widely adopted by the research community. Data generated may often become a commodity, if they are available at all to outside parties. The problem of charging for data exists at all levels in China, a fact further complicated by the lack of interinstitutional cooperation. Often, the response to the difficulty in accessing data has been for institutions to devote their own resources to collecting their own, duplicative data.

FUNDING

Economic reforms and tighter budgets have changed the way science is funded in China in the past decade. More and more, funding is being awarded on a grant basis for specific projects, and research institutions are responsible for raising more and more of their own funding for direct program costs. One result of these changes has been ever increasing pressure on Chinese institutions to seek international cooperation to carry out research projects, to gain access to expertise, training opportunities, and equipment.

Funding for scientific research comes from various governmental

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
×

sources and reflects the organization of science by administrative systems, each of which receives its own budget for operations such as research. Consequently, "the distribution of research expenditures, the decision as to projects to proceed with and the organizing of scientific research are basically done by administrative means" (Li 1990). This organization complicates funding for global change research, which must cut across these separate administrative systems in many cases. However, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (see below), which was established directly under the State Council in 1986, does offer an important alternative that stresses science-driven research and funding for basic and applied basic research.2

Overall, annual government spending on science and technology is about 1 percent of gross national product. Annual expenditures for basic research3 [in 1990] was "about 800 million yuan (approximately $200 million), accounting for 7 percent of all government investment in science and technology" (Li 1990).

For the funding of global change research, the most important institutions are probably NSFC and the State Science and Technology Administration (SSTC), followed by CAS. NSFC, as discussed in detail below, has the mandate and mechanisms for funding initiatives in global change. The biggest problem, though, are the limits of NSFC's relatively small overall budget. SSTC (see below), as a broker of funding and a coordinator for civilian science initiatives, also can play a substantive role in organizing the necessarily integrated global change research activities at the requisite scales. CAS is important, too, in that, as a separate administrative system, it could choose to make global change research a funding priority in its budget, and, given CAS' preeminent role in global change research, it would have direct and significant ramifications on China's national global change research agenda.

CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has taken the lead in global change research for three reasons. First, the Chinese global change effort is due, in large part, to the commitment and unflagging efforts of Ye Duzheng, director emeritus of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, CAS special advisor (a senior position of considerable stature), and chairman of the China National Committee for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (CNCIGBP). He has believed from the very beginnings of international discourse that China should be concerned about global change and should organize a scientific

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
×

response. Second, CAS has a national research infrastructure covering all of the scientific disciplines relevant to global change. And third, CAS is perceived by other Chinese institutions as having responsibility for basic research, and global change is perceived as basic science.

CAS is based on the Soviet model of creating institutes organized around specific disciplines, and it currently is composed of 123 institutes, the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, 22 open laboratories, a few of which are also national key laboratories,4 affiliated corporations, and a library. CAS institutes can confer degrees; 118 award master's degrees and 83 award Ph.Ds. Personnel number over 80,000, approximately two-thirds of which are scientists or technicians. In China, CAS is considered the leading scientific institution for basic research in China. Currently, approximately onequarter of its research is considered basic, which is still more than other institutions in China (CAS undated a). However, since the early 1980s, CAS has been increasingly emphasizing applied research.

Five of nine subcenters for World Data Center (WDC)-D are located in CAS institutions, where the following databases are maintained: renewable natural resources and the environment data at the Commission for Integrated Survey of Natural Resources (CISNAR); astronomy data at the Beijing Astronomical Observatory; glaciology and geocryology data at the Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology and Geocryology; geophysical data at the Institute of Geophysics; and space science data at the Research Center for Space Science and Applications.

Institutes within CAS do collaborate, but often it is along disciplinary lines for specific larger projects, often with little or no integrative function incorporated into the project design. CAS has recently begun to reform its personnel policies to encourage movement of scientists among institutions in ways that would make collaboration easier. Also, as mentioned above, the development of the open laboratory system is specifically designed to increase staff mobility, improve the quality of research, reduce duplication, and build links to non-CAS and foreign researchers and institutions; these are important and positive steps.

Although CAS was not completely disabled during the Cultural Revolution, it was decentralized. Since the mid-1970s, CAS has recentralized somewhat, although it retains a system of 12 branches that have a voice in their local institutes' research and funding. Overall, institutes have quite a bit of autonomy, which they exercise as funding permits (Saich 1989). Further information about CAS institutes and research can be found in other chapters and in Appendix A.

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
×

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

The National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) began as the implementing arm of the State Environmental Protection Commission (SEPC) (see below). In 1988, NEPA's status was elevated to one of an independent agency operating under the State Council. Qu Geping, vice chairman of SEPC, is the NEPA administrator. In its short history, NEPA has made great strides in devising standards for environmental quality and establishing a discharge permit system in 230 cities, an ambient monitoring system, and an enforcement policy. NEPA's primary emphasis has been on local and regional environmental issues. It is clear that NEPA is addressing global environmental change in its work in addition to domestic efforts to address environmental issues, yet NEPA has not responded to the open invitation to join CNCIGBP.

In the fall of 1991, a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) delegation visited China to assist in the development of Chinese policies concerning the Montreal Protocol. In fact, NEPA is the agency coordinating various ministries in China to gather information for a UNDP report on recommendations for global ozone protection. Another successful effort has been collaborative work between the NEPA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on coal-bed methane, which was the basis for a $10 million grant from the Global Environment Facility5 in 1992.

Moreover, China has received $2 million from the Global Environment Facility to conduct a 2-year study on the control and mitigation of greenhouse gases that will be implemented through NEPA. This study will include a study of potential impacts of climate change during the next 50 to 100 years by reviewing models for sea-level rise and other impacts of climate change to assess human, social, and economic impacts, by assessing various mitigation strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and by making policy recommendations.

NEPA is conducting studies of existing and projected chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) production and technology needs in order to come up with a plan for phasing out CFCs over the next 10 to 20 years, if not sooner. NEPA and EPA have organized technical assistance projects for the Chinese to learn more about alternative CFC technologies. For example, China is developing alternatives to CFC refrigeration. NEPA is especially interested in conservation technologies (for example, recycling and reclamation) as a means of meeting the growing demand for CFCs in China. China estimates that its 1996 CFC production will be 60,000 tons, but the Ministry of Chemical Industry

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
×

has stepped up efforts to find alternatives since China became a Montreal Protocol signatory.

In 1991, construction began on the Sino—Japanese Friendship Environmental Protection Center at NEPA in Beijing. Total cost of the center is estimated to be approximately $70 million. When completed in 1994, the center will house six departments: (1) environmental monitoring, (2) environmental pollution control technology, (3) environmental information, (4) environmental strategy and policy, (5) environmental training and education, and (6) administration. Staff size is projected to be 500. It is expected that this center will develop programs relating to global environment; however, it is too early to know more with great certainty or detail. NEPA plans to have a national monitoring system and a national environmental information system administered through this center.

NEPA maintains its own research academy, CRAES, in Beijing, the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Science (Appendix A), the South China Institute of Environmental Protection, the Xinjiang Institute of Environmental Research, the Institute of Environmental and Economic Policy Research, and the Wuhan University Institute of Environmental Law Research.

Under CRAES, which was founded in 1979, various institutes conduct research in most aspects of environmental studies: the Institute of Atmospheric Environment, Institute of Water Environment, Institute of Ecological Environment, Institute of Analysis and Measurement, Institute of Environmental Management, Institute of Environmental Standards, Institute of Environmental Information, and the Center of Computation (which has environmental databases). Research projects are usually funded by NEPA and SSTC.

Since 1988, CRAES has sponsored the journal, Environmental Science Research (Huanjing Kexue Yanjiu), the chief editor of which is Liu Hongliang. CRAES staff also edit the journals Environmental Science and Technology Information (Huanjing Keji Qingbao) and Translation of Environmental Science (Huanjing Kexue Yicong). Also, Wang Wenxing, a professor of environmental chemistry at CRAES, is the chief editor of China Environmental Science (Zhongguo Huanjing Kexue), a leading journal that is published bimonthly in Chinese.

NATIONAL NATURAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION OF CHINA

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) was established in 1986 under the State Council, although it functions independently. Prompted in part by the establishment of the International Geosphere and Biosphere Program (IGBP), NSFC has directed

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
×

its attention to the environmental and, in particular, global change sciences. The NSFC's Guide to Programs (NSFC 1990) indicates a high degree of sophistication in its understanding of global change as an emerging scientific discipline, as well as of its implications for economic development. It is eager to support and to participate in IGBP and World Climate Research Program (WCRP) strategies in the study of global change, and to coordinate its research effort in jointly funded national and international projects.

The main task of the NSFC is to ''guide, coordinate, and support6 basic research and part of applied research'' (Li 1990). Unlike other funding sources, applications to NSFC are subjected to a peer review process by scientific experts. Furthermore, "scientists are responsible to the NSFC only, and they may independently decide how to use the grants provided, and how to implement the projects" (Li 1990). NSFC supports studies of the impact of human activities at the interfaces between layers: lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Still, the NSFC recognizes that, with China's weak economic, scientific, and technological base, as well as its limited financial resources, its smaller scale projects will be limited for the foreseeable future to those fundamental issues that reflect the country's own interests, for example, those concerned with economic development, and that take advantage of the country's expertise.

NSFC projects are divided into three categories: general, key, and major. General projects receive relatively small grants, and awards deliberately support the widest range possible of ideas, people, and geographical location. General projects usually receive between 60,000 ($11,000) and 70,000 ($12,700) yuan over 3 years. Key projects are selected from the general pool of applications for their academic significance and for their potential applications. Key project funding usually is between 500,000 ($91,000) and 700,000 ($127,000) yuan for 3 years. Major projects are comprehensive topics that are selected for their importance to the development of science and to Chinese economic development goals. Funding levels begin at 2 million yuan ($364,000) for 5 years (Li 1990). Appendix B provides an extensive listing of general, key, and major projects relevant to global change. In general, NSFC plans to emphasize paleoclimatic study (improved sensitivity), near-term climate change, and biogeochemical interaction mechanisms.

The NSFC is divided into six departments and one group: (1) Department of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, (2) Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, (3) Department of Life Sciences, (4) Department of Earth Sciences, (5) Department of Material

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
×

TABLE 3-1 Global change project funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 1986–1992 ($1=5.5 yuan)

 

Number of Projects

Cost

Major Projects

9

$ 4,545,455

Key Projects

20

181,818

General Projects

70

545,455

Total

99

5,272,727

and Engineering Sciences, (6) the Department of Information Science, and (7) the Management Science Group.

Between 1986 and 1992, NSFC reported funding 99 global change projects (Table 3-1). Six global change disciplines are handled by the Department of Earth Sciences: (1) geography (including remote sensing) and soil science, (2) geological sciences, (3) geochemistry, (4) geophysics and space physics, (5) atmospheric sciences, and (6) ocean sciences (Table 3-2).

The total 1990 program budget for NSFC was 160 million yuan ($29,090,000),6 marking the fifth consecutive year of increased funding. The projected 1990 budget for the Department of Earth Sciences was more than 14 million yuan ($2,576,364). Out of 1,659 applications, 371 projects (22.4 percent) received awards. The average support per project was approximately 48,500 yuan ($8,800). See Appendix B for a recent listing of global change projects that have received NSFC funding.

STATE EDUCATION COMMISSION

The State Education Commission (SEDC), directed by Li Tieying, was established by the State Council in 1985 to reform, manage, and further develop the educational system that had previously been under the aegis of the Ministry of Education. Although it has ultimate responsibility for colleges and universities, direct supervisory control is often delegated to provincial education commissions, ministries or other relevant cosponsoring institutions, for example, CAS (Reed 1989).

Chinese institutions of higher education have designations and are organized differently than in the West. National "key" institutions of higher education are the most prestigious, receive more funding, attract the best students, and have the best facilities. Provincial "key"

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
×

TABLE 3-2 Project awards in the Department of Earth Sciences, National Natural Science Foundation of China, 1987–1989 ($1=5.5 yuan)

Name of Discipline

1987

1988

1989

Projected Funding for 1990

Projects

Amount

Projects

Amount

Projects

Amount

Geography and Soil Sciences

74

$ 485,455

63

$ 523,636

69

$ 598,182

$ 612,727

Geological Sciences

111

883,636

79

803,636

95

994,545

940,000

Geochemistry

21

160,000

26

169,091

32

272,727

241,818

Geophysics and Space Physics

43

290,727

33

303,636

40

370,909

345,455

Atmospheric Sciences

22

132,727

24

163,636

26

184,545

189,091

Ocean Sciences

28

158,182

22

200,000

23

227,273

247,273

Total

299

2,110,727

247

2,163,636

285

2,648,182

2,576,364

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
×

institutions rank just behind the ones at the national level. The Chinese adopted the Soviet-style of educational organization in the 1950s, which organized institutions according to narrow specialties (Reed 1989). As the report has noted in reference to the organization of research institutions, organizing along narrow specializations limits opportunities for inter- and multidisciplinary collaborations.

Of the educational institutions relevant to this report, SEDC administers a range of institutions of higher learning. Comprehensive universities, for example Peking, Fudan, Nanjing, and Zhongshan, offer basic and applied sciences and social sciences and/or humanities. Polytechnical universities, for example, Qinghua, Tongji, Zhejiang, and Shanghai Jiaotong, offer applied sciences and engineering. Institutions of science and technology offer specialized training in specific areas of basic sciences or engineering, and they are often administered in conjunction with respective ministries. "Normal" colleges and universities train teachers, and Beijing Normal University and the East China Normal University are the most prestigious examples. Agricultural universities and colleges are administered in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) or its bureaux (Reed 1989).

SEDC is not really involved in the graduate programs in CAS research institutes, although CAS does use SEDC entrance examinations in selecting students. SEDC does administer with CAS the CAS University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei and the CAS Graduate School for Science and Technology in Beijing.

The panel found that SEDC has not responded to the global change agenda in any formal way at the national level, although individual universities administered by SEDC are involved in research related to global change. In the cases where the Chinese noted university activities as part of the global change program, the panel requested further information and visited those institutions where possible. Further information about those projects is found in the next chapters and appendixes of this report.

Although a more detailed examination of current educational enrollment and curricula was beyond the scope and resources of this study, the panel did identify two innovative initiatives in global change education that signal interest and instances of creative response on the part of the Chinese: CAS is developing a proposal for the advanced training of scientific personnel and Beijing Normal University is developing a proposal for the basic training of pre-college teachers. The two new Chinese education initiatives focus on global environmental change at the largest scales, which the planners recognize requires international understanding to manage effectively.

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
×

The CAS initiative is particularly strong because it promotes global change education expressly for developing countries in Asia. Advanced training would be provided during an intensive 3-week summer institute for postgraduate students, recent Ph. Ds, and younger scientists currently studying or conducting research in IGBP-related areas. About one-third of the participants would be chosen from other Asian countries. This proposal has been endorsed in principle by the scientific committee of the IGBP. The leading organizer of this proposal is Fu Congbin at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics.

Beijing Normal University is proposing a summer school for advanced teacher training in global change science, which will target current and prospective teachers of pre-college and beginning higher general education students. This university has offered intensive summer environmental science courses in previous years, and the proposed new initiative builds on that experience. Planning is now under way by Wang Huadong, director of the Beijing Normal's Institute of Environmental Sciences and Xu Jialin. (Wang and Xu have authored Chinese language textbooks of environmental sciences and are also coauthors of The Natural History of China.) In addition, active participation is expected by Liu Jingyi, past director of the CAS Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, and by the Chinese Society of Environmental Sciences, in which all three of these scientists are active.

This proposed effort to conduct innovative environmental education in China would introduce new subject matter about global change issues and also provide an opportunity for new methods of presenting complex workings of environmental systems. The participants are expected to develop new skills to help them become innovators in future environmental management or in education.

The panel also identified a tripartite agreement signed among Peking University's Center for Environmental Sciences, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the University of Michigan in 1991 to hold annual workshops to promote international interdisciplinary research and training on global change. Tang Xiaoyan is the principal Chinese investigator and Thomas Donahue is the principal American investigator. The first meeting was supposed to be held in the former Soviet Union in 1992 but it was canceled. While details about training activities were not identified, this endeavor appears to have interesting potential.

The requirements of global change research in any country are creating pressures on educational systems that are not currently designed to respond very well to these demands. It is welcome to see that the importance of global change education is prompting proposed programs in China, as it should elsewhere without further delay.

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
×

STATE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION COMMISSION

The State Environmental Protection Commission (SEPC) was established by the State Council in 1984 and is the leading decision-making body in China for environmental issues. Membership includes the heads of all relevant ministries and agencies (SSTC, State Economic Commission, State Planning Commission, Ministry of Urban and Rural Construction, Ministry of Forestry, MOA, Ministry of Water Resources, various industrial ministries, and the Ministry of Energy), who meet quarterly to review and set environmental policy and provide interagency coordination. NEPA is the SEPC secretariat.

STATE METEOROLOGICAL ADMINISTRATION

The State Meteorological Administration (SMA), under the direction of Zou Jingmeng, has three major centers, the National Meteorological Center,7 the National Satellite Meteorological Center, and CAMS. Additionally, the administrative offices for the Chinese National Climate Committee and the National Climate Change Coordination Group (NCCCG) are located at SMA (Chapter 2). Of these major centers, CAMS is where SMA's research is conducted. Further details about CAMS and global change research being conducted there can be found in Chapters 4 and 5 and Appendix A.

Meteorological data in China are particularly robust and have a historical depth unmatched by any other country. Currently, SMA has more than 2,600 surface observational stations, upper-air sounding stations, weather radar stations, and various specialized meteorological stations. The monitoring network has six regional centers (Shanghai, Wuhan, Shenyang, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Lanzhou) that are operational or under construction. Each province has a meteorological bureau, each prefecture has a weather office, and each county has a weather station. At the national level, the National Meteorological Center provides data and information, climate analysis, and other meteorological services. SMA has two satellites transmitting Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data. These data are handled by SMA's National Meteorological Satellite Center.

STATE OCEANOGRAPHIC ADMINISTRATION

The State Oceanographic Administration (SOA), founded in 1964 and directed by Yan Hongmo, is an active participant in Tropical

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
×

Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) (approximately 100 scientists have been involved) and World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) research. Additionally, SOA has collaborated on a joint air-sea interaction project with U.S. researchers and a cooperative project with the Japanese to study the Kuroshio Ocean Current. Further details can be found in Chapters 4 and 5.

SOA is responsible for ocean surveys, oceanographic research and monitoring, and marine resource management. SOA has three branch offices: Qingdao for activities related to the North Sea, Shanghai for activities related to the East China Sea, and Guangzhou for activities related to the South China Sea. SOA operates the First, Second, and Third Institutes of Oceanography, the Institute of Marine Environmental Protection, the Institute of Ocean Technology, the Institute of Marine Scientific and Technological Information,8 the Institute of Desalination, the Marine Environmental Forecasting Center, the China Ocean Press, and the Ningbo Oceanography School. It operates 42 research and monitoring vessels (four are 10 kilotons or heavier), two remote sensing aircraft, eight central marine stations, 58 marine investigation stations, three monitoring and surveillance centers, 12 data buoys, and three regional forecasting stations.

STATE PLANNING COMMISSION

The State Planning Commission (SPC), under the chairmanship of Vice Premier Zou Jiahua is the largest comprehensive department under the State Council and the highest administrative organ for macroeconomic management. In China's centrally planned economy, SPC is responsible for producing the 5-year plans, which detail the overall budgets for institutions such as CAS, NSFC, SSTC, and the ministries. SPC awards key project grants that provide fairly substantial funding. In general, the trend in government has been away from block financing to institutions in favor of project specific grants.

According to Li Fuxian, deputy director of the SPC National and Regional Planning and Development Bureau, SPC, like other Chinese agencies, is committed to working with SSTC, NEPA, SMA, and other relevant ministries to study global environmental issues. To that end, SPC was charged with coordinating the production of the "National Report of the People's Republic of China on Environment and Development" for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which had a specific section on the impact of global warming on China (SPC 1991).

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
×

STATE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION

The State Science and Technology Commission (SSTC), which operates directly under the State Council, is the leading administrative agency for civilian science and technology. Song Jian is the chairman and he also is a state counselor, chairman of SEPC, and chairman of various other environmental committees, including being the honorary chairman of the CNCIGBP.

SSTC is responsible for developing science and technology policy and guidelines and for applying science and technology for economic growth. Budgets for research and development in science and technology are administered through SSTC, including the CAS and other research institutes in various government agencies. Clearly, the strength of Chinese global change research is dependent upon favorable support by SSTC.

Of the 100 million yuan budgeted for environmental protection research in the Eighth 5-Year Plan, SSTC is allocating 80 million (NEPA is contributing the remainder). Six major environment projects, which concentrate on atmosphere and water pollution, have been identified, and responses to global climate change is one.

In 1989, the Department of Science and Technology for Social Development was established and was originally headed by Deng Xiaoping's daughter, Deng Nan, (vice chairman of the CNCIGBP). This department, now under the direction of Gan Shijun, is responsible for coordinating funding and overall administration of many projects, including those related to environment and global change. Within a given project, detailed project management is delegated to groups of experts.

The department is a member of NCCCG (Chapter 2). As a member, SSTC chairs the working group for response strategies, and, to this end, will develop a national response strategy for global climate change with financing from the Asian Development Bank. SSTC will assess current and projected greenhouse gas emissions, review strategies for reducing them, and analyze policy implications. Additionally, SSTC selected the study of changes in the life-supporting environment in the next 20 to 50 years to be one of the national key projects under the Eighth 5-Year Plan, for which Ye Duzheng, CAS, is the lead scientist (Chapter 2). A large-scale, multidisciplinary project, The Origin, Evolution, Environmental Changes, and Ecosystems of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is administered by SSTC (Chapter 4). The SSTC project coordinator for global climate change projects is Wen Jianping.

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
×

SSTC administers the National Remote Sensing Center, but actual research and training are carried out at various research institutions.

NOTES

1.  

The panel decided that, although some ministries do control important emissions data that are relevant to global change research, a discussion of their overall roles does not fit the objectives of this chapter. Relevant research activities of various ministries are reported elsewhere in this report.

2.  

Applied basic research is defined here as basic research that is oriented to some application (Li 1990).

3.  

Basic research is defined here as "mainly aimed at understanding natural phenomena, discovering objective laws and conducting systematic investigation, examination, and analysis of basic scientific data and exploring the associated laws" (Li 1990).

4.  

Open laboratories are a CAS designation that means the facility has met certain standards for operation and equipment and that it is open to non-CAS organizations and foreign scientists. These laboratories usually receive 100 to 200 percent higher funding from CAS. Staff mobility, openness to outside researchers, graduate training, multi-institutional and international collaboration are stressed. National key laboratories are similar to, and took their lead from, CAS' open laboratories. In fact, all national key laboratories at CAS are also open laboratories. National key laboratories at CAS stress applied over basic research. While CAS has developed and runs open laboratories, most of the national key laboratories are run by the State Education Commission (SEDC). The basic difference between them is that open laboratories stress research and national key laboratories stress education (Abramson 1990).

5.  

The Global Environment Facility is a multilateral fund set up by governments, the World Bank, the United Nations Environment Program, and the United Nations Development Program to finance grants and low-interest loans to developing countries for projects related to global environment, for example, greenhouse gas response strategies, biodiversity action plans, and technology transfers.

6.  

NSFC funding covers only direct project costs.

7.  

The WDC-D subcenter for atmospheric data is located in the Information Office of this center.

8.  

The WDC-D subcenter for oceanography data is located in this institute.

Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Suggested Citation:"Overview of Institutions Relevant to Global Change Research." National Research Council. 1992. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2075.
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Given China's current and potential impacts on the global environment and the contributions Chinese science can make to global change research, China's full participation in international research programs dealing with global change is very important.

This book provides insights into how research priorities are determined and detailed information about institutional infrastructure, human resources, and other factors that will constrain or facilitate Chinese responses to and research on global change issues.

An overview of research relevant to the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program and the World Climate Research Program is presented. Additionally, research in certain areas of atmospheric chemistry and physical and ecological interactions of the atmosphere and land surface are explored in further detail.

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