The following draft Chinese policy document from 2021 lays out a basic framework for assessing ethical problems with scientific research. The policy calls for ethics reviews of research that potentially endangers human life, social stability, individual privacy, the environment, and, to lesser extent, animal welfare. A CSET translation of the final version of this document—which closely resembles this draft version—is underway.
An archived version of the Chinese source text is available online at: https://perma.cc/P3KS-24US
Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Governance of Science and Technology Ethics
(Draft for Feedback)1
Scientific and technological (S&T) ethics is the application of ethical thinking to scientific research, technology development, and other S&T activities. It is the value concepts and behavioral norms that S&T activities must abide by, and an important assurance for the healthy development of S&T undertakings. The following opinions are put forward in order to further strengthen the governance of S&T ethics, effectively prevent ethical risks that S&T innovation may bring about, promote science and technology for good ends, and achieve a high level of S&T self-reliance (自立自强).
I. Overall Requirements
(1) Guiding ideology. Taking Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guide, comprehensively implementing the spirit of the 19th Party Congress and the Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Plenums of the 19th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee, and conscientiously putting into practice the decisions and arrangements of the CCP Central Committee and the State Council, we shall accelerate the construction of an S&T ethics system with Chinese characteristics, and improve the institutions and mechanisms of S&T ethics governance with multilateral participation and collaborative governance; adhering to the governance principles of unifying innovation promotion and risk prevention, and of combining institutional regulation and self-restraint (自我约束), we shall establish and improve a system of S&T ethics that is consistent with our national conditions and in line with international trends, and shape the cultural concept of tech for social good (科技向善), so as to make science and technology better benefit humanity, and promote the building of a community of common destiny for humanity (人类命运共同体).
(2) Basic requirements.
—Ethics first. Promoting S&T ethics requires that it permeate the whole process of scientific research, technological development, and other S&T activities, covering all fields of S&T innovation.
—Agile governance. Strengthen the early warning, tracking, and analysis of S&T ethics risks, and adjust governance methods and ethical norms dynamically in a timely manner, responding quickly and flexibly to the ethical challenges brought about by S&T innovation.
—Be firmly rooted in national conditions. Firmly rooted in the historical stage of China’s S&T development and its social and cultural characteristics, and abiding by the underlying principles of S&T innovation, we shall establish and improve an S&T ethics system that conforms to China’s national conditions.
—Open cooperation. Cooperative mechanisms with multilateral participation and collaborative governance shall be established to build consensus and form synergies. We shall adhere to the open development concept and actively advance global governance of S&T ethics, contributing Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions.
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Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Governance of Science and Technology Ethics (Draft for Feedback)- Translator’s note: The General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (中共中央办公厅) and the General Office of the State Council (国务院办公厅) issued a final version of this document on March 21, 2022. Note, however, that the issuers of the final version downgraded it in authoritativeness from “Guiding Opinions” to merely “Opinions.” An English translation of the final Opinions on Strengthening the Governance of Science and Technology Ethics (关于加强科技伦理治理的意见) is available online at: https://perma.cc/B9FS-XJ4C.