Countries such as China are using multiple means, including talent development and recruitment, investment and internal policies, to stimulate domestic research and development, promote scientific progress, and drive technological innovation. We document the role of legal, illegal, and extra-legal mechanisms used by such countries for these purposes. The research involves analysis of budgets, investment patterns, patent trends, talent recruitment, and other potential indicators using official Chinese and other country documents and other open-source, native-language resources.

Analysis

The PRC’s Efforts Abroad

Owen Daniels

| September 2023

This report summarizes more than 20 CSET reports, translations, and data analyses to provide insight into the steps China has taken to increase its technological competitiveness beyond its own borders.

Analysis

The PRC’s Domestic Approach

Owen Daniels

| September 2023

This report summarizes more than 20 CSET reports, translations, and data analyses to provide insight into China’s internal actions to advance and implement its technology-related policy goals...

Data Visualization

ETO Scout

September 2023

Scout is ETO's discovery tool for Chinese-language writing on science and technology. Scout compiles, tags, and summarizes news and commentary from selected Chinese sources, helping English-speaking users easily keep up to date, skim the latest news, and discover new perspectives. Use the Scout web interface to browse and filter articles,...

Replicator: A Bold New Path for DoD

Michael O’Connor

| September 18. 2023

The Replicator effort by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is intended to overcome some of the military challenges posed by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). This blog post intends to both identify tradeoffs for the Department to consider as it charts the path for Replicator, and to provide a...

In & Out of China: Financial Support for AI Development

Ngor Luong Margarita Konaev

| August 10, 2023

Drawing from prior CSET research, this blog post describes different domestic and international initiatives the Chinese government and companies are pursuing to shore up investment in AI and meet China’s strategic objectives, as well as indicators to track their future trajectories.

Countering China’s Technological Development Strategy: CSET Director Testifies Before Senate Intelligence Committee

May 11, 2022

In his testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, CSET Director Dewey Murdick discussed China's strategy to move towards self-sufficiency in key technologies and steps the United States can take to respond.

William Hannas

Lead Analyst

Dahlia Peterson

Research Analyst

Daniel Chou

Data Scientist

Huey-Meei Chang

Senior China S&T Specialist

Ryan Fedasiuk

Non-Resident State Department Fellow

According to research by CSET's William Hannas, China puts a premium on OSINT and has an estimated 100,000 analysts tasked with scouring scientific and technical developments globally, mostly in the United States.

Western tech companies and investors “really must take a hard look at what they are doing" in connection with China's surveillance efforts and human rights, CSET's Dahlia Peterson notes in this story.

While cyber theft and espionage deserve considerable attention, CSET's William Hannas discussed additional dangers the United States suffers from against China.