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Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education
Eryong Xue Jian Li
Innovating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China Ideas, Strategies, and Practices
Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education Series Editors Zhongying Shi, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China Shengquan Yu, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
This book series brings together the latest insights and work regarding the future of education from a group of highly regarded scholars around the world. It is the first collection of interpretations from around the globe and contributes to the interdisciplinary and international discussions on possible future demands on our education system. It serves as a global forum for scholarly and professional debate on all aspects of future education. The book series proposes a total rethinking of how the whole education process can be reformed and restructured, including the main drivers and principles for reinventing schools in the global knowledge economy, models for designing smart learning environments at the institutional level, a new pedagogy and related curriculums for the 21st century, the transition to digital and situated learning resources, open educational resources and MOOCs, new approaches to cognition and neuroscience as well as the disruption of education sectors. The series provides an opportunity to publish reviews, issues of general significance to theory development, empirical data-intensive research and critical analysis innovation in educational practice. It provides a global perspective on the strengths and weaknesses inherent in the implementation of certain approaches to the future of education. It not only publishes empirical studies but also stimulates theoretical discussions and addresses practical implications. The volumes in this series are interdisciplinary in orientation, and provide a multiplicity of theoretical and practical perspectives. Each volume is dedicated to a specific theme in education and innovation, examining areas that are at the cutting edge of the field and are groundbreaking in nature. Written in an accessible style, this book series will appeal to researchers, policy-makers, scholars, professionals and practitioners working in the field of education.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/14177
Eryong Xue Jian Li •
Innovating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China Ideas, Strategies, and Practices
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Eryong Xue Faculty of Education Beijing Normal University Beijing, China
Jian Li Faculty of Education Beijing Normal University Beijing, China
ISSN 2366-1658 ISSN 2366-1666 (electronic) Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education ISBN 978-981-15-2787-6 ISBN 978-981-15-2788-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2788-3 © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore
Preface
Innovating the technology-oriented higher education in China plays a significant role to explore the ideas, pathways, and practices for pursuing world-class universities. According to the statistical data of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, U.S. Department of Education, The World Bank, Ministry of Education, and China National Bureau of Statistics, mainly compared to the development of basic indicators of higher education of Group of Eight, Australia, European Union, and China, we summarized that the basic characteristics of world-class Higher Education as follows: they are Higher Education Gross Enrolment Ratio beyond 65%; Public Expenditure on Education as a Percentage of GDP beyond 1%; Inbound Mobility Rate beyond 3%, Percentage of the Population (25–64 years old) that has Attained Tertiary-type B or A and Advanced Research Programme beyond 30%, colleges and universities for more than 65% of full-time teachers with doctorates. Based on that, the combination of economic and social development of China’s overall goal picture of higher education in China’s construction of the roadmap for world-class higher education, we put forward the construction of world-class higher education strategy. Based on the current data, colleges and universities are an integral part of the national innovation system, which is an important think tank of national development. It is the request for higher education in the new era to strengthen scientific and technological achievements and emphasize technological innovation in higher education function. Consider Sweden, the Netherlands, and Finland’s university technology transfer as a typical case in innovation-oriented countries, we compare their development and implement strategies of university knowledge transfer and industrialization. Substantive participation and collaboration and integration with the modern enterprise, which coordinates comprehensively and restructures organically personnel training, scientific research, public service of three key functions and it promotes the interaction of tradition and innovation, theory and practice, and university and society in higher education. On the basis of public policy theories, we sort out public policies of promotion of university technology transfer. In the light of the theory of public policy tool, university–industry collaboration, university of science and technology park, v
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university-run enterprises as research clue, we have analyzed the existing policy text, and find the basic law of policy change and evolution, explore the problem in practice. Using questionnaires, interviews, etc., we research on the basic situation of technology transfer in china’s universities and colleges, industry orientation, the role of the stakeholders and problems. In line with theory and evidence, we summarize relevant research findings and propose some policy suggestions of university technology transfer. Chapter 1 mainly focuses on how to examine the pathway to creating world-class higher education institutions in China. Specifically, the section related to the historical analysis and prediction of the basic indicators of the development of higher education in China contributes to the “three-step” strategy for building world-class higher education institutions. In the process of building a well-off society in an all-round way, China is implementing two major strategies, namely the strategy of building an innovation-oriented country and the strategy of strengthening the country with human resources. First, make China an innovationoriented country by 2020, and make scientific and technological development a strong support for economic and social development. The contribution rate of scientific and technological progress to economic growth should increase from 39% to more than 60%, and the proportion of R&D investment in the GDP of the whole society should increase from 1.35% to 2.5%. By the middle of this century, we will basically achieve modernization and turn China into a prosperous, strong, democratic, and civilized socialist country. The implementation of national strategy depends on all kinds of professional talents with high quality, and higher education is the basic way to cultivate high-quality talents, the development of higher education must be from big to strong. Chapter 2 focuses on investigating the overview of the technology-oriented innovation education in China. The main way that “knowledge” has a substantial influence on “economy” is technological innovation. In the national innovation system, colleges and universities should not only undertake the task of basic research, but also strengthen the interaction with industry and science and technology and participate in the process of building an innovation-oriented country through science and technology, education, economy, and society. Under the realistic guidance of technological innovation, the three functions of higher education, namely talent cultivation, scientific research, and social service, are comprehensively coordinated and organically reorganized to promote the interaction between tradition and innovation, theory and practice, and school and society in higher education. Chapter 3 involves exploring the model of technology-oriented innovation education in China. The collaboration between universities and industry is rich and varied. On the whole, the cooperation between universities and industry can be divided into formal cooperation and informal cooperation. Informal cooperation is more often manifested as a variety of cooperation based on interpersonal network relations, alumni relations, geographical advantages, etc. Such cooperation plays an important role in information exchange and communication as well as cultural integration. Donations to universities by businesses or entrepreneurs are also
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informal partnerships. This paper mainly studies formal cooperative relationship based on contract. Chapter 4 concentrates on examining the policy system on the technologyoriented innovation education in China. According to the regulation of our country’s science and technology achievements conversion, transformation of scientific and technological achievements refers to in order to improve the level of productivity and science and technology development of practical science and technology achievements of follow-up tests, development, application, and promotion until the formation of new products, new technology, new materials, development of new industries, and other related activities. The main characteristics of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements lie in the combination of science and technology and industry, with emphasis on the first commercial application, industrial production, and socialized popularization of existing scientific and technological achievements. In the institutional arrangement of promoting the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, a policy network of university scientific and technological achievements transformation with Chinese characteristics has been formed. Chapter 5 focuses on the policy analysis on the reform of the scientific research fund management system in China’s universities. The level of scientific research is an important sign of the comprehensive strength of colleges and universities. Research activities can be divided into basic research, applied research, and development research. Basic research mainly refers to scientific research activities to explore the basic principles of the objective world. It is not aimed at application and aims at revealing the essence and movement rules of objective things. Applied research mainly refers to scientific research activities aimed at specific purposes and exploring new methods, new approaches, and new principles to achieve goals. Research and development mainly refer to scientific research activities to explore new processes, technologies, and service procedures for the production of new products, materials, and devices on the basis of knowledge acquired in basic research and applied research institutes. University research funding is the basic condition for carrying out scientific research activities. As a powerful country in science and technology, how can the growth and dissemination of knowledge receive adequate funding? Under the premise of substantial increase of scientific research funding, how to effectively manage the funding is a major policy problem facing Germany. In fact, there are institutional and institutional problems in the management of scientific research funds in colleges and universities in China. Chapter 6 concentrates on exploring the strategic choice and institutional arrangement of university–industry cooperation. The essential attribute of collaborative innovation is management innovation, which is an important link for China to promote economic development mode to mainly rely on scientific and technological progress, improve the quality of workers, and manage innovation. It is of great significance to plan and implement collaborative innovation from the perspective of national strategy. Chinese universities, especially research universities, should carry out in-depth cooperation with scientific research institutions and enterprises to actively promote collaborative innovation. The basic tasks of higher
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education are personnel training, scientific research and social service, and innovation runs through the basic tasks of higher education. However, the integration of science and technology with economy and science and technology with education in China has not been truly solved. To strengthen collaborative innovation means to emphasize the synergy between science and technology and economy, and to generate the nonlinear utility of 1 + 1 + 1 > 3 through in-depth cooperation and resource integration between knowledge creation subjects and technological innovation subjects. The success of Silicon Valley lies in the strategy and policy of the organic convergence and integration of technology and capital, technology and market in the university and market. It has been proved by practice that the five links of government, industry, academia, research, and use connect, penetrate, and support each other, which is the necessary condition for the production of major scientific and technological achievements. Chapter 7 concentrates on investigating the policy analysis on the construction of a new think tank with Chinese characteristics in China’s colleges and universities. A new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics is a nonprofit research and consulting institution with strategic issues and public policies as its main research objects and the purpose of serving the party and government in scientific, democratic and law-based decision-making. In the historical process of deepening the “four modernizations” of economic globalization, world multi-polarization, cultural diversity, and social informatization, China is faced with the dual mission of deepening comprehensive reform and promoting world peace and development. In the report of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the conclusion of “the importance of developing think tank” appeared for the first time. At the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, the development of think tanks was elevated to a national strategic height, and it was proposed to build a new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics. Chapter 8 concentrates on the investigation and policy analysis of university-run Science and Technology Enterprises in China. In the process of collaborative innovation reform of universities, science and technology enterprises serve as a vital channel to commercialize the scientific and technological results. They prompt universities to advance the reform of the talent development mode and adjust the direction of scientific research and expand the ways to serve the society. This study investigates the basic tasks of university-run science and technology enterprises, their relations with universities, the characteristics at different stages and governance structure, and analyzes the role of stakeholders. It is found that inaccurate positioning is a critical issue in the development of university-run science and technology enterprises, institutional defects are the fundamental issue, and the shortage of funds restricts their growth. In response, it is recommended that universities develop specialty industries relying on their competitive disciplines; enterprises focus on technology innovations and accelerate the application of research results; universities and enterprises should be managed separately and their development should be regulated; the governments should make financing channels available to these enterprises and give importance to the development of capital markets.
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Chapter 9 involves exploring the practice on technology-oriented innovation education in China. After the reform and opening up, the state vigorously promotes the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into real productive forces. Scientific and technological enterprises are an important way for the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities. The science and technology industry in colleges and universities accelerates the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, supports the construction and development of colleges and universities, and improves the status and role of colleges and universities in the national science and technology innovation system as a whole. On the other hand, many problems have been exposed to the development of science and technology industry in colleges and universities. Chapter 10 focuses on examining the trends in technology-oriented innovation education in China. Major problems in the cooperation between universities and industry in China, development trend of university–industry cooperation in China, and suggestions on university–industry cooperation in China all contribute to comprehensively exploring the whole landscape of Chinese world-class higher education institutions. Chapter 11 concentrates on investigating the conclusion of technology-oriented innovation education in China. Research conclusions on the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in Chinese universities are also provided. Beijing, China
Eryong Xue Jian Li
Acknowledgements
In the realization of this book, our contributors have been supportive and willing to share their opinions and perspective on how to explore the overall Chinese education policy landscape from a concept-added policy chain perspective. We are really grateful for the generosity and positive spirit of collegiality. While most of the chapters in this book are original, several are adopted from our previously published material and editors are grateful for the kind permissions granted to facilitate this. Acknowledgement: Eryong Xue and Jian Li share the co-first authorship and contribute equally in this book.
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Contents
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Shaping the Strategy of Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Historical Analysis and Prediction of the Basic Indicators of the Development of Higher Education in China . . . . . . 1.1.1 Students in Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1.2 Investment in Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1.3 Levels of International Higher Education . . . . . . . . 1.1.4 The Achievement of Talent Cultivation . . . . . . . . . 1.1.5 Professional Quality of College Teachers . . . . . . . . 1.2 The “Three-Step” Strategy for Building World-Class Higher Education Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Examining the Landscape of Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Innovating the Ability of Universities in the Transformation of the Scientific and Technological Achievements . . . . . . . . 2.2 Universities Have Obvious Advantages in Human Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 The University Has Numerous Science and Technology Innovation Bases and Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 Universities Produce High-Level Innovative Knowledge Achievements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 Universities Are the Radiation Sources of Technological Innovation and Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Exploring Models of Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 The University Transfers Patents to the Enterprise . . . . . . . . 3.2 Enterprises Entrust Universities with Research and Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 Joint Application of Universities and Enterprises . . . . . . . . . 3.4 Universities and Enterprises Shall Jointly Establish Laboratories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 Enterprises Shall Establish Industrial Funds in Universities . . 3.6 Universities and Industries Form Industry–University– Research Strategic Alliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7 The Universities Establish a University Science Park . . . . . . 3.8 Universities Establish University-Run Industries . . . . . . . . . . 3.9 The Universities Hold or Share in Listed Companies . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Investigating the Policy System of Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China . . . . . . . . 4.1 The Development and Analysis of Industry–University– Research Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 The Development and Analysis of University Science and Technology Park Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Development and Analysis of University-Run Industrial Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 Problems and Suggestions on the Policy of Scientific and Technological Achievements Transformation in Chinese Universities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Analyzing the Fund Management System of Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China . 5.1 The Function Orientation and International Comparison of Scientific Research Fund Management in Colleges and Universities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 The System and Mechanism of Scientific Research Fund Management in Chinese Universities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 Suggestions on the Reform of Scientific Research Fund Management System in Chinese Universities . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Exploring the Institutional Arrangement of Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 Exploration of the Nature and System Comparison of Cooperation Between Universities and Industry . . . . . . . . 6.2 Comparison of Institutions of Cooperation Between Universities and Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 The Difficulties and Influencing Factors of the Cooperation Between Chinese Universities and Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 Factors Affecting the Poor Cooperation Between Universities and Industry in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 Strategies and Policies to Promote Cooperation Between Chinese Universities and Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Constructing Educational Think Tanks for Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 The Analysis of the Current Situation of the Construction of New Think Tanks with Chinese Characteristics in Chinese Universities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2 The Influence and Quantity of University Think Tanks in China Are not Enough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3 The Policy Problems of Constructing New Think Tanks with Chinese Characteristics in Chinese Universities . . . . . . . 7.4 Policy Suggestions on the Construction of New Think Tanks with Chinese Characteristics in Chinese Universities . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Investigating University-Based Science and Technology for Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1 The Restructuring of University-Run Enterprises and the Development of University-Run Sci-Tech Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2 Design of Investigation and Analysis on the Development of University-Run Sci-Tech Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3 Roles Analysis of Shareholders of University-Run Sci-Tech Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4 Policy Proposals on the Development of University-Run Sci-Tech Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Exploring Empirical Practices for Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China . . . . . . . . . . 9.1 School-Run Enterprises and School-Run Science and Technology Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2 Reasons for Promoting the Management Reform of School-Run Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3 Social Debate on the Development of School-Run Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.4 Implementation of School-Run Enterprise Reform Policies 9.5 Restructuring of University-Run Enterprises of ZJ University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.6 Basic Information of Science and Technology Enterprises in Chinese Universities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.7 Development Orientation of Science and Technology Enterprises in Chinese Universities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.8 The Main Role of Science and Technology Enterprises in Chinese Universities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.9 Analysis of the Problems of Science and Technology Enterprises in Chinese Universities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.10 Development Trend and Policy Suggestions of Chinese University Science and Technology Enterprises . . . . . . . . 9.11 Policy Suggestions on the Development of Science and Technology Enterprises in Colleges and Universities . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10 Forecasting Educational Trends for Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China . . . . . . . . . . 10.1 Major Problems in the Cooperation Between Universities and Industry in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.2 Development Trend of University–Industry Cooperation in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.3 Suggestions on University–Industry Cooperation in China .
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11 Concluding Educational Achievements for Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1 Strengthen Basic Research in Colleges and Universities to Provide a Strong Foundation for Knowledge Innovation and Industrialization in Colleges and Universities . . . . . . . . . 11.2 Industry–University-Research Cooperation Is an Important Part of the National Innovation System and One of the Most Important Implementation Forms of the Technological Innovation System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.3 Industry–University-Research Alliance Is the Advanced Form and Development Direction of Industry–UniversityResearch Cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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11.4 Science and Technology Enterprises in Colleges and Universities Are an Important Channel for Colleges and Universities to Promote the Transformation and Industrialization of Scientific and Technological Achievements, and Standardized Management Is an Important Task in the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.5 Support and Encourage the Development of the Listed Companies of University Science and Technology Enterprises or Those That Are Qualified to Be Listed . . . . . . 11.6 University Science Park Can Be a University Science and Technology Service Enterprise, a High-Level Science and Technology Intermediary, or a Comprehensive Platform for University Science and Technology Service . . . . . . . . . . 11.7 High-Quality Venture Capital Institutions Play an Important Role in Promoting University–Industry Cooperation . . . . . . . 11.8 Protect University Culture in the Collision and Integration of University Culture and Enterprise Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.9 Policy Suggestions on the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements in Chinese Universities . . .
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About the Authors
Eryong Xue is the Professor at China Institute of Education Policy, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University. Changjiang scholars (young scholars) awarded by the Ministry of Education in China. He is also a research fellow of the Center for Science and Technology and Education Development Strategy in Tsinghua University. He is also a postdoctoral fellow in the public administration of Tsinghua University. He has published more than 100 Chinese and English papers in the field of educational research. He has produced more than 100 CSSCI articles. He has won the seventh award for outstanding achievements in scientific research in institutions of higher learning, the fifth national award for outstanding achievements in educational scientific research, and the award for outstanding achievements in political participation and discussion by the Central Committee for the advancement of the people for more than 40 times. More than 40 independent or coauthored consulting reports were adopted by decision-making departments or approved by leaders. He has presided over more than 10 national or provincial projects such as National Social Science Fund, Natural Science Fund, Ministry of Education Humanities and Social Science Fund, Beijing Philosophy and Social Science Project, participated in 9 national or provincial key projects such as Ministry of Education Philosophy and Social Science Project, and 1 international cooperation project. The project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China was awarded excellent. He has been honored as the advanced worker of summer social practice for students of capital college and technical secondary school, the outstanding talent of Beijing division, the young talent of Beijing Social Science Federation, the outstanding talent of Beijing universities and colleges, and the outstanding talent of Beijing. Main social part-time jobs: member of the 14th Committee of the Communist Youth League of Beijing, Deputy Director of the Working Committee of College Students and Young Teachers, Special Expert of China Education Association, China Education Development Strategy society, National Academic Level Office, Director of Beijing Postdoctoral Fellowship (the 20th session).
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About the Authors
Jian Li is the Assistant Professor in China Institute of Education Policy, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS), School of Education, Indiana University Bloomington. Her research interests focus on Education policy studies; Globalization and Internationalization of Higher Education. Dr. Li currently also serves as think tanker at China Institute of Education and Social Development, Beijing Normal University. China Institute of Education and Social Development (CIESD) was cofounded by the China Association for Promoting Democracy and Beijing Normal University. It was founded on the base of the China Institute of Education Policy and China Academy of Social Management of Beijing Normal University. Beijing Normal University integrated the internal resources and gave solid supports to the foundation of CIESD. Its mission is to advance the modernization of education and social construction with Chinese characteristics. And it is committed to building a new type of high-end oriented think tank with the characteristics of the education reform and development and the social governance innovation. Over the past decade, hundreds of the research papers have been undertaken by CIESD members, more than 530 of which obtained important instructions from party and state leaders at various levels, CIESD has drafted a number of the national education standards, and made great influence on the decision-making and the revision of the education law for the party and government. CIESD has held different classes and high-level series of the forums, which has played positive roles in influencing public opinion. CIESD has created a new mechanism within the international exchange and cooperation filed for the institution’s foundation of public diplomacy. CIESD will continue to adhere to high standards and build a professional high-end-oriented think tank with the international visionary and significant influence in educational and social fields.
Chapter 1
Shaping the Strategy of Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China
This chapter mainly focuses on how to shape the strategy of creating world-class higher education institutions in China. Specifically, the section related to the historical analysis and prediction of the basic indicators of the development of higher education in China contributes to the “three-step” strategy for building world-class higher education institutions. In the process of building a well-off society in an all-round way, China is implementing two major strategies, namely the strategy of building an innovation-oriented country and the strategy of strengthening the country with human resources. The contribution rate of scientific and technological progress to economic growth should be increased from 39% to more than 60%, and the proportion of R&D investment in the GDP of the whole society should be increased from 1.35 to 2.5%. By the middle of this century, we will basically achieve modernization and turn China into a prosperous, strong, democratic, and civilized socialist country. The implementation of national strategy depends on all kinds of professional talents with high quality, and higher education is the basic way to cultivate high-quality talents, the development of higher education must be from big to strong.
1.1 Historical Analysis and Prediction of the Basic Indicators of the Development of Higher Education in China 1.1.1 Students in Higher Education Higher education in the United States developed at a relatively slow pace in the current stage. In the early stage, after the quantitative expansion, it gradually turned to qualitative improvement. The gross enrollment rate of higher education increased at an average annual rate of more than 1%. After reaching the standard of popularization (50%), the gross enrollment rate of higher education continued to improve © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 E. Xue and J. Li, Innovating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2788-3_1
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and finally reached the popularization of higher education. From 1999 to 2007, the gross enrollment rate of higher education increased from 73 to 82%, with an average annual growth rate of 1%. In the 18 years from 1990 to 2007, the gross enrollment rate of China’s higher education increased from 3.4 to 23%, an increasing of 19.6%, with an average annual growth rate of 1.1%. In 1998, when universities were expanded, the gross enrolment rate in China’s higher education grew by an average of 1.3% (see Table 1.1). There are three scenarios to analyze the future changes in the gross enrollment rate in China’s higher education. Scenario analysis 1, assuming that population change and other factors are not taken into account, the average annual growth rate of 1.1% can be predicted 1. Scenario analysis 2, assuming that population change and other factors are not taken into account, if the average annual growth rate is 1.3%, we can make prediction 2. Scenario analysis 3. After considering population change and other factors, according to the views of experts and scholars, prediction 3 can be made. In 2012, the number of Chinese higher education students will reach 29.2 million. In 2020, there will be 83.5 million people aged 18–22 with 35.5 million students in higher education, an increase of about 22% compared with 2008. If we calculate the annual enrollment rate of 1.3% from 2007 to 2020, we can predict the gross enrollment of higher education in future years, which is basically consistent with prediction 2 (see Table 1.1 and Fig. 1.1). Table 1.1 Prediction of the gross enrollment rate of higher education in China Period
2012
2020
2028
2032
2039
Prediction 1 (%)
28.5
37.5
Prediction 2 (%)
29.5
39.9
50.3
64.6
78.9
Prediction 3 (%)
27.5
40
50.3
64.6
78.9
50.5
2045
2050
64.8
70.3
Fig. 1.1 Historical analysis and prediction of the basic indicators of the development of higher education in China
1.1 Historical Analysis and Prediction of the Basic Indicators …
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According to the predicted results of scenario analysis 2 or 3, China’s higher education will enter the popularization stage in 2028 and reach the reference standard of the gross enrollment rate in 2039.
1.1.2 Investment in Higher Education The investment in higher education in the United States began to increase rapidly in the 1930s, accounting for 0.6% of GDP in 1929, 1.1% of GDP in 1959, and 2.1% of GDP in 1969. After that, the investment in higher education remained relatively stable, accounting for 2.8% of GDP in 2007. Although private investment in higher education accounts for more than two-thirds of the total in the United States, and ranks first among OECD countries, public funding for higher education in the United States has been about 1% of GDP for more than 60 years after World War II. In the 10 years from 1997 to 2006, China’s public investment in higher education increased from 0.42 to 0.61% of GDP, with an average annual growth rate of about 0.02%. If the average annual growth rate is 0.02%, excluding inflation and other factors, the proportion of public investment in higher education in China’s GDP in 2012 is about 0.73%. It will be 0.89% in 2020, 0.99% in 2025, and 1.49% in 2050. The ratio of public investment in higher education to GDP in China is estimated to be about 1% in 2025 according to the average annual growth rate of 0.02%, reaching the reference standard of public financial investment in strong higher education.
1.1.3 Levels of International Higher Education For nearly three decades, the United States has attracted an average of 3% of its higher education students. In the 2006–2007 academic year, about 583,000 foreign students received higher education in the United States, accounting for 3.3% of the total number of students in higher education. 59.1% of the students were from Asian countries and 14.2% were from European countries. Students from Mainland China account for 11.6% of all students studying in the United States, 1.3% from Hong Kong, and 5% from Taiwan. In 2007, a total of 92,491 foreign students came to China, including 51,038 students studying for degrees (college students or above) and 41,453 trainees. International students account for about 0.34% of the students in higher education, among which students studying for degrees account for about 0.19% of the students in higher education. According to the forecast of the Ministry of Education, the number of overseas students in China will exceed 200,000 in 2020, and the number of students studying in other fields will reach 500,000, an increase of 143.6% compared with 2006, accounting for 1.97% of the total number of higher education students at that time.
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If this is taken as the standard, the annual growth rate is 0.13% of the scale of international students in higher education. In 2012, international students accounted for 0.99% of the scale of higher education students at that time. 2.94% in 2027; By 2050 it will be 5.93%. By 2020, the number of overseas students in “985 institutions of higher learning” will account for 10% of the total number of students, striving to build China into the largest destination country for overseas students of higher education in Asia and with considerable influence in the world.
1.1.4 The Achievement of Talent Cultivation In the 70 years from 1910 to 1980, the number of Americans over the age of 25 earning a bachelor’s degree or above increased rapidly, from 2.7 to 17%, an increase of about six times. It has grown steadily since 1980, and in 2007 a third of people over 25 received a bachelor’s degree or above in higher education. In the 18 years from 1990 to 2006, the proportion of college students in China increased continuously, from 0.32 to 1.92%, with an average annual increase of 0.09%. If the influence of age change is ignored, the proportion of college students is calculated at an annual growth rate of 0.09%. In 2012, the proportion of college students was 2.46%. 3.18% in 2020; 4.53% in 2035; By 2050 it will be 5.88% (see chart 1–9). In 2005, the percentage of Chinese people who received higher education was 6.22%, about 3.86 times that of college students in the same year. Assuming the rate of higher education changes at the same rate, the rate of higher education is 9.5% in 2012, 12.27% in 2020, 17.49% in 2035, and 22.7% in 2050. Assuming that the average life expectancy is 73 years old, and the proportion of people aged between 25 and 64 who have received higher education is equal. In China, the proportion of people aged between 25 and 64 who have received higher education is 16% in 2012, 21% in 2020, 30% in 2035, and 39% in 2050. In 2035, China will reach the reference standard for cultivating people’s achievements in higher education, which refers to the proportion of people of the right age who have received higher education.
1.1.5 Professional Quality of College Teachers In 2003, data showed that 58% of the time spent on teaching, 20% on scientific research, and 22% on other activities, such as administration and professional growth. In recent years, the percentage of full-time faculty at American universities with PhDs has been 65%, and 87% at research universities. Due to the different stages of higher education development, compared with the United States, the number of Chinese college teachers with doctoral degrees is relatively small. But in the past decade, the number of Chinese university teachers with PhDs has accelerated. From 1998 to 2007, the proportion of full-time teachers with doctorate degrees in Chinese universities increased from 4.65 to 11.21%, with an average annual growth rate of
1.1 Historical Analysis and Prediction of the Basic Indicators …
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Table 1.2 The proportion of Chinese university teachers with doctoral degrees Period
2012
Prediction 1
14.49
2017
2020
2022
2027
2032
2037
2042
2047
Prediction 2
12.51
15.6
21.51
29.18
46.36
62.11
80.72
100
Prediction 3
12.25
14.72
19.45
25.59
39.33
51.93
66.82
80
19.74
2050 39.42
0.656%. Three scenarios are analyzed for the proportion of full-time teachers in China’s universities with doctoral degrees in the future. Scenario analysis 1: simple linear growth. If other factors are not taken into account, the average annual growth rate of 0.656% of full-time teachers in ordinary colleges and universities is predicted. Scenario analysis 2: consider the effect of age structure. In 2007, the proportion of full-time teachers in universities and colleges was 29.91% for those aged under 30, 18.61% for those aged 31–35, 15.75% for those aged 36–40, 17.18% for those aged 41–45, 7.67% for those aged 46–50, 5.91% for those aged 51–55, 3.09% for those aged 56–60, and 1.3% for those aged 61–65. If all the new teachers recruited by ordinary colleges and universities after 2007 have doctoral degrees, and the total number of teachers retires at the age of 65, the proportion of teachers with doctoral degrees at each age level is equal, and other boundary conditions are equal, make prediction 2 (See Table 1.2). Table 1.2 shows the scenario analysis of the proportion of Chinese university teachers with doctoral degrees 3: age structure and discipline structure are taken into account. Some subjects of higher education, such as foreign languages, arts, and physical education, place more emphasis on professional application than research, so it is not necessary for teachers to have a doctorate. In 2017, foreign language, art, and physical education teachers accounted for 20% of all college teachers. Assuming that this proportion is evenly distributed among new teachers recruited in different batches, then scenario 2 is modified to make prediction 3 (Tables 1.1 and 1.2 are the specific prediction value). According to the prediction of scenario analysis 3, in 2042, China’s ordinary colleges and universities can reach the reference standard of professional quality of teachers with a proportion of doctoral degrees who are full-time teachers in the powerful country of higher education.
1.2 The “Three-Step” Strategy for Building World-Class Higher Education Institutions We will strive to quadruple the GDP of 2000, and significantly increase China’s overall national strength and international competitiveness. A relatively complete modern national education system has been formed, and the people have the opportunity to receive a good education, so as to make greater contributions to human civilization. By 2020, the average age of people aged 6 and above should be 10 years and above, and the average age of people aged 15 and above should be 12 years and above (the
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U.S. standard in 2000). At present, basic education in China is divided into 6 years and 3 years. If the average length of schooling reaches 12 years, it means the popularization of basic education, which will inevitably lead to the great development and popularization of higher education. In the process of building a well-off society in an all-round way, China is implementing two major strategies, namely the strategy of building an innovation-oriented country and the strategy of strengthening the country with human resources. First, make China an innovation-oriented country by 2020, and make scientific and technological development a strong support for economic and social development. The contribution rate of scientific and technological progress to economic growth should increase from 39% to more than 60%, and the proportion of R&D investment in the GDP of the whole society should increase from 1.35 to 2.5%. Our dependence on foreign technology has dropped below 30%, and the annual number of patents granted by Chinese and the number of citations of international scientific papers rank among the top five in the world. Second, priority should be given to education to transform China from a country with a large population into a country with strong human resources in the twenty-first century. By the middle of this century, we will basically achieve modernization and turn China into a prosperous, strong, democratic, and civilized socialist country. The implementation of national strategy depends on all kinds of professional talents with high quality, and higher education is the basic way to cultivate high-quality talents, the development of higher education must be from big to strong (Altbach and Salmi 2011; Salmi 2009; Altbach 2003; Altbach and Balán 2007; Montesinos et al. 2008; Ortega and Aguillo 2009). National macro-development goals and strategies point out the direction of higher education development and put forward the development requirements. The international comparison and the prediction of the basic indicators of higher education development in our country have found the correct historical orientation for the development of higher education. Based on the actual situation, we draw a road map for China to build itself into a powerful country in higher education, as shown in Fig. 1.2 Building a strong country in higher education is the inevitable requirement of building a well-off society in an all-round way and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. This is a difficult historical task, which requires us to set clear goals, muster full energy and perseverance from now on, and accelerate the pace of building a strong country in higher education. To build a strong country in higher education, we must go through the development stage of “three steps” (Altbach and Salmi 2011; Altbach 2003; Altbach and Balán 2007; Montesinos et al. 2008). The first step (2010–2020) is the reform and development period. Through 10 years of efforts, China’s higher education will achieve leapfrog development and shorten the gap with the powerful country in terms of important indicators. Strategic priorities include comprehensively improving the quality of higher education; Build a number of high-level universities and world-class universities; We will strive to raise the level and quality of higher education in the central and western regions and build several strong higher education provinces in the eastern region. Adjusting the professional structure of higher education; We will effectively improve the independent innovation capacity of institutions of higher learning and promote the prosperity
1.2 The “Three-Step” Strategy for Building World-Class …
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Fig. 1.2 Pathway of creating world-class universities in Chinese higher education
and development of philosophy and social sciences in institutions of higher learning. Key policy points include maintaining the growth rate of financial investment in higher education in the past decade, maintaining the steady growth of higher education enrollment, generally adding full-time teachers in colleges and universities with doctoral degrees (except for some applied majors), and increasing efforts to attract foreign students. The second step (2021–2040) is the key development period. Through another two decades of efforts, the level of China’s higher education will be greatly improved, and the basic indicators of higher education will meet or approach the standards of a strong country in higher education. The strategic focus of the key development period is to maintain the continuous effectiveness of the first step of all policies, to maintain the continuous investment in higher education, from quantitative increase to qualitative improvement. The third step (2041–2050) is the period of consolidation and improvement, with the focus on comprehensively consolidating the development achievements of the previous 30 years, improving the international competitiveness of China’s higher education, and stepping into the ranks of powerful higher education countries.
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References Altbach, P. (2003). The costs and benefits of world-class universities. International Higher Education, (33). Altbach, P. G., & Balán, J. (Eds.). (2007). World class worldwide: Transforming research universities in Asia and Latin America. JHU Press. Altbach, P. G., & Salmi, J. (Eds.). (2011). The road to academic excellence: The making of worldclass research universities. The World Bank. Montesinos, P., Carot, J. M., Martinez, J. M., & Mora, F. (2008). Third mission ranking for world class universities: Beyond teaching and research. Higher education in Europe, 33(2–3), 259–271. Ortega, J. L., & Aguillo, I. F. (2009). Mapping world-class universities on the web. Information Processing and Management, 45(2), 272–279. Salmi, J. (2009). The challenge of establishing world class universities. The World Bank.
Chapter 2
Examining the Landscape of Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China
This chapter focuses on examining the landscape of the technology-oriented innovation education in China. The main way that “knowledge” has a substantial influence on “economy” is technological innovation. In the national innovation system, colleges and universities should not only undertake the task of basic research, but also strengthen the interaction with industry and science and technology and participate in the process of building an innovation-oriented country through science and technology, education, economy, and society. Under the realistic guidance of technological innovation, the three functions of higher education, namely talent cultivation, scientific research, and social service, are comprehensively coordinated and organically reorganized to promote the interaction between tradition and innovation, theory and practice, and school and society in higher education.
2.1 Innovating the Ability of Universities in the Transformation of the Scientific and Technological Achievements In the national innovation system, the universities are at the top of the national innovation level and in the leading position of national or regional innovation activities. To some extent, the universities are the “innovation pole” of the national innovation system. Colleges and universities are an important part of the national innovation system and an important think tank of national development. In recent years, with the proposal of the strategy of rejuvenating the country with science and education and strengthening the country with talents, the promulgation of the outline of national medium—and long-term scientific and technological development program (2006–2020), the implementation of the “985 project” and “211 project”, the scientific and technological innovation ability of colleges and universities has achieved rapid development and made great progress. In 2007, there were 2321 regular and adult institutions of higher learning. Among them, there are 1908 regular institutions © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 E. Xue and J. Li, Innovating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2788-3_2
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of higher learning and 740 regular colleges and universities. There are 795 graduate institutions in China, including 479 institutions of higher learning and 316 research institutions. Nationwide, 418,600 graduate students were enrolled, an increase of 20,700 or 5.2% over the previous year. Among them, there are 58,000 doctoral students and 366,600 master’s students. There were 1,195,000 graduate students, an increase of 90,300 or 8.17% over the previous year. Among them, 222,500 are doctoral students and 972,500 are master students. 318,800 graduate students, 55,900 more than the previous year, or 21.84% more; There are 41,400 doctoral students and 270,400 master’s students.
2.2 Universities Have Obvious Advantages in Human Resources By the end of 2018, 392,000 people were engaged in the scientific and technological activities in colleges and universities of science, industry, agriculture, and medicine, among which 323,000 were engaged in R&D activities. The number of graduate students in the university is 1.283 million, among which 236,000 are Ph.Ds. Colleges and universities have 562 academicians of the Chinese academy of sciences and the Chinese academy of sciences, accounting for 40% of the total. 902 recipients of the National Science Foundation for outstanding young people, accounting for more than 60% of the total number of recipients; The national Natural Science Foundation of China has 98 innovative research groups, accounting for 58.3% of the total. The rapid flow of scientific and technological personnel, strong academic atmosphere, and interdisciplinary disciplines in colleges and universities are places where top innovative talents and innovation teams converge. In the national innovation system, there are obvious advantages in human resources. Human capital has become an important factor of production to promote today’s social development. Research results at home and abroad show that the contribution rate of human capital to the economy is increasing, and the intensity and quality of human capital in a certain region or city is the decisive factor of economic growth and competitiveness. Thus, as an indicator of the stock and structure of human capital, “education level” is identified by the United Nations as one of the main indicators of the level of human development index (HDI). Human capital is not only a necessary condition for economic growth and development, but also has been considered as a basic element for the overall development of human society. Human capital is formed in various ways, including research and development, education, training, health, medical treatment, and migration. Different scholars conduct research from different perspectives. As can be seen from Table 2.1, the formation of human capital is closely related to universities. Talents are the main body of scientific and technological innovation, and high-quality human resources in colleges and universities are an important part of innovative talents. The advantage of
2.2 Universities Have Obvious Advantages in Human Resources
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Table 2.1 Pathways of human capital formation and its relationship with universities Categories
Pathway
Is it related to college
Research and Development
An activity of invention leading to the creation and accumulation of knowledge
Y
Innovative activities to promote the effective dissemination and application of knowledge about the physical world and human beings
Y
Informal family education, funded by parents as a consequence of intergenerational education
Y
Formal education through educational institutions at all levels
Y
Adult education on a wide range of projects, including agriculture, for working-age people
Y
Various on-the-job training for the purpose of imparting general or specific occupational information
Y
Traditional skills and knowledge transfer from parent to child training organized by the family
N
Public health services, including preventive care, usually provided by the government
N
Including all kinds of health care organized by the company
N
Nutrients contained in the balanced consumption of first foot
N
All other conditions that have a direct effect on the improvement of human abilities, such as clothing and housing
N
Domestic migration International migration Market information services provided by private or public institutions leading to mobile and higher productivity
Y
Education
Training
Health
Transfer
Y N
human resources in universities is actually a very rich source of innovative intelligence. Complete college teachers’ strong theoretical basis, subject, combined with the youth vitality, full of strong sense of innovation, provides the university interdisciplinary, integrated cross freedom, competition, and cooperation, and the innovation of academic atmosphere, easy initiation of a new discipline or a new growing point, its research results and more innovative and forward-looking (see Table 2.1).
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2.3 The University Has Numerous Science and Technology Innovation Bases and Platforms By the end of 2018, there were 140 state key laboratories (accounting for 63% of the total), and 518 key laboratories of the Ministry of Education. 49 national engineering research centers (39% of the total); 54 national engineering and technology research centers (27% of the total); There are 17 national engineering laboratories (accounting for 25.8% of the total) and 278 engineering research centers of the Ministry of Education. There are seven national technology transfer centers (70% of the total) and 69 national university science and technology parks. In the national innovation system, colleges and universities are not only important bases for training talents and carrying out basic research; It is also an experimental base and innovation platform for academic exchanges, acquisition of original key technologies and independent intellectual property rights, and promotion of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into services for national economic construction. National Technology Transfer Center accelerates technology transfer, promotes the use of advanced technology transform and upgrades traditional industries and accelerates the development of new and high technology industries, optimizes and adjusts the industrial structure as the goal, promotes colleges and universities and research institutes of science and technology, talent, information resource and key industries, key enterprises, such as promoting the further development of university and industry cooperation work of the important measures. The main tasks of the National Technology Transfer Center are to develop and spread generic technologies, promote and improve the construction of enterprise technology centers, and promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and technology transfer in universities and colleges. The scientific and technological innovation base and platform of colleges and universities not only strongly promotes the technological progress of the country, but also brings more and more remarkable social and economic benefits, promotes the social reform and development, and fully reflects the role of science and technology of colleges and universities in promoting and guiding the social and economic development. National Engineering Technology Research Center is an important part of National Science and Technology Development Plan and an important content of research and development capacity building. Under the guidance of “innovation and industrialization”, the construction of National Engineering Technology Research Center will explore new ways to combine science and technology with the economy, strengthen the intermediate link of transforming scientific and technological achievements into productive forces, and promote the industrialization of science and technology. To meet the needs of large-scale production of enterprises, promote the radiation, transfer and diffusion of integrated and supporting engineering results to related industries, and promote the rise of emerging industries and the upgrading and transformation of traditional industries; We will promote the reform of the scientific and technological system, train first-class engineering and technical personnel, build first-class engineering experimental conditions, and form a base for
2.3 The University Has Numerous Science and Technology …
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scientific research, development, technological innovation and industrialization in China. Directly involved in the technological innovation project (technical) research center, engaged in the research of common key technology integration and diffusion, and technique and technology for industry standards, for the industry technological progress, industrial structure optimization, the adjustment and upgrade to provide intellectual support and technical reserves, is a high level, open the common key technologies of experimental base.
2.4 Universities Produce High-Level Innovative Knowledge Achievements The quantity and quality of scientific research papers in universities are increasing year by year. In 2008, 129,000 academic papers and 2881 scientific monographs were published in foreign academic journals. In 2008, there were 16 Natural Science Awards hosted by universities, accounting for 47% of the total. 30 general projects of technological invention awards, accounting for 81% of the total; 69 general science and technology progress awards, accounting for 37.9% of the total; The university has won all three first prizes of the Technological Invention Award, which fully demonstrates the outstanding achievements and great potential of its scientific and technological work. In 2008, universities undertook 272,000 scientific and technological projects, including 228,000 R&D projects. Signed 8408 technology transfer contracts, with actual revenue of 1.98 billion yuan; More than 41,000 patents have been applied for and nearly 19,000 patents have been authorized. The “source” of technological innovation activities is basic research. As the center of basic research, institutions of higher learning have scientific research strength and conditions, which make a lot of new knowledge and technology come from here. At the present stage of China’s development, universities and colleges have undertaken quite a lot of upstream and middle-stream tasks of scientific research, playing a decisive role in promoting technological innovation of enterprises and solving major scientific and technological problems of economic and social development. In order to make enterprises become the main body of technological innovation more quickly, colleges and universities need to actively carry out development and application research and promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements (Gokhberg et al. 2018; Ji et al. 2019).
2.5 Universities Are the Radiation Sources of Technological Innovation and Application Institutions of higher learning have a well-developed discipline with a solid knowledge foundation, which is convenient for them to give full play to their comprehensive advantages and conduct interdisciplinary and integration of disciplines. It is easy for
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them to grow new knowledge in developing marginal disciplines and emerging disciplines, and easier for them to solve major technical problems in practical production from an interdisciplinary perspective. From 1998 to 2007, the expenditure on science and technology of colleges and universities increased rapidly. As the total expenditure on science and technology activities of colleges and universities increased from 8.497 billion yuan to 61.27 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 62.11%. The amount raised from the government increased from 4.115 billion yuan to 34.54 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 73.94%. The funds raised from enterprises increased from 3.677 billion yuan to 21.92 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 49.61% (Lyu et al. 2019; Ping et al. 2016; Kong et al. 2017; Ozturgut et al. 2017). Original basic research in universities provides an important reserve for China’s technological innovation. With the increasingly prominent function and status of “social service” of colleges and universities, colleges and universities undertake more and more scientific research projects cooperated with enterprises and institutions, including applied research, technology development, technical service, and technology industrialization, or establish university science and technology parks relying on colleges and universities. On the whole, the scientific and technological strength of institutions of higher learning has been enhanced, the academic level has been significantly improved, and the ability to serve the society has been significantly improved. Colleges and universities have become an important front for China to train high-level talents, a major force for original innovation in basic research and high-tech fields, and a fresh force for solving major scientific and technological problems in the national economy, realizing technology transfer and transformation of achievements. As an important part of the national innovation system, universities and colleges have the conditions and ability to play a supporting role in promoting steady and rapid economic development. In the era of the knowledge economy, the integration of basic research and applied research makes universities create business opportunities in basic research. University researchers are also increasingly aware of the opportunities for new scientific discoveries to be put to practical use; In addition, in academic research, researchers need to be responsible for obtaining research resources, which makes the combination of university and industry inevitable. Moreover, there is a great similarity between the internal logic of science and business, both of which emphasize individual ingenuity, both theoretically and organizationally, to bring order to an uncertain environment. The “knowledge business” will explode, and if universities are to become “providers” of new global markets, they will have to make big changes in management, leadership, and structure.
References
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References Gokhberg, L., Kuznetsova, T., Pikalova, A., & Sokolov, A. (2018). Overview of science, technology and innovation development in Russia. In BRICS innovative competitiveness report 2017 (pp. 115–150). Singapore: Springer. Ji, Y., Liu, Y., Sun, X., Tan, P., Fu, T., & Feng, K. (2019, July). Research on Chinese traditional handicraft education expansion model based on STEAM. In International Conference on Human– Computer Interaction (pp. 413–427). Cham: Springer. Kong, S. C., Looi, C. K., Chan, T. W., & Huang, R. (2017). Teacher development in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Beijing for e-Learning in school education. Journal of Computers in Education, 4(1), 5–25. Lyu, L., Wu, W., Hu, H., & Huang, R. (2019). An evolving regional innovation network: Collaboration among industry, university, and research institution in China’s first technology hub. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 44(3), 659–680. Ozturgut, O., Macias, T., & Sanchez, R. (2017). China’s economic growth from a triple helix perspective. Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability, 12(2), 21–29. Ping, G., Feng, W., & Yanyan, Z. (2016). A review of enterprise top management team and organizational innovation. Innovation and Management, 23(6), 78–89.
Chapter 3
Exploring Models of Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China
This chapter involves exploring the model of technology-oriented innovation education in China. The collaboration between universities and industry is varied. On the whole, the cooperation between universities and industry can be divided into formal cooperation and informal cooperation. Informal cooperation is more often manifested as a variety of cooperation based on interpersonal network relations, alumni relations, geographical advantages, etc. Such cooperation plays an important role in information exchange and communication as well as cultural integration. Donations to universities by businesses or entrepreneurs are also informal partnerships. This paper mainly studies formal cooperative relationship based on contract.
3.1 The University Transfers Patents to the Enterprise Buying university patents is the most basic form of the technology-oriented innovative collaboration. If the new technologies and products purchased can be directly used in the production and development of new products, it is undoubtedly the simplest and most effective way of innovative institutional cooperation. Enterprises can also purchase patents from universities and research institutions, which are developed by enterprises and then used in the production of enterprises. Patent development often has a complicated process and may not be successful. The direct transaction between the university and the industry is relatively simple and feasible, but there are many uncertain factors that affect its good effect. Therefore, although it is still widely used at present, it is not the best way for the cooperation between the university and the industry (Audretsch et al. 2016; Brescia et al. 2016; Chen et al. 2016; Carayannis et al. 2016). In the early 1980s, some universities in China began to set up the science and technology development departments. Its main task is to actively explore cooperation channels with enterprises, to promote the technological innovation of enterprises and the industrialization of high and new technologies in the form of patent invention and © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 E. Xue and J. Li, Innovating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2788-3_3
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transfer of scientific and technological achievements, technology investment, joint research and development and technical services. To establish university science and technology company based on university technology and talents, we should strengthen cooperation with local governments, integrate government, industry, and education, serve the technological innovation of regions and enterprises, carry out strategic research and policy consultation for local economic development and social progress, train high-level talents for governments and enterprises at all levels, and disseminate innovative ideas and technological information (See Table 3.1). By the end of 2017, the number of patents owned by institutions of higher learning had reached 45,000, among which 26,000 were invention patents (See Table 3.1). Statistics from the Ministry of Education (See Table 3.2) show that from 2013 to 2007, there were 100,102 patent applications, 45,350 patents granted, and 3,596 patents sold. The number of patents sold accounted for 7.92% of the authorized amount. Actually, in order to promote the transfer and diffusion of scientific and technological achievements of universities, the technology transfer office has been set up. Compared with the university technology transfer office of the United States, the Department of Science and Technology Development of Chinese Universities is different in six aspects: job function, personnel quality, patent application, technology Table 3.1 Patent status of Chinese institutions of higher education (2013–2017) Projects\period Number of patent applications accepted (pieces)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
In total
10,770
14,888
20,094
24,490
29,860
100,102
Number of applications for invention patents accepted
7852
10,622
14,673
18,059
21,864
73,070
Number of patent applications authorized (pieces)
3954
6399
8843
12,043
14,111
45,350
Number of invention patent applications authorized (pieces)
2042
3562
4715
6650
8251
25,220
Number of domestic patent applications
251,238
278,943
383,157
470,342
586,498
197,0178
Number of foreign invention patent applications accepted
56,769
65,786
93,485
122,318
153,060
491,418
Number of domestic patents authorized
149,588
151,328
171,619
223,860
301,632
998,027
Number of domestic invention patent applications accepted
11,404
18,241
20,705
25,077
31,945
107,372
Data sources China Statistical Yearbook 2008 and China Patent Statistical Annual Report 2017
3.1 The University Transfers Patents to the Enterprise
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Table 3.2 Comparison between Chinese university science and technology development department and American university technology transfer office China
U.S.
Job functions
The management and service institutions of cooperation between schools and enterprises are committed to promoting technical cooperation, including various cooperation modes such as technology development, service, consultation, and technology licensing, as well as coordination and cooperation with government departments of science and technology and economic management
Looking for new technological inventions, evaluating their market value, protecting intellectual property rights, applying for patents for new technological inventions of the university, contacting with enterprises with ability, resources and interest, bargaining with enterprises and signing technology transfer contracts according to the technology type, development degree, market prospect and risk degree of patents of the university; Provide technology incubation and part of startup funds, find managers for the establishment of high-tech companies, assist in the organization of product development and marketing, and report the use of funds and contributions to the society to the relevant government departments
The quality of staff
The overall level of the staff needs to be improved. There are few staff with outstanding technical background, rich market experience, and good negotiation skills, especially most of the staff are not systematic and professional in legal knowledge
The technical manager is mainly in charge of marketing patents and is solely responsible for negotiations on behalf of the school. Technical managers not only understand the technology and have rich negotiation skills, but also have a systematic knowledge of economy, management, and law
Pattern application
Whether to apply for a patent or not, patent fees are mainly decided by scientific researchers or teaching and research groups
Technical managers have the power to decide independently whether or not to patent an invention, usually only if a company is willing to license it
Technology
The price of a technology is mainly negotiated with the enterprise by teachers/research groups, and the school management agency mainly ACTS as a review and verification
The technical manager negotiates licensing fees for the technology with the relevant enterprises
(continued)
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Table 3.2 (continued) China
U.S.
Technology transfer
It focuses on solving technical problems for enterprises, mainly on technology development, and attaches too much importance to short-term effects, affecting long-term development, and the improvement of scientific research level
Teachers are encouraged to disclose their inventions, and technical managers decide whether to apply for patents after screening. Researchers are not guided by the enterprise, so they can conduct research with relative freedom
Deal with conflict
Teachers (researchers) directly negotiate with enterprises on technology transfer pricing, resulting in intensified conflicts of interest. The existence of connected transactions will produce seemingly legitimate but actually unreasonable cooperation and erode the intellectual property rights of schools
Technical managers are authorized to conduct licensing negotiations on behalf of the school, while inventors are not involved in the negotiations. If the inventor is associated with the negotiating enterprise, the collaboration is reviewed by the dean of graduate students and the dean of the inventor’s college
pricing, technology transfer, and conflict management, as shown in Table 3.2. On the one hand, it shows that university technology transfer institutions are deeply rooted in the current educational system, economic system, and cultural scene of the host country, and on the other hand, it also shows that university technology transfer institutions can learn from each other (Hsu et al. 2015; Fitzgerald and Cunningham 2016; Villani et al. 2017). The transfer and diffusion of scientific and technological achievements in universities should be dominated by enterprises and guided by the market. However, at the present stage, China’s enterprises are small in scale, lack of R&D funds, and lack of motivation and capacity to transfer and transform scientific and technological achievements. The transformation of scientific and technological achievements often depends on the vision of the managers. If they completely push the technology transfer work to the market, market failure will often occur. Therefore, the government needs to participate in or lead the patent transfer.
3.2 Enterprises Entrust Universities with Research and Development In the mode of direct achievement trading between universities and industries, the technologies, products, or patents provided by universities are often far from the actual production and application and can only be used for production after technological transformation and incubation. At the same time, in direct transaction, it is difficult for enterprises to get further support and help from universities and
3.2 Enterprises Entrust Universities with Research and Development
21
research institutions after the transaction is completed, which brings certain difficulties to enterprises. To change this, universities and companies have moved from simple deals for scientific achievements to commissioned and co-operated research and development. For example, universities are entrusted with project research and development at the expense of enterprises. To establish cooperative research institutions in universities for research and development at the expense of enterprises; Setting up cooperative research institutions in enterprises and sending people from universities to participate in research and development work; Businesses pay, and universities advise companies on technology or product development. Compared with the direct purchase of patents, the method of entrustment has made great progress. It strengthens the connection between enterprises and universities and makes the tasks and responsibilities clear. In the 10 years from 1998 to 2007, enterprises entrusted more and more funds to universities for research and development. If the factors such as inflation are not taken into account, the funds for scientific and technological activities raised by universities from enterprises in 2007 are about 6 times that of 1998. The proportion of scientific and technological activity funds raised by institutions of higher learning from enterprises reached 51.24% in 1999 and 33.24% in 2000. In recent years, the government has increased the investment in scientific research of institutions of higher learning. Although the funds entrusted by enterprises to universities for development and research have been increasing year by year, the proportion of them in the total funds for scientific and technological activities of universities has decreased, but it is basically maintained at 37% (Fernández-Esquinas et al. 2016; Guan et al. 2015; McAdam et al. 2017).
3.3 Joint Application of Universities and Enterprises The combination of school and enterprise, together to apply for a major project of science and technology, national or local make docking with the enterprise scientific research findings at colleges and universities, the university of science and technology research combined with the enterprise production technology and equipment advantages, application of new technology and new product development with enterprise combining technological progress and economic benefit demand, realize the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. In view of the fact that their own research and development strength is insufficient, the enterprise hopes to further improve its research ability with the help of scientific and technological research strength of universities. Through the joint application for projects, the enterprise will bring the research strength of universities into the work of enterprise technical management and make a further step in integrating the technical strength of enterprises and universities. The Chinese government guides scientific research institutes and universities to integrate resources, take the initiative to connect with enterprises, establish effective cooperation mode and service mode, and gather various innovative elements
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such as projects, funds, talents, technologies, and achievements to enterprises. The national science and technology plan should be reformed to increase the support for technological innovation of enterprises: it is required that the opinions of enterprises should be fully listened to in the establishment of national science and technology plan projects for application and industrialization, and more peer experts should be involved in the evaluation of projects. Encourage enterprises to participate in the implementation of the national science and technology plan projects, basic plan for major projects and industrialization prospect of major projects, preferential support conditional enterprise group, enterprise alliance led to undertake, or borne by the enterprises and institutions of higher learning, scientific research institutes jointly establish an enterprise as the main body, the union project implementation mechanisms. Enterprises are generally required to take the lead in applying for key projects of the important National Science and Technology Plans such as the 863 Plan; Support small and medium-sized science and technology enterprises to participate in the implementation of National Science and Technology Plan Projects, National Policy Guidance Plans should be inclined to small and medium-sized science and technology enterprises, increase the support for small and medium-sized science and technology enterprises innovation and entrepreneurship. In 2001, the 9th Ministerial Meeting of the Ministry of Science and Technology passed the outline implementation opinions of the plan, which proposed in the “implementation principles” that “enterprises, universities and research institutes should be encouraged to form industry -university-research alliance to participate in the implementation of the project through competition.” The National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 Program) management method “regulation” enterprises can participate in major projects in the form of investment or joint research and development cooperation, its rights and obligations according to the specific projects, “major projects invested in enterprise invested part, will serve as investment in research and development of the enterprise, according to relevant state regulations, enjoy preferential policies”. In the National High-tech R&D Plan (863 Plan) project evaluation procedure specification (trial), it is put forward that the purpose of this specification is to “facilitate enterprises to participate in the 863 plan”, and the principle of this specification is to “maintain scientific nature and facilitate innovation and enterprises to participate in the evaluation index”. It also stipulates that no enterprise or application unit participates in the application of applied research subject, and it cannot pass the examination of acceptance. For application-oriented research topics, we should consider hiring no less than 2 experts from application departments or enterprises to participate in the preliminary review. For applied research-oriented topics, experts from application departments or enterprises should be no less than one-third of the review panel. “Several opinions on strengthening the industrialization of the achievements of the 863 plan” proposed that through the transformation of the achievements of the 863 plan to enterprises, engage in industry–universityresearch and research cooperation, and jointly carry out research and development of major industrialization projects with enterprises, to help enterprises to upgrade and transform.
3.3 Joint Application of Universities and Enterprises
23
In 2009, the State Science and Technology Plan was further adjusted to support scientific and technological personnel and the enterprises they serve, especially those small and medium-sized enterprises that have been greatly affected by the financial crisis, to jointly propose projects that can greatly drive and influence the technological upgrading of enterprises, the development of independent innovation products and the industrialization of major scientific and technological achievements. According to the development of local industries and the scientific and technological needs of enterprises, local governments shall arrange special funds to support projects with local characteristics jointly proposed by scientific and technological personnel and the enterprises they serve, so as to accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and promote the development of industries with regional advantages and characteristics.
3.4 Universities and Enterprises Shall Jointly Establish Laboratories In addition to the project research and development, the joint laboratory also participates in the training process of university talents, and jointly develops training and teaching courses of advanced theories and practical technologies. On the one hand, the joint laboratory provides the university with relevant information on the latest technologies in the industry and provides support for the university’s technical services. On the other hand, it provides technical support for university teaching and scientific research and improves the quality of university training and scientific research level. For example, Tsinghua University established a joint laboratory of information and laser with the Hitachi group, and the University of Science and Technology Of China established a joint laboratory with the Shincron Corporation of Japan. In the spirit of “creating first-class scientific research level and cultivating firstclass talents”, Microsoft Research Asia and some well-known universities in China have established joint laboratories to jointly explore new modes of school–enterprise research cooperation and cultivate high-level computer research talents. Microsoft for building “the ministry of education key laboratory” includes: “the media and network technology, Tsinghua university—Microsoft key laboratory of the ministry of education”, “Microsoft visual perception of the ministry of education key laboratory of Zhejiang university”, “section of Harbin industrial university language and sound—Microsoft key laboratory of the ministry of education”, “Hong Kong university of science and technology information technology—Microsoft key laboratory of the ministry of education”, “science and technology of China most media computing and communications—Microsoft key laboratory of the ministry of education”, the “Beijing film academy Microsoft digital cartoon and animation lab”, “intelligent information processing laboratory of Xi’an jiaotong university”, etc.
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Some universities are trying to set up collaborative funds with industry to fund research projects. Generally, the object of funding is the scientific and technological cooperation projects between enterprises legally registered in the local area and the school. The fund management committee transfers the funds directly from the account of the science and technology development department of the school to the professors who have signed the technical cooperation contract with the local enterprises. When a professor receives a grant, local businesses can reduce the amount of money they pay to the professor, which benefits both the business and the professor. In this model, although the fund is directly allocated to professors rather than enterprises, the technology development costs of enterprises that actually carry out industry–university–research cooperation are also subsidized, so it is as effective as the traditional fund model in guiding enterprises to strengthen industry–university–research cooperation. The biggest difference between the fund mode and the traditional mode of funds is that a fund payment, namely from the traditional “enterprise directly benefit” professor into direct access to local government subsidies for production–study–research cooperation project funds, to avoid the enterprise may emerge in the traditional model of fund not to use government subsidies to the actual situation of “industry-university-institute” cooperation, to eliminate the false industry–university–institute cooperation projects, enabled the government to provide funds to do in promoting the school project of “industry-university-institute” cooperation. The amount of funding from the fund shall be determined according to the specific situation. The proportion of general funding shall not exceed 50% of the technical contract amount signed by enterprises and professors. Special circumstances shall be reported to the fund management committee for discussion before the regular quota or ratio can be exceeded. According to the new model, the Department of Science and Technology Development at Tsinghua University and Anshan city of Liaoning province have established the “Anshan Tsinghua research and development seed fund”, and the first batch of funds have been fully used to fund the scientific and technological projects of the two sides, supporting more than 50 projects, greatly promoting the industry–university–research cooperation between Anshan city and Tsinghua University. At present, Tsinghua University’s participation in the school to cooperation fund mainly has two modes, one is “local government leading, enterprise directly benefit” cooperation funds, such as the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in Jiangsu province special funds, the Department of Ministry of Education at Guangdong province university–industry cooperation special funds, Hebei province university science and technology cooperation at the provincial-level development funds, Shengyuan in Yunnan province university science and technology cooperation funds, etc.; One is the fund “led by the university jointly and benefited by the university and enterprises”, such as Anshan Tsinghua R&D seed fund, Tongling Tsinghua industry–university–research cooperation fund, and Wuxi Tsinghua university scientific and technological achievements transformation fund. The operation of university–local science and technology cooperation fund has effectively promoted the work of industry, education and research. Taking the special fund for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in Jiangsu province as an example,
3.4 Universities and Enterprises Shall Jointly Establish Laboratories
25
according to statistics, from 2004 to 2007, there were 25 special fund projects supported by Tsinghua University in the cooperative cities, with a total investment of 2,609.66 million yuan.
3.5 Enterprises Shall Establish Industrial Funds in Universities Enterprises set up funds in universities to selectively support certain research and development projects, promote industry–university cooperation, and support the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in universities. With the help of the industrial fund set up by enterprises, the university will further broaden the financing channels for the teaching and scientific research development of the university, which is conducive to enhancing the sustainable development ability of the university. With the help of the industrial fund set up in the university, the enterprise, combined with the characteristics of the enterprise, concentrates and continuously promotes the technological development of the university. Enterprises have technological advantages and industrial foundation, but lack of talents; Colleges and universities have advantages in talent cultivation and scientific research, but they often lack sufficient funds and are far from the actual needs of enterprises, making it difficult to commercialize scientific research results. The establishment of industrial funds by enterprises in universities can strengthen the cooperation between enterprises and universities, integrate the superior resources of both sides and promote the common development. For example, “Sun Yat-sen University School of International Joint Development Fund is provided by Guangzhou Honda startup capital, used to move tool and its related fields of scientific research and personnel training, including traffic engineering, environmental technology, new energy, and new materials in areas such as research, and practice teaching platform construction for innovative talent training and Guangzhou Honda, and other enterprises oriented talents cultivation platform construction. Baosteel Education Foundation was approved by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on May 17, 2005, with the original fund of 50 million yuan. In September 2005, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Baosteel’s “85.9” production, Baosteel invested another 10 million yuan into the army, increasing the fund to 100 million yuan. Baosteel Education Fund is mainly used to reward and promote outstanding talents, respect teachers and education, promote industry–learning cooperation, and support the development of education.
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3.6 Universities and Industries Form Industry–University–Research Strategic Alliance Strategic alliance is a loose organization of resource sharing, risk sharing, and benefit sharing concluded by agreement in a specific period and within a specific scope for two or more economic entities to achieve their respective strategic goals and give play to their respective comparative advantages. University–industry cooperation alliance refers to the alliance formed by enterprises, universities and/or scientific research institutions to achieve technological innovation through a division of labor and collaboration with their respective advantages. The fundamental purpose of the establishment of the alliance between universities and enterprises is to realize the common interests, link technology research, development and transfer contract, and transform the high-tech achievements into real productive forces under the conditions of joint investment, resource sharing, complementary advantages, and risk sharing. Strategic alliances have many advantages that other organizational mechanisms do not have: (1) the alliance can effectively integrate the scattered resources of alliance members to maximize its effect; (2) it can integrate the engineering technical information and marketing information obtained by all parties of the alliance members quickly, so as to enhance the adaptability of all parties; (3) the industrial upgrading can be achieved through rational allocation of technology, capital, and other resources of all parties to the alliance, which not only disperses risks, but also improves the market competitiveness of all parties; (4) it can limit the possible disordered competition among the members of the alliance, and avoid mutual lose-lose; (5) develop new markets through mutual assistance of allied members. According to the different economic bodies of the alliance, strategic alliance can be divided into pure enterprise alliance and university and industrial cooperation alliance combined by enterprises and universities. There are two main ways of university–industry cooperation alliance: the university–industry cooperation alliance, led by industry associations and other organizations, clarifies the rights and obligations of all parties in the charter (with appropriate support from the government); A university–industry cooperation alliance shall be organized by both the enterprise and the university to clarify the rights and obligations of each party in the charter (with appropriate support from the government). University and industry cooperation alliance is an advanced form of general university and industry cooperation development. Simple or primary university and industry cooperation will inevitably encounter many problems that are difficult to solve. Meanwhile, its efficiency and benefit will also be seriously affected, making it more difficult to adapt to the severe situation of domestic and foreign competition. The establishment of university–industry cooperation alliance will enrich the content of knowledge and technology innovation, improve the mechanism of scientific and technological research and achievement transfer, strengthen the talent training of enterprises and university institutions, and promote the strategic research of university–industry cooperation, so as to achieve greater results. The main difficulty in the establishment and development of university–industry cooperation alliance is how to
3.6 Universities and Industries …
27
guarantee the interests of all parties and the leaders of the alliance with a high level, so as to correctly grasp the development direction of the alliance. Industrial technology research institute, Zhejiang university, for example, will build a regional industry technology research and development center, technology transfer and promotion center, industrial technology development planning and consulting center, equipped with industrial technology talent training base and regional industrial research and development of international technology transfer service base, gathering all kinds of high-level professional development and popularization of science and technology team of 2000 people, the construction of major equipment, photovoltaic engineering, automobile and parts, rail transportation, biological pharmaceutical and advanced equipment, energy saving, intelligent green building, transformation and upgrading of culture creative industry and so on more than 10 urgently needed innovation platform, It has built more than 30 industrial technology transfer service institutions, becoming an important supporting service platform for the development of the Yangtze River delta, and China’s industrial economy and high-tech industries. The detailed rules for the administration and implementation of the National HighTech Research and Development Plan (863 Plan) are put forward as follows: “the 863 plan promotes the construction of a technological innovation system with enterprises as the main body, market as the guidance, and production, study and research combined. Understand the technological innovation needs of enterprises through various channels and condense the key technologies in line with the national strategic goals into the strategic tasks of the 863 plans. In terms of planning, enterprises are encouraged to participate in the implementation of planned tasks.” The detailed rules clearly give priority to support the industry–university–research alliance led by enterprises. The basic requirements of the alliance are as follows: (1) the alliance has no less than 3 member units, and the main parties have carried out technological innovation cooperation based on the needs of enterprises in the past three years, establishing a relatively stable foundation for industry–university–research cooperation; (2) the parties of the alliance signed a cooperation agreement on the declared project (subject), which clearly stipulated the rights and obligations of division of tasks and integration, sharing of intellectual property rights, use of funds, and apportionment of responsibilities; (3) the enterprises in the industry–university–research alliance promise to invest no less than 100% of the applied state funds in cash for the applied project (project). In 2007, China established four industrial technological innovation strategic alliances, including the steel cycle process, new-generation coal chemical industry, agricultural equipment, and coal development and utilization, which are the result of the active combination of industry, education and research to meet the requirements of industrial development. Under the guidance and support of the state, the alliance members independently choose whether to join the alliance or not, sign the alliance agreement through market-oriented consultation, and make a prior agreement on the task and benefit distribution of the alliance.
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3.7 The Universities Establish a University Science Park University science park is based on research university or college group, use of the university of talent, technology, information, laboratory equipment, cultural atmosphere, and other comprehensive resources advantages, through the diversification of investment channels, including venture capital, with government policy guidance and support, the area near the university engaged in technological innovation and enterprise incubation of high science and technology park. By the end of 2008, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education has decided that the national university science park, in cultivating the innovative entrepreneurial talent, transformation of scientific and technological achievements of colleges and universities, hatching high-tech enterprises, promote the development of new and high technology industries, speed up the construction of regional economy and industry technology progress and alleviate employment pressure has played an important role. In the late 1980s, Northeastern University, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Harbin Institute of Technology, and other universities established university science parks. In 2000, the trial measures for the administration of university science and technology parks were promulgated, and the development speed of university science and technology parks in China was accelerated. In 2006, the national university science and technology parks were approved and administrated, and the development of national university science and technology parks entered a normative period. Most national university science parks have set up entrepreneurship bases and internship bases for college students. National university science parks have become a new place where various innovative elements and resources gather and integrate. After 10 years of construction and development of the national university science park incubator produced a large number of better growth high and new technology enterprise, become all kinds of innovative elements with the new focus of the collection, integration, of resources for university science and technology achievements transformation, hi-tech enterprises incubation, innovation, entrepreneurial talent training, service and support regional economic development industry technology provides a good platform.
3.8 Universities Establish University-Run Industries The school-run industry of colleges and universities mainly refers to the asset companies, first-level enterprises, and second-level enterprises invested by full-time institutions of higher learning (including universities, colleges, and higher vocational and technical colleges). First-level enterprises refer to enterprises wholly owned, held, and shared by the school (except asset companies), as well as enterprises wholly owned, held, and shared by asset companies, while second-level enterprises refer to enterprises wholly owned, held, and shared by first-level enterprises. According to the spirit of the relevant documents, the school-run enterprise of an institution of
3.8 Universities Establish University-Run Industries
29
higher learning must be funded and self-run by the university, and the university shall be responsible for the operation and management of the enterprise, and the income from the operation shall be owned by the university. With the continuous development of the university-run industry, the transformation and industrialization of the scientific and technological achievements of colleges and universities are becoming more and more diversified, and the meaning of schoolrun enterprises is greatly expanded. Vocational schools established by the government mainly provide places for students to practice, which are funded by the school and run by the school itself, and which are in charge of the operation and management, and whose income belongs to the school. Institutions of higher learning and various vocational schools serve enterprises engaged in technology transfer, technical training, technical consultation, technical services, and technical contracting in various fields. Therefore, according to this book, university-run enterprises refer to enterprises wholly owned, controlled, and shared by colleges and universities, which can be divided into science and technology enterprises and non-science and technology enterprises according to industrial types. In 2007, 510 institutions of higher education participated in the statistical work of school-run enterprises, with a total of 3,665 enterprises, including 24 listed companies. Among the first-level enterprises, according to whether they are science and technology enterprises, there are 993 science and technology enterprises, accounting for 33.43% of the first-level enterprises. There were 1,977 other types of enterprises, accounting for 66.57% of the first-level enterprises. By type of industrial and commercial registration, 1,547 state-owned enterprises accounted for 52.09 percent of first-level enterprises. There were 105 wholly state-owned companies, accounting for 2.33% of the first-level enterprises. 42 one-person limited liability companies, accounting for 1.41% of the first-level enterprises; 48 Sino-foreign joint ventures, accounting for 1.62% of the first-level enterprises; 918 other limited liability companies, accounting for 30.91% of the first-level enterprises; 13 listed companies, accounting for 0.44% of the first-level enterprises; 89 other joint-stock limited companies, accounting for 3.00% of the first-level enterprises; 208 other types of enterprises, accounting for 7.00% of the first-level enterprises. Among the second-level enterprises, 192 are sci-tech enterprises, accounting for 32.05% of the second-level enterprises. There are 407 other types of enterprises, accounting for 67.95% of secondary enterprises.
3.9 The Universities Hold or Share in Listed Companies A listed company refers to a joint-stock limited company whose issued stocks have been approved by the State Council or the Securities Administration Department authorized by the State Council to be listed and traded on a stock exchange. In the broad sense, the university listed company is a listed company with a university background or a holding or equity participation of a university-affiliated enterprise group. Compared with other listed companies, university listed companies mainly rely on
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3 Exploring Models of Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented …
university research results, talent advantages, scientific research facilities, discipline basis, etc. to promote the industrialization of university research results. At the same time, listed companies in universities can also promote scientific research, technological development, and personnel training in universities, promote the reform and development of education, and serve to enhance national independent innovation capacity and build an innovative country. At the end of 2007, in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets, there were 24 listed companies held by Chinese universities and university enterprises, among which Tsinghua university was the largest with 6 listed companies. Followed by Harbin industrial university and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, has two listed companies respectively, furthermore, Sun Yat-sen University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Shandong University, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese medicine, Tongji University, Zhejiang University, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese medicine, Northeastern University, Fudan University, Peking University, Taiyuan University of Technology with a listed company. Tsinghua Tongfang co., which is owned by Tsinghua University, has the largest total assets of 17.42 billion yuan. Shenzhen Zhongnongda technology investment co., which is owned by China Agricultural University, has the least total assets, about 170 million yuan. At the end of 2008, there were 1,604 listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen, and the number of listed companies in universities accounted for 1.56%, but the market value only accounted for 0.46% of the total market value of Shanghai and Shenzhen (1,236,652.9 billion yuan), among which only one company had a market value of more than 10 billion yuan, while six companies had a market value of less than 1 billion yuan.
References Audretsch, D. B., Lehmann, E. E., Paleari, S., & Vismara, S. (2016). Entrepreneurial finance and technology transfer. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 41(1), 1–9. Brescia, F., Colombo, G., & Landoni, P. (2016). Organizational structures of knowledge transfer offices: An analysis of the world’s top-ranked universities. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 41(1), 132–151. Carayannis, E. G., Cherepovitsyn, A. Y., & Ilinova, A. A. (2016). Technology commercialization in entrepreneurial universities: the US and Russian experience. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 41(5), 1135–1147. Chen, A., Patton, D., & Kenney, M. (2016). University technology transfer in China: A literature review and taxonomy. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 41(5), 891–929. Fernández-Esquinas, M., Pinto, H., Yruela, M. P., & Pereira, T. S. (2016). Tracing the flows of knowledge transfer: Latent dimensions and determinants of university–industry interactions in peripheral innovation systems. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 113, 266–279. Fitzgerald, C., & Cunningham, J. A. (2016). Inside the university technology transfer office: Mission statement analysis. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 41(5), 1235–1246. Guan, Q., Xie, X., & Zhou, J. (2015). The Influence of Government Policy on University Technology Transfer in China. In LISS 2013 (pp. 439–443). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. Hsu, D. W., Shen, Y. C., Yuan, B. J., & Chou, C. J. (2015). Toward successful commercialization of university technology: Performance drivers of university technology transfer in Taiwan. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 92, 25–39.
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McAdam, M., Miller, K., & McAdam, R. (2017). University business models in disequilibrium–engaging industry and end users within university technology transfer processes. R&D Management, 47(3), 458–472. Villani, E., Rasmussen, E., & Grimaldi, R. (2017). How intermediary organizations facilitate university–industry technology transfer: A proximity approach. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 114, 86–102.
Chapter 4
Investigating the Policy System of Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China
This chapter concentrates on examining the policy system on the technology-oriented innovation education in China. According to the Regulation of Science and Technology Achievements Conversion, the transformation of scientific and technological achievements refers to improving the level of productivity and science and technology development of practical science and technology achievements of follow-up tests, the application and promotion until the formation of new products, new technology, new materials, development of new industries, and other related activities. The main characteristics of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements lie in the combination of science and technology and industry, with emphasis on the first commercial application, industrial production, and socialized popularization of existing scientific and technological achievements. In the institutional arrangement of promoting the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, a policy network of university scientific and technological achievements transformation with Chinese characteristics has been formed.
4.1 The Development and Analysis of Industry–University–Research Policies In general, the policy history of industry–university-research and development can be divided into three stages: The first stage (1985–1991) was the initial development stage. On March 18, 1985, the Ministry of Education issued the Notice on the Establishment of a Reward System for Scientific and Technological Progress, focusing on promoting scientific and technological progress of important contributions to the collective and individual. On March 13, 1985, The Decision on the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Science and Technology System Reform was put forward to encourage the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institutions of Higher Education and Ministries, Local © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 E. Xue and J. Li, Innovating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2788-3_4
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Research Institutions engaged in the development of technology, which is based on the principle of voluntary and mutual benefit, with companies, design institutes in various forms of joint, some can be gradually developed into economic entities; Some can be further consolidated on a joint basis, with enterprises merged into research institutions, or scientific research institutions merged into enterprises. Some research institutes can also develop themselves into research and production enterprises, or technology development institutes jointly owned by small and medium-sized enterprises. In terms of fund supply, the government changed from planned allocation to raising funds through the market, which promoted the flow of scientific and technological resources to enterprises and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements to applications, thus opening the prelude of the exploration of combining industry, education, and research with the public. Breaking between scientific research institutes, universities, and enterprises for a long time of segmentation, marked the beginning of preliminary integration. University of education must serve the socialist economic construction with higher knowledge, carried out in some university technology transfer, technical consulting, technology development, technical services “four skills” activities, and in the “four skills” won a certain income. On January 15, 1989, the State Council of the State Education Commission and other departments on Deepening the Reform to Encourage Health Education Scientific Research Units to Increase Social Services Opinion noticed that: “there is a steady stream of information science and technology.” However, at present, there are quite a few units whose advantages have not been fully utilized and whose advantages have not been fully exploited. We must deepen the reform, take measures by policy and system to mobilize their enthusiasm and creativity, guide and encourage them to increase social services in various forms and make more contributions to socialist construction. In particular, the scientific and technical personnel should be encouraged to work directly for economic development in the first line of agricultural production. From December 17 to 21, 1990, the State Education Commission and the State Science and Technology Commission jointly held the National Conference on Science and Technology Work of Colleges and Universities in Beijing, proposing that the science and technology work is a very important part of China’s science and technology work, and that the construction of state key laboratories and undertaking major science and technology public relations projects should be closely combined with the cultivation of talents. However, the Reform of Science and Technology System has pointed out the direction for the joint efforts of scientific research institutes, universities, and enterprises, and activated the enthusiasm and vitality of the people to carry out the activities of industry–university-research institute, thus taking the first step to explore the integration of industry–university-research institute (Hazelkorn 2015; Huang 2015; Kim et al. 2018; Yang 2015). The second stage (1992–2001) is the standard development stage. The main feature of this period is the transformation of the combination of industry, the education, and research from the small-scale exploration by the people to the nationwide organized promotion. The main goal of the policy is to close the links between universities,
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research institutes, and enterprises, give full play to their respective advantages, accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and the industrialization of new and high technologies, explore the operation mechanism of production, learning and research that is suitable for China’s national conditions, and create new economic growth points. Scope of implementation from the large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises before they are extended to small and medium-sized enterprises, the government plays strings, use is given priority to the project of fiscal support, tax incentives, import and export tariffs, increase scientific and technological personnel benefits and subsidies, the setting up of national and provincial scientific and technological progress awards, such as policy support, and to pass legislation to protect the fruits of cooperation and patent, top-down policy, guiding and promoting cooperation. In 2000, the government first proposed to establish an enterprise technology innovation system with the enterprise as the main body and the enterprise technology center as the main carrier. At this stage, the main ways of combining production, study and research include technology transfer, transformation of scientific and technological achievements, joint establishment of technology centers, joint research and development, joint establishment of scientific and technological entities in universities, and joint application of projects. In conclusion, through the policy leading role, basically reached the preset university–industry cooperation economic goal, although the degree of cooperation of production, study, and the time is still relatively loose, cooperation operation mechanism is still in the further exploration, but the practical experience of “industry-university-institute” cooperation and economic benefit for later laid the foundation for the further construction of national innovation system are put forward (Zhong et al. 2019; Marginson 2016; Song 2018; Altbach 2016). The third stage is the rapid development stage since 2002. After the exploration and promotion of the first two stages, the combination of industry, education and research as an operating mechanism of enterprise technological innovation has been widely applied and achieved good economic benefits. Government in 2006 will be placed in the strategic framework of national innovation system of university–industry cooperation, and as a breakthrough for the development of national technology innovation system, trying to gather in the scientific research institutes and universities scientific research resources to market demand as the guide, to the enterprise through the path of combining study reconfigured, establish the status of enterprise technology innovation main body, enhance China’s capacity for independent innovation. In just a few years, the policy objectives have been improved at different levels. The focus of the policy has been shifted from the central government to the local government, and the focus has also been moved from the economic objectives to the social objectives. University–industry cooperation policy guarantee and support system from the administration leading to social participation, providing technology service agencies that began to develop, in addition to the government a small amount of investment, enterprise independently raise technology development becomes the main source of funds, banks and venture capital at home and abroad are also involved in incubation of scientific and technological achievements and new and high-technology
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industrialization, the production, present a tendency of diversified investment channels. The ways in which enterprises, universities, and research institutes combine are becoming more and more diversified, and are spreading from point to surface in an all-round way. Some economically developed regions have formed regional industry–university-research alliances led by the government and linked by provinces and ministries. After more than 20 years of unremitting efforts, the level of industry–universityresearch integration has been continuously improved, and the contribution rate of science and technology to the economy has been increasing year by year. But some issues remain unresolved. First, the leading role of the government in the industry–university-research cooperation is not enough. At the policy level, so far there has not been a specific industry–university-research integration of laws and regulations issued. Therefore, enterprises in the role of cooperation and through the market mechanism to adjust the rights and obligations relations, combining degree is not tight, cooperation in the transaction cost is higher, the operating mechanism of the university–industry cooperation, management mechanism, interest distribution mechanism, supervision and restraint mechanism, support service system is not perfect or doesn’t match, prone to disputes on intellectual property rights and interests of entanglements, influence the enthusiasm of enterprises and the national strategic goals to achieve. Second, from the perspective of the goal orientation of national policies, the combination of industry, education, and research emphasizes the combination of scientific research and economy, while the cooperation of personnel training is ignored. In terms of practical operation, enterprises tend to be eager for quick success and instant profit and are willing to engage in technology trading activities that can generate economic benefits immediately, while the motivation to cooperate with colleges and universities to cultivate talents is insufficient. In terms of practical results, schools and teachers benefit more from production, learning, and research, while students benefit less. Third, the government promotes the integration of enterprises, universities, and research institutes through various encouragement policies, so as to benefit enterprises, improve their competitiveness through technological innovation activities, and create economic benefits. Enterprises become the main body in technological innovation from passive participation in R&D activities and have the ability to raise R&D funds in the market. However, enterprises are not interested in the project research with long research period, large investment, and slow effect, especially the lack of enthusiasm for basic research, the digestion and absorption capacity of introduced technology is weak, and the motivation is also insufficient (Song 2018; Altbach 2016). Industry–university-research association is cooperation among social organizations with different value systems. Under the guidance of national macro-strategic goals, all parties in the industry, universities and research institutes still have different organizational goal orientation and value orientation, which are determined by their functional orientation in the market economy environment. Therefore, relevant policies should not only protect their rights to achieve their own goals and obtain legitimate benefits by using market means in the process of combining production, education, and research, but also restrain their overly utilitarian behavior tendency
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and ensure that all parties fulfill their social responsibilities. Future policy should be to expand the function of university–industry cooperation, clear the role positioning of the enterprise, urge enterprises to participate in the talent training, make the university–industry cooperation benefited range extension to the college students, variable resources to the enterprise focus too much on interactive garment, such ability for the enterprise technological innovation and national innovation system construction to provide a steady stream of reserve forces (Zhong et al. 2019; Marginson 2016; Song 2018).
4.2 The Development and Analysis of University Science and Technology Park Policies In 1992, the National Science and Technology Commission and the State Commission for Restructuring officially launched the National Science and Technology Commission, the State Commission for restructuring the shunt talents, adjust the structure of advancing science and technology system, deepen the reform pilot work report, in this report, the first time explicitly put forward, “on the basis of private science and technology park, founded in the pilot work of private science and technology industry base.” Thus, the first source document about the beginning of the university science park was produced. On July 24, 1995, the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and Beijing Municipal People’s Government jointly issued “Opinion on the Implementation of Accelerating the Progress of Science and Technology,” stressed that the high and new technology industrialization project: the Beijing new technology industrial development experimental zone is important to the development of high and new technology industrial testing base. Take effective measures to strengthen the construction of existing industrial bases and the planning and construction of new bases such as biology city of Peking University and science and technology park of Tsinghua University. This indicates that the development of university science and technology parks in China is marked by the transition from folk to national unified planning. By the end of 2007, after 15 years of development, a total of 49 relevant documents were issued. In 2006, the National University Science and Technology Parks were approved and administrated, and the development of national university science and technology parks entered a normative period. From 1992 to 1999, the functional departments of the Chinese government promulgated 8 policy texts concerning science and technology parks, 6 of which were issued in 1999, about 1 per year on average. From 2000 to 2005, the functional departments of the Chinese government issued a total of 35 policy texts concerning science and technology parks, among which 10 were issued in 2001, averaging about 6 per year. From 2006 to 2007, the functional departments of the Chinese government issued a total of 12 policy documents concerning science and technology parks, of which 9 were issued in 2006, averaging 6 per year. Thus, it can be seen that the development and change of the number of policies is also a
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nonlinear change curve. Department issued policy, ranked as follows: the Ministry of Education issued 14 items, accounting for 31.11% of the total, Ministry of Science and Technology 12 items, accounts for 26.67% of the total, the state council for 10 pieces, accounting for 22.22% of the total, the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issued for 6 pieces, accounting for 12.23% of the total, the national development and reform commission of 2 pieces, accounting for 4.44% of the total, cloth is 1 piece, accounting for 2.22% of the total. According to the above policy documents, the development policies of China’s university science and technology parks can be generally divided into three stages: Stage 1: preliminary germination stage, 1988–1993 In the mid-1980s, the economic system reform changed the traditional closed schoolrunning mode of university in China, in education, science and technology system reform, driven by many universities in China in close contact with society, strengthening the combination of science and technology and economic practice, on the one hand, mobilize the masses of scientific and technological personnel geared to the needs of economic development main battlefield, in manufacture–learning-research cooperation way, promotion, transfer, transformation of scientific and technological achievements to the society. On the other hand, with the advantages of university discipline integration and technology integration, the university concentrates on certain people, finance, and materials, and selectively sets up some scientific and technological enterprises to accelerate the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements (Hazelkorn 2015; Huang 2015; Kim et al. 2018; Yang 2015). In 1986, Deng Xiaoping issued Developing High Technology and Realizing Industrialization, and our country began to organize and implement the “863 plan”, which greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of university science and technology personnel to develop high-technology industry. Many universities, especially some key universities of science and engineering, have paid close attention to the initial achievements of Zhongguancun and Wuhan Donghu hi-tech industrial development zone, and started to explore and make bold attempts to establish university science and technology parks by taking advantage of the environment and conditions of local hi-tech industrial development zones. Northeastern University is the first university in China to establish a university science park. As early as in 1988, Northeast University (then Northeast Institute of Technology) seized the opportunity of building Nanhu Science and Technology Development Zone in Shenyang city and learned from the successful experience of Stanford University in establishing research park, and established China’s first university science and technology park in Shenyang hi-tech development zone. In January 1990, Dongbei University set up the science park committee of Dongda University, set up the science park office, drafted the plan for the construction of the science park, and published several preferential policies such as the provisions on the construction of the science park of Dongda University. At the same time, the park also formulated the policy of “project initiation, policy guidance, step by step implementation and rolling development.”. According to the principle of
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“the selected project should have discipline advantages, high scientific and technological content, good market prospect, and play an exemplary role in revitalizing the regional economy,” the four projects such as “computer software” were selected as the priority for development. Around 1993, universities such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, Northeastern University, and Harbin Institute of Technology started university science parks on their own initiative. At this stage, the enterprises in the park are mainly science and technology enterprises that are separated from the administrative system in universities. Meanwhile, they also absorb enterprises that have technology and development potential in the society and are waiting to be incubated. In the contact network between universities, science and technology enterprises, and the government, universities are the main body of activities. Due to the concept, system, and mechanism, and the restriction of subjective and objective factors such as social environment, the period of university science park has failed to achieve the desired effect, but the university science park is a new thing in our country the ground of the earth, but is of unusual significance, it marked the reform of education, science and technology system of our country had the new breakthrough, the university of production–study–research cooperation enters into a new higher level. The second stage: normative development stage (1994–2000) The reform of the economic system, the science and technology system, and the education system has been intensified, and the rapid development of the economy and society has provided a strong driving force for accelerating the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and promoting the industrialization of new and high technologies. The central and local governments have issued a series of laws and policies to promote the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements in universities and research institutes. In September 1995, the Fourth World Conference of Science Park was held in Beijing, China. “The role of universities and the government in the development of science and technology industrial parks” became one of the main topics of the conference, attracting the attention of Chinese universities. In November of the same year, the torch office of the State Science and Technology Commission and the Science and Technology Development Center of the State Education Commission jointly held the first work conference—university science and technology park work symposium since the birth of university science and technology park in Beijing. The meeting summarized and exchanged the successful experience of establishing science and technology parks in universities, studied the main problems existing in the development of university science and technology parks, and discussed the ideas and measures to further accelerate the development of university science and technology parks. In 2000, the trial measures for the administration of university science and technology parks were promulgated, and the development speed of university science and technology parks in China was accelerated. In September 1999, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council held the national conference on technological innovation and promulgated the Decision on
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Strengthening Technological Innovation, Developing High Technology and Realizing Industrialization, which clearly proposed “supporting the development of science and technology parks in colleges and universities.” For the implementation of National Technological Innovation Plan and national education facing the twentyfirst-century revitalization action plan, further deepening the reform of science and technology and education system, accelerate the industrialization of high and new technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education jointly from the national level proposed the idea of university science park, set up to Deputy Minister, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology, popularize Vice Minister of the steering committee working for the Director of the national university science park. In September 1999, the a notice was issued to the Pilot Construction of National University Science and Technology Parks, which received high attention and positive response from governments at all levels and universities. More than 50 universities in more than 20 provinces and cities applied for the pilot construction of National University Science and Technology Parks. To do this work, the two jointly established the steering committee, the construction of the university science park, organized experts to apply for a comprehensive review of pilot university science technology park, and in December 1999, two issued about to do a good job of national university science park construction pilot notice, determines the Tsinghua University Science Park and other 15 university science park, as a national pilot unit, the construction of the university science park. At the same time, the pilot work period is set as 1 year. After 1 year’s acceptance, the National University Science and Technology Park will be officially awarded the title of National University Science and Technology Park, which will be included in the sequence of National University Science and Technology Park and implemented dynamic management. In order to ensure the positive and steady development of university science and technology parks in China, the pilot projects are carried out and the experience is gained. During this period, some universities in China established various kinds of university science parks, such as the parks around schools, “zone parks” in high-tech zones, and new science parks. University science and technology parks have become institutionalized and standardized, and the role of the market and the government has been strengthened. At the same time, the role of universities in the development of high-tech industry is socialized, the proportion of university science and technology enterprises in the park is reduced, and the advantages of universities are utilized by the society in various ways (Hazelkorn 2015; Huang 2015; Kim et al. 2018; Yang 2015). The third stage: the rapid development stage, from 2001 to now The Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education focus on the basis of investigation and research. It has more than 20 pilot work of university science park in the review, 15 through pilot unit evaluation, Sichuan University Science Park to spin-off for Sichuan University Science and Technology Park and University of Electronic Science and Technology Park, and Shandong University, Fudan University, Chongqing University, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University of Science and Technology, Nanjing
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University, and so on six other university science parks also passed the assessment. After that, 22 university science parks including Tsinghua University Science Park were officially awarded as “National University Science Parks”. According to the preliminary statistics of these university science parks, the number of universities supported by the university science parks has reached 67, with a total investment of about 17 billion yuan, of which about 13 billion yuan was attracted from the society, 4 billion yuan from the local government and universities, and 15 million yuan from two guiding funds. The planned land area of the science and technology park is 43,626 Mu, and the actual land area is 13,676 Mu. Through the activation of existing buildings in and around the campus, the incubation area of the science and technology park has reached 974,900 m2 , and the area under construction is 1,596,600 m2 . There are 1763 incubated technology enterprises, 459 incubated enterprises, and 2778 enterprises that have settled in the park. 4813 new products with independent intellectual property rights have been developed, including 2191 national key new products, and 9184 patents have been applied for. In 2000, the sales revenue of enterprises in the park reached 25.7 billion yuan, 92% higher than 13.4 billion yuan in 1999. At the same time, more than 68,400 new jobs were created. Our country the construction of university science park has made substantial progress. The university of science and technology park is becoming our country university science and technology achievements transformation base, high and new technology enterprise incubator, not only for the deepening of the university of science and technology, education system reform, cultivate the innovative entrepreneurial talent to provide the experience, but also for the national high-tech development zone, enhance technology innovation and sustainable development ability to create a good condition. In order to further promote the construction and development of university science and technology parks in China, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education held the Second National Conference on University Science and Technology Parks in Wuhan in May 2003, which awarded the second batch of national university science and technology parks. Established joint mandate, Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education in 2004 by the “on further promoting the development of the national university science park construction and opinions, advice explicitly pointed out that,” university of science and technology park is an important part of national innovation system, is the main innovation source of regional economic development and industry progress, one is the collaboration between institutions of higher learning for social service function and the important platform, is also an important part of higher school education system in the new period. The science park is one of the important symbols of a first-class university. The main features of this period are as follows: first, the rapid development of university science and technology parks involves a large number of universities. The universities involved in the establishment of university science and technology parks are not only key universities in “project 985” and “project 211”, but also some local universities. Second, the development and construction mode are diversified, including the independent development and construction mode of one school, the
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cooperative construction mode of multiple schools, and the joint construction mode of the school and the government. Third, the central government and local governments have responded positively and introduced a series of supporting policies and measures. Moreover, the cooperation of science and technology departments and education departments has formed a strong synergy for the development of university science and technology parks. The development of university science and technology parks is not only institutionalized, but also diversified. Guided by mutual dependence of goals and mutual complementarity of functions, universities, science and technology enterprises and the government each have strong self-regulation ability, and the science and technology enterprises driven by the market become the main body of activities. University science parks have also become a special functional part of the national innovation system.
4.3 Development and Analysis of University-Run Industrial Policies From the statistical data analysis, the school-run industry in China started as early as in 1990 and the state education commission issued by the state education commission of the articles of association of the high-quality products by the state education commission review committee, the state education commission trial measures for school-run industry quality product selection notice, specific to formulate the trial measures for selection of school-run industry quality products, it is means that at the time of our country the school-run industry begun to take shape, and this file is in order to further promote the development of school-run industries. However, in 1992, it rapidly rose to the peak of China’s school-run industrial policy of 6, and then steadily declined. By 2004, it was to encourage, develop and regulate the school-run industry; to clarify the property relationship between the school and the school-run industry was only the last one at the end of 2007. After 15 years of development, a total of 30 related documents were issued. The departments that issued the policies ranked successively as follows: the state education commission issued 8 pieces, accounting for 34.78% of the total; the Ministry of Finance issued 3 pieces, accounting for 13.4% of the total; the Ministry of Education, the State Science and Technology Commission, the State Council and the National People’s Congress issued 2 pieces, accounting for 8.7% of the total; and other departments, such as the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics Industry, Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Health Issued 6 pieces, accounting for 26.9% of the total. In the late 1950s, the rule form of the university-run industry in China was mainly responsible for teaching and practice. In the mid-1980s, driven by the reform of the economy, science and technology and the education system, high and new technology enterprises in colleges and universities achieved great development, mainly experiencing the following three stages:
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The first stage (1985–1992) is the gestation stage. In the course of the reform and opening up, the scientific and technological work in the colleges and universities, which has been revived and developed, has gradually accumulated a number of scientific and technological achievements through the unremitting efforts of the vast number of scientific and technological personnel. Under the guidance of the scientific and technological policy of “economic construction must rely on science and technology, and science and technology must be oriented to economic construction,” some scientific and technological personnel “go into business,” using school-run factories to develop products and set up enterprises. Among them, urokinase products of Nanjing University were the first to be put into the market and became the pioneer of high-tech enterprises in universities. On December 11, 1993, the Commission for Education, Science and Technology and the Commission for Restructuring jointly convened the meeting on science and technology industry in universities and colleges. The meeting affirmed the status and role of science and technology industry in colleges and universities and raised the establishment of science and technology industry in colleges and universities to the height of “rejuvenating the country through science and education.” On March 1, 1994, the Third Committee of the CPC jointly issued Several Opinions on the Development of Science and Technology Industry in Colleges and Universities, which clarified the guiding ideology and development direction of science and technology industry in colleges and universities, and put forward the main tasks and goals for the development of science and technology industry in colleges and universities. This has had a great impact on the development of the industry of colleges and universities. Departments, institutes, offices, and groups have appeared together in different degrees in various colleges and universities. Some of the industries of colleges and universities have grown from a few to dozens or even hundreds. According to statistics, by 1996, the total number of university-run industries in China had reached 7159, and the total revenue from industrial sales (operation) reached 22.9 billion yuan. The total realized profit is 2.1 · 2.5 billion yuan; Net profit was 1.872 billion yuan (Hazelkorn 2015; Huang 2015). But this time, through improving the consciousness of the college leadership, teachers’ participation in economic construction exists many problems, such as through the development of the industry in colleges and universities as the “spring” break out of it, but the problem of transformation of scientific and technological achievements have not been well solved. According to the statistics, the university of science and technology achievements conversion rate was less than 20% by the end of 1996; Only about 5% of the college industry can form the industry scale; Self-run industry is not a strong suit in colleges and universities, which affects the normal teaching and scientific research order to varying degrees. The second stage (1985–2000) is the booming stage. In 1985, in order to promote the tightness combination of science and technology with economy, the colleges and universities aim to strengthen the basic research and high-technology research at the same time, mobilize and organize most of the power of science and technology for
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economic construction, strengthen the technical promotion and transformation of science and technology work. For some special projects, a number of high and new technology enterprises have been set up from universities to departments. For example, the laser phototypesetting system successfully developed by the founder of Peking University has been launched into the market and become the “leader goose” of high-tech enterprises in universities. Under the guidance of the market, a number of high and new technology enterprises have been developed in colleges and universities with focus and selection, which makes the high and new technology enterprises in colleges and universities enter a period of rapid development. Among them, the rapid development of a group of enterprise groups, such as Peking University founder, Peking University Weiming, Peking University Jade Bird, Tsinghua Tongfang, Dongda Alpi, and so on, has attracted attention at home and abroad. The third stage: from 2001 to now, is the standard development stage. On November 1, 2001, the State Council General Office issued by the State Council General Office on the specification of Peking University, Tsinghua University school-run enterprise management system of notice of the pilot, issued by the drafting Economic Restructuring Office of the State Council and the Ministry of Education of “about specification at Peking University, Tsinghua University school-run enterprise management system of the pilot guidance,” launched two schools specification school-run enterprise management system of the pilot work. Although the reform plan is applicable to the national university-run enterprises has not been released yet, since the assets of Tsinghua and Peking Universities and enterprises account for half of the national university-industry, the introduction of the pilot plan to a large extent represents the direction of the reform, thus opening the prelude of the standard development of China’s high and new technology enterprises in colleges and universities.
4.4 Problems and Suggestions on the Policy of Scientific and Technological Achievements Transformation in Chinese Universities Problems of the policy on the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in Chinese universities 1. The concept and definition of management of scientific and technological achievements are confused. According to China’s current laws and policies, there is a gap in the definition of the scope and attribute of the concept of scientific and technological achievements. Due to such omissions, the problem of intellectual property management from the management of scientific and technological achievements becomes relatively complex and contradictory. Generally speaking, scientific and technological achievements are
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the material forms that can be objectified by means and carriers obtained through scientific and technological activities, including tangible achievements and intangible achievements. However, intellectual property is a typical civil right in terms of its legal nature, and its form undoubtedly belongs to the form of intangible achievements. In addition, intellectual property may be either the carrier form of some intangible achievements or the subsidiary content of some tangible achievements. Therefore, due to the vagueness in terms and confusion in concepts of legal policies, blind spots and loopholes appear in the scope of legal adjustment for the management object of scientific and technological achievements, resulting in the phenomenon that teachers in colleges and universities attach more importance to tangible “scientific research achievements” and less to intangible “patent rights”. According to the basic principles of intellectual property law, intellectual property is a special civil right. In the system of civil rights, the term of intellectual property is different from the traditional property right. Therefore, the protection object of intellectual property rights refers to the intellectual products created by people in the fields of science, technology, culture, and other forms of knowledge. Knowledge product is a kind of civil right object which coexists with material product. Knowledge products can be divided into three categories: first, creative achievements, including works and their media, industrial technology; Second, marks of operation; Third, management credit. Among them, the first category occurs in the field of science, technology, and culture, and the second and third categories occur in the field of business management. The ownership of patent achievements in colleges and universities is the most fundamental embodiment of the intellectual property incentive system. At present, teachers in colleges and universities do not have a clear understanding of the ownership of patent achievements, which is mainly reflected in the unclear definition of service invention and non-service invention. On the one hand, it is caused by the insufficient popularization of patent knowledge and the lack of comprehensive understanding of patent knowledge by college teachers. On the other hand, it is because the patent law and its implementation details only give general principles for some issues and do not give clear provisions. Based on the above principles, the protected objects of intellectual property rights include scientific and technological achievements to some extent. On the other hand, according to the relevant provisions of current laws and policies on the registration of scientific and technological achievements, it can be found that scientific and technological achievements also include forms of intellectual property rights, especially patent rights. The main reason is that China’s science and technology system has been influenced by the former Soviet Union’s science and technology model in history. Therefore, the theory of “achievements of creative activities” put forward by scholars in the former Soviet Union according to the country’s civil rights system has also influenced the understanding of the nature of intellectual property protection objects in China’s relevant systems. Scholars in the former Soviet Union would refer to objects of such rights as intellectual property rights (which at the time did not become generic) as “the fruits of creative activity.” The results of such creative activities fall into two categories: scientific, literary, and artistic works; The other category is discovery, invention, and rationalization proposals, including industrial
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utility technologies that enable industrial products to receive artistic new treatment of technical and aesthetic unity. At the same time, due to the management of scientific and technological achievements and the legal system of intellectual property rights belonging to different disciplines, so there are differences in study and understanding, in the field of law for the protection of intellectual property rights object (objects) focus on the construction of theoretical system of intellectual property, and the management of scientific and technological achievements from the angle of the relative real attention to as a part of scientific research management, therefore, formed a relatively isolated and overlap of two sets of discourse system. 2. Lack of functions and mediators in the transfer of scientific and technological achievements in universities. In the national innovation system, colleges and universities, as an important base of knowledge innovation, play a vital fundamental role. No matter it is the comparative advantage in the field of basic science research or the knowledge innovation ability in the specific high-tech field, our universities and colleges undoubtedly have good personnel, material, and knowledge conditions. However, for a long time, due to the different understanding of the nature and function of colleges and universities, the scientific and technological innovation activities of colleges and universities often stay in the scientific fields such as knowledge innovation and academic innovation, while the technical innovation is often stopped. Moreover, technological innovation is a high-risk activity, which may lead to the delay, suspension, failure, or failure of the expected technological and economic indicators due to the uncertainty of the external environment, the difficulty and complexity of technological innovation projects, and the limitation of enterprises’ ability and strength. Under the traditional planned economy system, the industry–university scientific research cooperation lacks the risk of consciousness and the ability to resist the risk. Under the condition of the market economy, the cooperation between industry, science, and research can easily go to two extremes: one is to blindly fear or avoid risks; the other is to know nothing about risks or take blind risks. Colleges and universities as an important base of national knowledge innovation and technological innovation, need to guarantee the stability of alliance of industry, on the premise of orderly, greater use of the college scientific research personnel and technology innovation of university scientific research platform through the transfer form, including intellectual property licensing will, by real financial achievements of scientific research funds into the market, for the construction of national innovation system and innovation of the innovative national construction provide strong guarantee. In the context of China’s current policy, mainly university and public research institutions act as an integral part of the national innovation system, such as location clear, but how to develop the function of university knowledge reserves and knowledge innovation, how to realize the more widely in the research universities to carry out scientific and technological innovation activities and did not give enough policy guidance on specific issues. At the same time, due to the serious imbalance in the capacity of scientific and technological innovation in colleges and universities in China, it is really difficult to solve the functional deficiency of scientific
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and technological innovation capacity and intellectual property transfer through the policy supply at the national macro level. As a result, China’s colleges and universities should be issued as soon as possible to promote scientific and technological innovation of relevant policies and measures, including increasing the investment of scientific research in colleges and universities from and guarantee, perfecting the construction of national technology transfer center of colleges and universities, colleges and universities, research institutions management coordination mechanism, establishing scientific experimental platform sharing mechanism between colleges and universities, improve the innovation of science and technology requirements of the scientific research personnel evaluation mechanism. It will promote the scientific and technological innovation as to realize knowledge source development of the innovative national construction, strengthen the use of public technology platform serving the role of social and economic development and popularization of science and technology and progress, to scientific and technological innovation as an important social responsibility, and teaching the same will be an effective fiscal input into the social sharing of knowledge innovation and technological innovation resources, for the business development of small and medium-sized enterprises to provide technical support for public welfare and nonexclusive and intellectual property rights transfer. Policy conflict and adjustment overlap in the management of scientific and technological achievements in universities As major universities in China are legal entities of public welfare institutions established by the state with financial resources, according to the higher education law and other relevant provisions, the main assets of Chinese universities are state-owned assets, and their ownership belongs to the state. Through decades of economic reform process of separating, compared with universities, state-owned enterprises have gradually realized from the state-owned enterprises to the modern enterprise management mode and the corporate governance structure of state-owned enterprises, the state of the enterprise legal person structure just plays an established role of investors and shareholders, for enterprise operation and asset disposal only play to match the necessary supervision enterprise status, not directly interfere in enterprise assets operation and use. However, as institutions of higher learning are institution legal persons chartered by the state, the state enjoys the rights of the owner rather than the rights of the contributor to the invested assets, and the government agency exercises the corresponding functions of direct management and examination and approval. At the same time, because of the special nature of the scientific and technological achievements, for the management of scientific and technological achievements cannot also can’t be equal to the real estate equipment such as tangible assets, can’t with the equivalent of school brand, credibility of profit-making intangible assets, in a sense, this kind of assets with similar public goods attribute to schools to carry out teaching activities. The opportunistic behavior, free-riding behavior and various rentseeking behaviors in the management and use of educational and scientific research assets lead to serious waste and loss of state-owned educational and scientific research assets. Too much emphasis on the state of intellectual property rights at the same
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time, the entity undertaking the responsibility, right, and ambiguous condition not only affects the entity undertaking the technological innovation and achievements transformation, also make the entity undertaking active intellectual property protection measures the enthusiasm is not high, some important scientific and technological achievements neglected failed to form independent intellectual property rights, the low efficiency of knowledge industrialization. And, most of the colleges and universities in our country, in accordance with relevant provisions of the state-owned asset management related to intellectual property rights of the unity of the state-owned assets management into the school, however, because of the functional departments in school internal division of labor, in this part there often have different management relations, support of intellectual property products subject project funds belong to the financial department management, identification of the function of the registration of intellectual property products belong to the scientific research management department, and intellectual property products, assessment and sell at a discount and belongs to the state-owned assets supervision and administration department, which inevitably makes the use of intellectual property products process complex, program trivial, conflict and relative formalities. Since the state-owned assets management system does not consider the special value attribute of intangible assets such as scientific and technological achievements, it generally follows the management mode of fixed assets, making the management mode of intangible assets closed and rigid. There is no special policy to regulate the attribute and management of state-owned intellectual property and other related intangible assets, which makes it more difficult to define state-owned intangible assets. In view of the fact that China’s science and technology progress law and other science and technology laws delegate the scientific and technological plans and project achievements supported by state financial investment to scientific research institutions, it is hoped that scientific and technological achievements can be transferred and spread out more conveniently through scientific research institutions. However, as most of China’s scientific research institutions are state-owned enterprises, the intellectual property achievements released by science and technology departments are inevitably controlled in the form of state-owned assets, which results in the shelving of most scientific research achievements of China’s colleges and universities. It can be said that the restrictions on the utilization of intellectual property products by the management of state assets have largely hindered the power of technology diffusion released through the transfer of scientific and technological achievements. This conflict and contradiction in policy coordination have had a blocking effect on the technological innovation chain of university scientific and technological innovation achievements. Get the necessary attention from relevant departments. China should coordinate on the issue of state-owned assets supervision and administration department, finance department, the department in charge of the competent department of education, science and technology, is the coordination of relevant policies and law, between cohesion and coordination with the related system to clean up, the scientific and technological achievements, as a special specification and pick the
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whole intangible assets in isolation, colleges and universities should also be appropriate to develop intellectual property products and technological achievements to register, transfer and use of rules, will the university assets such as scientific and technological achievements into productive assets be unified operation, not only ensure safety and protection of state-owned assets, and effective play real role of the intellectual property assets, Realize the maximum transformation from Intellectual Property to Intellectual Capital. 3. The system gap and mechanism imbalance of the evaluation of scientific and technological achievements in universities It is a common problem in the field of science and technology that the enthusiasm of scientific and technical personnel to apply for a patent is not high, and colleges and universities are no exception. In China, the ratio of service invention to non-service invention is 3:7, while foreign non-service invention only accounts for 5–6% of the total number of applications. It is reported that only one Japanese company, such as SONY, Toshiba and Hitachi, applies for tens of thousands of patents both at home and abroad every year. In the 10 years since the implementation of China’s “863” plan, more than 1200 appraisal results have been obtained, more than 20,000 papers have been published, and more than 240 patents have been applied. How far the two contracts differ. However, the gap lies not only in the quantity, but also in the concept and consciousness. As an important part of intellectual property rights and the main body of state-owned technological innovation, patents have not been given due attention. After the transformation from a planned economy to market economy, most institutions of higher learning have not completed the corresponding transformation of scientific research management, and still, continue the management method under the planned system. On the scientific research project, for example, are generally issued by the competent department of scientific research guide or bidding project, organized by institutions of higher learning scientific research management department declaration, put each year for scientific research funds as the main performance of the work, on this basis to formulate some goals and long-term planning, after the completion of the project, as long as the published articles, and the problem, the results to register, researchers can promote, the computing workload, etc., the school can count how many scientific research achievements. There are no requirements on whether to apply for patent or whether to produce economic benefits. Moreover, these indicators are not taken as one of the conditions for promotion, award evaluation. and workload calculation. Therefore, evaluation and reward mechanism that emphasizes academic research and ignores the market has been formed in colleges and universities. In this case, how can the enthusiasm of technical personnel to apply for patents be improved? In addition, the approval of a patent often has a process, especially the application for a patent for invention, sometimes even take several years, the inventor is difficult to make immediate profits, thus affecting the enthusiasm of patent application. Statistics show that in recent years, the number of patent applications in colleges and universities is declining, which is inconsistent with the national policy of encouraging technological innovation and protecting independent intellectual property rights.
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Results of patent is common phenomenon in institutions of higher learning, and there are many disadvantages because of appraisal and awards, as long as the appraisal shall be “level”, as long as the contestant can “award”, the reward is recognized by the personnel department, the winners will not only get considerable bonuses, but also the priority promotion, promotion, and go abroad. But applying for a patent is complicated, costly and time-consuming. It takes at least three years for an invention patent to be applied for and authorized. Some patents may not have a good implementation effect, and there are many infringement disputes with good implementation effect. The difficulty of claiming an invention award, and the fact that the “patent award” is not recognized by the human resources department, means that it is meaningless for promotion or going abroad, and there is no reason to bother. In many institutions of higher learning, teachers’ promotion and academic evaluation are all measured by the number of published articles and awards. Some researchers argue that patenting is a messy business that costs money and does not necessarily result in a patent. On the contrary, some scientific and technical personnel have no enthusiasm to apply for patents because they can gain fame and money by writing papers and appraising scientific and technological achievements. According to the statistics of the national education science and technology department, most scientific research achievements of colleges and universities have not applied for patent protection, and the appraisal achievements are increasing year by year, while the patent applications are decreasing year by year. Policy Suggestions on the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in Chinese universities 1. Give full attention to the strategic planning and deployment of intellectual property of the university Against the background of increasingly fierce global scientific and technological competition, developed countries such as the United States and Japan have successfully incorporated intellectual property created by scientific research and technological innovation activities in universities into their global scientific, technological, economic, and political strategies through their respective intellectual property policies and strategies. Suggested that our country in the formulation and implementation of the national intellectual property strategy, should fully draw lessons from Japan “the intellectual property strategy compendium,” the university intellectual property creation, protection, utilization, and management as one of the core content of our country intellectual property strategy, establish university intellectual property strategy, to guide the university intellectual property work in our country. In the concrete implementation of national intellectual property strategy, suggested by the National Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology and the State Intellectual Property Office, set up a joint action group, according to the action plan of the national intellectual property strategy, develop intellectual property strategic action plan in colleges and universities, colleges and universities in China have the advantages and the advantage of multidisciplinary cross-discipline knowledge of strategic planning and deployment of colleges and universities, especially in basic research can produce
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basic patents in advance for domestic and international intellectual property planning and layout, to occupy the world intellectual property competition emerging industry development. Actively promote the exchange and discussion of intellectual property among colleges and universities, enhance the awareness and ability of colleges and universities to use intellectual property to strengthen their strategic advantages at the forefront of science and technology. According to the latest trend of international intellectual property activities, the deployment of intellectual property work in Chinese universities is adjusted, so as to promote Chinese universities to obtain basic patents at home and abroad in some research fields with research advantages or strength, and to make substantial progress in patent development strategy. We should strengthen statistics, analysis, and research on intellectual property protection in colleges and universities, keep abreast of new trends of intellectual property work abroad, and strengthen scientific guidance on intellectual property protection and management in colleges and universities. It is suggested that the competent departments of the Ministry of Education regularly conduct comprehensive statistics on the intellectual property activities and management of colleges and universities in China every year and conduct in-depth research on the problems found in the statistical analysis of intellectual property activities and management of colleges and universities. At the same time, we should pay close attention to the latest trend of intellectual property activities and their management in universities in developed countries, and adjust the strategic planning and deployment of intellectual property activities in universities in China, so as to strengthen the macro-decisionmaking departments in China to provide scientific guidance for intellectual property management in universities. 2. Define the right ownership and benefit distribution mechanism of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities Colleges and universities are the important forces to undertake and complete the national major scientific research tasks, and research-oriented universities are the main force of China’s basic research and major breakthroughs. From the international comparison, both in developed countries the United States, Japan, and the member states, and emerging industrialized countries, the university application for a patent for invention and patent grant of its national position an application for a patent for invention and the proportion of post invention patent authorization, have not reached the level of our university (accounted for more than 1/5 in our country, and nearly a third, respectively). Therefore, compared with these countries, the technological innovation ability of Chinese universities, especially the original innovation ability, plays a bigger role in the improvement of national independent innovation ability. Considering that the government is the main source of scientific research funds in universities, it is necessary to give full play to the potential of technological innovation in universities, especially original innovation. Recommended by the National People’s Congress (NPC) group, set up legislation for the central and local government support or the national financial support of scientific research in colleges and universities intellectual property right ownership, make such as licensing and
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profit distribution laws and regulations and the detailed rules for the implementation of operational, clear colleges and universities as the central and local government funding or national scientific research project financially for a patent for invention of the rights and obligations of all people, especially for its invention of patent license or transfer the rights and obligations, employee inventors, and scientific research personnel’s legitimate rights and interests and behavior can make operational rules. It should also include the requirement that the university’s invention patent must be transferred and used, so as to further mobilize and encourage the enthusiasm of the university and its scientific research personnel in independent innovation and application of results. For inventions that are not patented by the university after technical evaluation, it is suggested that university teachers or inventors apply for patents freely under the condition that the ownership of the invention does not violate the relevant provisions of the state, so as to encourage the enthusiasm of teachers of institutions of higher learning to innovate. Provide the protection of intellectual property rights and its industrialization of scientific research is the important mission and responsibility of the leadership in colleges and universities, the knowledge of patent application and authorization of the product as an important index of assessment of teachers’ scientific research evaluation system, in the title assess, promotion, such as housing distribution rights allocation enjoy and other scientific research such as scientific and technological achievements appraisal, the paper presented the same treatment, build system of university– industry–research collaboration series specifications. To coordinate the relationship between the government, schools and enterprises, schools and teachers, schools and teachers, schools and students, teachers and students, and schools and enterprises through policies in the transfer of scientific and technological achievements of universities and industrial development. 3. Strengthen the professional construction of university scientific and technological achievements transfer institutions From the perspective of the protection and management of intellectual property rights in universities in the United States, Japan, and other developed countries, these countries have generally formulated and implemented relevant policies of encouragement and support to promote the management and protection of intellectual property rights and technology transfer in universities. An application for a patent for invention for the current our country colleges and universities lack of technology assessment, service level is low, the rate of patent authorization declined, low rate of authorized patents to maintain and lack of patent strategy planning of the status quo, relevant departments should be encouraged in China after the establishment of research university and the university of patent work active management institutions, at the same time, the management of university patent activity cost to compensate. We will establish a sound mechanism for transferring the property rights of university scientific and technological achievements, a risk prevention mechanism, a government service mechanism, a rights protection mechanism, and an internal management and operation mechanism.
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It was suggested that the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issued by the State Intellectual Property Office of the relevant intellectual property management in research universities and the policy of the office of technology transfer files, assessment on making their business standards and meet the performance requirements of university intellectual property management agencies, for its open, technical evaluation and an application for a patent for invention, market promotion and so on administrative fees for full compensation, partial subsidies or according to the obtained results are rewards, to encourage various universities, especially research universities to establish and perfect intellectual property protection and management system of colleges and universities. Due to the differences in scientific research ability and discipline setting, China’s colleges and universities have great differences in intellectual property creation ability and intellectual property management needs. For strong study ability, intellectual property rights to create a large amount of research universities, should set up intellectual property management and technology transfer office, or has been set up respectively and the office of technology transfer, intellectual property management office to encourage merge the two units, enhance the university intellectual property creation, patent applications, and technology licensing work of cohesion, will be conducive to the management, protection of intellectual property rights and technology transfer. To do not have to set up the intellectual property management and the office of technology transfer in universities, encourage hiring market specialized intellectual property management agencies or law firm to carry out this work, the school teachers and students to the implementation of intellectual property rights policy, invention disclosure, patent application, technical evaluation, technology licensing, and so on carries on the specialized management. University itself as a school system suppliers should be within the university evaluation, the university internal knowledge industrialization organization setup, the university internal intellectual property management personnel arrangement, the university internal knowledge industrialization interest allocation and risk investment to provide good system arrangement, promote the development of university science and technology achievements transformation and industry.
References Altbach, P. G. (2016). Chinese higher education: “Glass ceiling” and “feet of clay”. International Higher Education, 86, 11–13. Hazelkorn, E. (2015). Rankings and the reshaping of higher education: The battle for world-class excellence. Dordrecht: Springer. Huang, F. (2015). Building the world-class research universities: A case study of China. Higher Education, 70(2), 203–215. Kim, D., Song, Q., Liu, J., Liu, Q., & Grimm, A. (2018). Building world class universities in China: Exploring faculty’s perceptions, interpretations of and struggles with global forces in higher education. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 48(1), 92–109.
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Marginson, S. (2016). High participation systems of higher education. The Journal of Higher Education, 87(2), 243–271. Song, J. (2018). Creating world-class universities in China: Strategies and impacts at a renowned research university. Higher Education, 75(4), 729–742. Yang, R. (2015). Corruption in China’s higher education: A malignant tumor. International Higher Education, 39, 18–20. Zhong, Z., Liu, L., Coates, H., & Kuh, G. (2019). What the US (and rest of the world) should know about higher education in China. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 51(3), 8–20.
Chapter 5
Analyzing the Fund Management System of Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China
This chapter focuses on the policy analysis on the reform of the scientific research fund management system in China’s universities. The level of scientific research is an important sign of the comprehensive strength of colleges and universities. Research activities can be divided into basic research, applied research, and development research. Basic research mainly refers to scientific research activities to explore the basic principles of the objective world. It is not aimed at application and aims at revealing the essence and movement rules of objective things. Applied research mainly refers to scientific research activities aimed at specific purposes and exploring new methods, new approaches, and new principles to achieve goals. Research and development mainly refer to scientific research activities to explore new processes, technologies, and service procedures for the production of new products, materials, and devices on the basis of knowledge acquired in basic research and applied research institutes. University research funding is the basic condition for carrying out scientific research activities. As a powerful country in science and technology, how can the growth and dissemination of knowledge receive adequate funding? Under the premise of a substantial increase in scientific research funding, how to effectively manage the funding is a major policy problem facing Germany. In fact, there are institutional and institutional problems in the management of scientific research funds in colleges and universities in China.
5.1 The Function Orientation and International Comparison of Scientific Research Fund Management in Colleges and Universities Scientific research funds of universities are mainly used for basic research Research funds in universities are mainly used for basic research. In the nearly three decades from 1970 to 2006, the proportion of R&D expenditure on basic research in © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 E. Xue and J. Li, Innovating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2788-3_5
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American colleges and universities basically maintained at about 70%. Colleges and universities are the main departments undertaking basic research. To some extent, first-class basic research is an important symbol of world-class universities. International scientific and technological competition is the competition of basic research. At the same time, through basic research to cultivate, train and store talents, so as to realize the transition to a powerful country with talents (Cao and Yang 2019). Scientific research in Chinese universities covers all fields of basic research and is the backbone of basic research and an important base for talent cultivation. In 2006, the total funding for basic research in universities exceeded that of government research institutions for the first time, becoming the main force of basic research in China. In 2007, the funding for basic research in universities was 8.68 billion yuan, accounting for 27.6% of the total. Compared with 2006, the basic research funds increased by 21.7%, the applied research funds increased by 17.9%, and the experimental development funds decreased by 3.1%. In 2010, the total funding for basic research in universities was 17.99 billion yuan, an increase of 23.7% over the previous year and 3.7% higher than the national growth rate. Basic research activities accounted for 55.4% of the country’s basic research activities. 2. The proportion of national R&D investment in scientific research carried out by colleges and universities is relatively high (Hu et al. 2018; Song 2018; Pang 2018). The organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) member countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, the United States, a total of 30 countries) from 1995 to 2007, performed by the university of national R&D ratio remained at 17.2%, basic minimum of 1995, about 16.2%; It peaked at 17.7% in 2004. In the group of eight (Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Russia), Canadian universities and colleges implemented the highest proportion of national R&D investment in 2007 (33.7%). Russia has the lowest, at 6.3%; The American average is 13.3% and the average is 21.8%. From 1995 to 2007, the proportion of national R&D investments carried out by Chinese universities showed a declining trend year by year, with an average of about 10.1%, about 7.1% points lower than the average of OECD member states. In 2007 it was 8.5%, about 8.7% points below the OECD average (Ma and Christensen 2019; Li et al. 2019; Zong and Zhang 2019). In the past decade, the absolute amount of research and development expenditure on Chinese universities has been gradually increasing. In 2010, the research and development expenditure on Chinese universities was 59.73 billion yuan, an increase of 27.6% over the previous year, accounting for 8.5% of the national research and development expenditure. In 2010, China invested 706.26 billion yuan in R&D, accounting for 1.76% of the GDP. Of this amount, 32.45 billion yuan was spent on basic research, accounting for 4.6% of the total R&D expenditure. The United States, the European Union, and Japan all spend more than 2.5% of their GDP on research and development each year, up 0.7% points from China’s 1.8% in 2010 (Tang 2019; Lu and Jover 2019).
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The research and development expenditure of colleges and universities is correlated with the GDP. Between 1995 and 2007, the average spending on research and development by universities in OECD countries was 0.38% of GDP, with the lowest figure in 1995 being 0.33%. From 2003 to 2007, it remained basically unchanged at 0.39%. In 2007, among the G8 countries, research and development spending by Canadian universities accounted for the highest share of GDP, at 0.63%. Russia had the lowest, at about 0.07%. The US average is about 0.36% and the EU average is about 0.39%. From 1995 to 2007, the proportion of R&D expenditure in the GDP of China’s universities and colleges increased year by year, with an average of 0.12, 0.26% points lower than the average of OECD. In 2007 it was 0.12, 0.27% points below the OECD average. In the past 5 years, the absolute amount of research and development expenditure of Chinese universities has increased greatly. In 2010, the expenditure was more than twice that of 2006 (27.68 billion yuan), with an average annual increase of 23%. However, the proportion of R&D expenditure in China’s universities in terms of GDP is relatively low. Even in 2010, when the absolute increase of R&D expenditure in universities is the largest, it only accounts for 0.15% of GDP, which is much lower than the average of the Organisation For Economic Co-operation And Development (OECD), group of eight (g8) and European Union (EU), and about 0.2% points lower (Tang 2019; Lu and Jover 2019).
5.2 The System and Mechanism of Scientific Research Fund Management in Chinese Universities Colleges and universities have obvious advantages of pooling human resources and have numerous scientific and technological innovation bases and platforms. They are the radiation sources of scientific and technological innovation and application, and an important force for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. Therefore, they are suitable for basic research activities. Colleges and universities are the main bases for training innovative talents in China, the main force for original innovation in basic research and high-tech fields, and the fresh force for solving major scientific and technological problems in the national economy, realizing technology transfer and transformation of achievements. In the past 30 years of reform and opening up, the scientific research and innovation ability of Chinese universities has been greatly improved and made great progress. However, there are still institutional problems in the management of scientific research funds, which seriously affect the further improvement of scientific research innovation ability and need to be reformed and improved. 1. Insufficient investment in national R&D funds and unreasonable structure of investment. Our research and development spending accounts for the proportion of gross national product (GNP) is not only far lower than developed countries, but the proportion of basic research in the research and development spending is low, basic research funding in 2010 is 32.45 billion yuan, 2.5 times in 2005 as it was, but
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accounted for only 4.6% of the research and development spending, dropped 0.8% than the “15” during the late. In developed countries, the ratio of basic and applied research funds to R&D funds is usually about 1:1. However, in China, R&D funds accounted for 82.8% of the total R&D funds in 2010, and the sum of basic and applied research funds accounted for only 17.2% of the total R&D funds, with the ratio of 5:1. The researchers engaged in basic research in Chinese universities account for nearly 70% of the national basic research personnel, but their research funds only account for about 40% of the national basic research funds, which restricts the development of the potential of basic research in universities (Ma and Christensen 2019; Li et al. 2019; Zong and Zhang 2019). On the one hand, basic research cannot directly serve economic and social development, and only applied research and development research can promote the development of productive forces and social progress. On the other hand, although it acknowledges the importance of basic research, it thinks that China’s current level of scientific and technological development is relatively low, and the limited scientific research funds should be more used for applied research and development research to serve the urgently needed fields of economic construction and development. Second, there is a structural imbalance between competitive and noncompetitive science and technology funds. There is no relatively stable investment mechanism for scientific research funds in colleges and universities, which makes it difficult for colleges and universities to formulate scientific research development plans in line with national needs and school characteristics. Some universities’ scientific research activities have certain blindness, making it difficult to form medium and long-term scientific research layout, and they do not give full play to the advantages of free exploration and long-term sustainability of basic research. Third, the evaluation system of encouragement and support for researchers engaged in basic research needs to be improved. Basic research may not directly generate economic and social benefits, even can have a significant economic and social benefits application development needs a long time, but often in China with rapid spike, scientific research achievements of standard evaluation, in order to conclude the evaluation standard, some researchers even fraud, affect a significant original scientific research achievements. 2. The sources of funds are various, but lack of scientific overall management. Sources of funding channels in colleges and universities and the relevant funds management mainly has three categories: first, education, science, technology, and industry departments set up by the competent department of science and technology plan or project financing of the longitudinal research funds, fund of funds, projects and national governments at all levels of scientific research funds, etc., shall be formulated by the relevant department management approach; Second, the school cooperates with enterprises and other social departments to conduct research, and the horizontal scientific research funds obtained are accounted by the funding institutions. Third, for the scientific research funds obtained by institutions or individuals at home and abroad, or through international cooperative scientific research projects, the relevant fund management measures shall be formulated by the donor or the funding institution. In 2010, Chinese universities and colleges received R&D funds of 35.88
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billion yuan from relevant government departments, 198.5 billion yuan from relevant enterprise departments, and 4.05 billion yuan from relevant foreign departments and other channels, accounting for 60.1, 33.2 and 6.7% of the total R&D funds. Over the past decade, the sources of scientific research funding for Chinese universities have gradually formed a relatively stable proportion, namely about 56% of government funds, 36% of enterprise funds and 8% of other funds (Ma and Christensen 2019). The sources of scientific research funds in colleges and universities are wide, large in quantity, wide in specialty, and involve many departments. Therefore, it is difficult to carry out overall management. At the same time, due to the lack of scientific and reasonable overall planning, increased the complexity of management. There are differences in the management regulations of departments with different sources of scientific research funding, unclear definition of the functions of scientific research funding management institutions, and the lag of capacity building of scientific research management departments, which makes the operating system of limited scientific research funding less efficient, and objectively leads to blind growth of scientific research funding and low scientific research innovation capacity. Review of financial management, project establishment, achievements, such as the lack of effective cooperation, coordination, and communication between departments, led to the scientific research information asymmetry between the different stakeholders, to a certain extent caused the funds management loopholes and funds use anomie, leads to scientific research funding approval and use optional the gender is big, efficiency is not high. 3. The mode of funding allocation needs to be improved, and the scientific research cost accounting is unclear. Teaching and scientific research work in colleges and universities overlap with each other. However, the current mode of financial allocation in colleges and universities is “per student quota allocation + special subsidies,” so far there is no special scientific research budget. The quota allocation is calculated on the basis of the number of students and verified according to the cost of student cultivation. Special subsidies mainly include “project 211”, “project 985” and other special funds, which are earmarked for special funds. Financial departments at all levels have basically no independent scientific research funds allocated to colleges and universities through the budget of competent educational departments, and most teachers’ salaries, allowances, and other labor costs have not been included in the cost of scientific research. There is no reasonable allocation mechanism for scientific research and teaching activities, and no clear division of teaching costs and scientific research costs, which leads to various costs of scientific research cannot be accurately accounted for, resulting in many problems (Ma and Christensen 2019). The cost of scientific research in colleges and universities is not included in the cost of human resources input, so teachers cannot legally and reasonably compensate labor costs from scientific research projects. Excluding the influence of promotion of professional title and other factors, some teachers in colleges and universities have no enough motivation to improve the quality of scientific research, strive for more scientific research projects of strategic significance, or undertake basic research projects of original significance. Some teachers are not satisfied with their own
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scientific research work and actively seek and engage in more “part-time” activities that can obtain direct economic benefits, which have a negative impact on the level of scientific research and restrict the improvement of scientific research strength. The proportion of human capital in the cost of scientific research projects has not been clearly stipulated. Vertical scientific research projects are generally about 15%, while foreign ones are generally 75%, with a difference of 60% points. In order to realize reasonable compensation for human capital input, some college teachers “bill” the labor cost that is difficult to calculate. Colleges and universities often relax some restrictions appropriately and acquiesced in the proper reimbursement of some legal bills by scientific research workers within the “budget scope”. At the same time, there are also a small number of morally deficient researchers who seek personal gains through this means, resulting in the loss of scientific research funds and other problems. 4. The provisions on the use of funds are not reasonable enough and lack of effective management methods. The management of scientific research funds in colleges and universities is carried out by referring to the financial system of educational institutional expenses, but the management mode of educational institutional expenses is obviously not compatible with the management characteristics of scientific research funds. Although some universities have made supplementary provisions for the characteristics of scientific research funds, the overall management system is lack of systematisms, integrity, and operability. The lack of specific, effective, and operational management methods in daily management objectively leads to some undesirable phenomena of “policies above and countermeasures below” in the reimbursement of scientific research funds. The scientific research expenditure audit should include not only the rationality audit like the enterprise fund but also the scientific audit whether it conforms to the project budget. In the reimbursement process of scientific research funds, the project budget and final accounts are not flexible, and objectively there is a disconnect between management, supervision and audit (Li et al. 2019; Zong and Zhang 2019). Due to the lack of investment in scientific research funds, teachers in universities and colleges have been trying to save as much as possible in scientific research project expenditure for a long time, in order to set aside some funds for carrying out new research and striving for new projects. The relevant departments of the state have worked out the detailed rules for the implementation of the fund management for scientific research projects, but it is still difficult to solve the problems of “conclusion not settlement” and “long-term use on account”. In research budget, management is difficult to accurately reflect the scientific research under the condition of the actual cost, if according to the regulations of the state, full recovery of surplus funds, the scientific research personnel is a negative stimulus, do more harm than good, objectively to encourage scientific research personnel in the research work in the waste of funds, make annual assault spend the phenomenon such as difficult to stop, puts forward a new problem for the payment of funds management. Limited by the regulations of expenditure projects, scientific researchers often increase the equipment purchase fee as much as possible in the project budget in order to obtain more funds, which,
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to some extent, results in the repeated acquisition of assets, low use efficiency, idle waste of resources, and other problems in colleges and universities. The unreasonable management method of scientific research funds in colleges and universities makes the budget of scientific research projects fail to reflect the real needs of scientific research work, which leads to a series of problems such as distortion of accounting information, difficulty in evaluating the performance of funds and low efficiency of scientific research resources.
5.3 Suggestions on the Reform of Scientific Research Fund Management System in Chinese Universities Define the strategic position of basic research and cultivate innovative talents in scientific research. Universities are the main departments that undertake basic research, and there is a general consensus around the world that they should be the backbone of original research. The history of the development of science and technology has repeatedly shown that every major revolution in industrial technology is a major breakthrough based on scientific principles, and basic research will fundamentally affect the driving force of economic and social development. Colleges and universities are the places with the most ability and conditions to carry out basic research. On the one hand, through the innovation of scientific research funding systems and mechanisms, a large number of teachers should be kept engaged in basic research at the forefront of science. We should also focus on our strengths and carry out planned basic research on major scientific issues. Meanwhile, a large number of innovative talents are cultivated in basic research. Colleges and universities should strengthen basic research, enhance the ability of independent innovation, improve the level of applied research, and produce achievements, talents, contributions and higher levels in scientific research practice. Colleges and universities should give full play to their important role in the construction of national and regional innovation system, take national strategic demand as guidance, undertake major scientific research tasks, and become the main body and backbone of basic research. We should take the initiative to face the main battlefield of national economic and social development, effectively solve a large number of scientific and technological problems in development practice, and truly be “indomitable” and become an important source of technological innovation. We should vigorously promote the innovation of Marxist theory and construct and perfect the discipline system of philosophy and social science with Chinese characteristics. We will strengthen research on China’s fine cultural traditions, conduct research on major practical and theoretical issues in economic and social development, build high-level think tanks, and give full play to the role of think tanks and think tanks. As two important functions of universities, teaching and scientific research have been widely recognized. Through the organic combination of scientific research and talent cultivation, it is the fundamental mission of universities to cultivate high-level
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innovative talents. Colleges and universities should not only train tens of millions of high-quality builders of the socialist cause for the country, but also train top innovative talents with advanced thinking and powerful measures, transform the latest achievements of scientific research into the latest contents of education and teaching, and cultivate innovative talents in high-level scientific research practice. We should give full attention to the training of young teachers and researchers in universities and colleges and use research funds to build research teams. For example, we should employ high-level researchers and research assistants, recruit postdoctoral researchers, and improve the structure of research personnel. We will increase the support of grants and innovation funds for graduate students, postdocs and young teachers, so that they will not worry about their lives, devote themselves to scientific research, devote themselves to academic research and innovation, promote the crossintegration of multiple disciplines and fields, promote technology integration and innovation, and stimulate the spirit of independent innovation. To improve the policy of continuous research support for scientific research workers, 10–20 years after starting to work is the golden age of scientific research and the best period for the growth of innovative talents. We should give timely financial support to talents with independent thinking and original thinking, especially to a small number of highlevel talents on the basis of strict selection and encourage and support scholars who conduct independent and innovative research in frontier and major strategic fields. We will strengthen investment in basic research and adjust the structure of research funding. Set up national research and development budget organization, can be in the general committee of the National People’s Congress set up relevant institutions, is responsible for the budget of university’s scientific research, on the basis of in-depth investigation and research, determine the budget of university’s scientific research, formulate suitable for basic research, long cycle, high uncertainty, low directly applied characteristics of long term, stable funding scheme. Current research projects are funding to establish 35 years of research at the beginning of the term and complex evaluation standard, make basic research is faced with the shortterm results of the study was not significant, long-term research funding shortage of realistic problems, lead to basic research into hard, study hard to undertake before and after, therefore, can be within budget approval to establish long-term, stable funding schemes suited to the characteristics of the basic research. We will increase funding for noncompetitive research and improve the distribution of basic research. Basic research is suitable for continuous and stable funding mode, not competitive funding mode. The government-led competitive funding model may lead to the overall layout of basic research becoming national strategic orientation, but it will make the cumulative effect of science overly dependent on the government’s short-term development goals. Therefore, we should appropriately increase the input of noncompetitive funds, formulate the basic research plan in line with China’s national conditions, and optimize the input structure of competitive and noncompetitive research funds. According to international practice, the proportion of noncompetitive research funds should account for more than 50% of all research and development funds in universities. Noncompetitive research funds should be
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used to strengthen the support for the innovation team, and a rational, coordinated and efficient scientific research and innovation team composed of teachers, full-time scientific research personnel, auxiliary scientific research personnel, postdoctoral students, and doctoral students should be formed to promote the close integration of scientific research and teaching. Gradually adjust the input structure of different scientific research activities, increase the input of basic research funds, increase the proportion of the total investment in scientific research funds of universities, so that the basic research funds of universities will gradually increase from 30% of the total research funds of universities in 2010 to more than 60%, initially reaching the level of developed countries. On the macro level, we will gradually adjust the direction of national research and development funding, increasing the proportion of basic research funding from less than 5% of the total research and development funding in 2010 to 10%, striving to achieve the target of 15% and ensuring the funding support for basic research. At the same time, funding for basic research is inclined to colleges and universities to set up plans in line with the actual situation of basic research in colleges and universities in China and promote the sustainable development of independent innovation. The research and development investment of major countries in the world shows that the government is the largest funder and supporter of basic research. For example, the federal government of the United States accounts for more than 55% of the research and development funds of universities, and more than 60% of the basic research funds of universities, making it the largest funder of university research. In 2010, China’s enterprises invested less than 500 million yuan in basic research, accounting for less than 1‰ of their R&D expenditure. During the tenth five-year plan period, the proportion of R&D expenditure carried out by Chinese universities remained at about 10%. During the 11th Five-Year plan period, it declined slowly and increased in 2010, but only 8.5%. It should be gradually increased to more than 16% of the average of OECD member states (Li et al. 2019; Zong and Zhang 2019). Improve the management methods for the use of scientific research funds and compensate for the human cost of scientific research. The departments in charge of scientific research funds should establish and perfect the system of scientific research cost accounting step by step. We should adjust the way of calculating the allocation of educational funds, compensate for the cost of scientific research human resources, and optimize the structure of scientific research funds. The ministry of education, the ministry of finance, the ministry of science and technology and other competent departments shall take the lead in organizing relevant colleges and universities to calculate the cost of scientific research, formulate authentic and reliable standards, scientifically and reasonably calculate the cost of scientific research, and formulate feasible accounting methods based on the actual situation of colleges and universities; Through complete, true, and reliable calculation of various scientific research costs, the performance evaluation of scientific research funds is carried out to improve the efficiency of scientific research project funds. We will gradually revise and improve measures for the management of scientific research funds, strengthen the overall management of scientific research funds, and
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transform budget management into management by objectives. In clear: in the measures for the management of funds is not restricted to graduate students and temporary employment personnel labor costs, the project leader and team members according to the contribution amount), such as extracting a certain percentage of the labor remuneration, can consult practice in the United States, according to pay a certain period of wage subsidy standard extract personnel expenses; The proportion of personnel expenses shall be increased accordingly, and the wage and subsidy standards for all types of personnel shall be further clarified, so as to improve the quality of life of scientific researchers and increase their work enthusiasm. For example, funds for scientific research project personnel must be directly transferred to the bank account of scientific research personnel by the financial department of the university in the way of entrusted bank distribution, and no one-time withholding shall be allowed. The surplus funds will no longer be recycled and encouraged to be used for follow-up scientific research. Reform the evaluation system of scientific research and improve the efficiency of scientific research funds. We should improve the evaluation system of scientific research in colleges and universities, establish a scientific and reasonable evaluation system, change the simple and rigid evaluation method and the tendency of emphasizing quantity over quality, strengthen the academic standard management, and improve the open, fair and just management mechanism. The evaluation of scientific research achievements should downplay the “quantity” and “form”, emphasize the “quality” and “influence” of scientific research achievements, and pay attention to the academic value, social value and policy benefit of scientific research achievements. We will vigorously support interdisciplinary projects that may acquire new discoveries, new concepts, new ideas, new theories, new methods, and new technologies, regulate and protect “non-consensus projects” and “risk projects”, and create an innovative cultural atmosphere in colleges and universities. We will improve academic evaluation methods, establish authoritative intermediary evaluation institutions, transform administrative evaluation into the social evaluation, improve peer review and project management systems, and guide academic evaluation and fund management to a path of sound development. To formulate feasible measures to promote the sharing of scientific research resources such as equipment, data and achievements. Strengthen the cooperation, coordination, and communication among various departments in the management of scientific research funds, and realize the mutual sharing of budget information, progress information and financial information of scientific research projects; Gradually establish a public disclosure system, subject to social supervision. We should coordinate and improve the existing incentives for scientific research in China, reasonably set up awards, improve the authority and fairness of awards, and advocate a research attitude and academic style that is willing to be lonely, utilitarian, and innovative. Vigorously carry forward the scientific spirit of seeking truth and reality, cultivate the innovative spirit of keeping pace with The Times; Strengthen the innovative mentality of being the first, taking risks, exploring bravely and not afraid of failure; Foster a spirit of cooperation and innovation for mutual benefit and progress and promoting
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exchanges; We should foster a social fashion of respecting knowledge, advocating science and encouraging creativity. We will vigorously promote a culture of competition among schools of thought and academic equality and foster a more open and inclusive culture of innovation. The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues of Comprehensively Deepening Reform pointed out that deepening the reform of science and technology system and building a national innovation system; We will integrate scientific and technological planning and resources, improve the mechanism for government support for basic, strategic and frontier scientific research and research on generic technologies, and establish an open and transparent mechanism for managing national scientific research resources and evaluating projects. The essence of the reform of the scientific research fund management system in universities is the innovation of system and mechanism, which is the basic condition of scientific and technological innovation. Therefore, to accelerate the adapt to the college scientific research management system and mechanism for the activities of the law reform, gradually eliminate institutional obstacles, improve the overall coordination of the research of macro decision-making mechanism, the mechanism of communication and coordination between different departments, and relevant evaluation, adjustment and suspension mechanism, limited funding for the overall layout, long-term planning, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of using scientific research funds provide strong institutional guarantee for the construction of higher education power.
References Cao, Y., & Yang, R. (2019). World-class 3 university construction and higher education governance reform in China (p. 21). Global Influences and Local Responses: The Governance and Management of Universities in Asia. Hu, J., Liu, H., Chen, Y., & Qin, J. (2018). Strategic planning and the stratification of Chinese higher education institutions. International Journal of Educational Development, 63, 36–43. Li, Y., Meng, S., Li, L., Zhang, Y., Wan, Z., & Wang, T. (2019, April). Analysis on the Development of China’s Higher Education from the Perspective of the Community with a Shared Future for Mankind. In 3rd International Conference on Culture, Education and Economic Development of Modern Society (ICCESE 2019). Atlantis Press. Lu, Y., & Jover, G. (2019). An anthropocosmic view: What Confucian traditions can teach us about the past and future of Chinese higher education. Higher Education, 77(3), 423–436. Ma, L., & Christensen, T. (2019). Reputation profiles of Chinese universities—Converging with global trends or national characteristics? In Universities as Agencies (pp. 93–115). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan Pang, L. (2018). How Tsinghua became a world class research university: A case study on the impact of rankings on a Chinese higher education institution (Doctoral dissertation). Song, J. (2018). Creating world-class universities in China: Strategies and impacts at a renowned research university. Higher Education, 75(4), 729–742.
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Tang, H. H. H. (2019). World-class universities and female leadership in the academic profession: case studies of East Asian higher education. In Gender and the changing face of higher education in Asia Pacific (pp. 41–56). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. Zong, X., & Zhang, W. (2019). Establishing world-class universities in China: Deploying a quasiexperimental design to evaluate the net effects of Project 985. Studies in Higher Education, 44(3), 417–431.
Chapter 6
Exploring the Institutional Arrangement of Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China
This chapter concentrates on exploring the institutional arrangement of university– industry cooperation. The essential attribute of collaborative innovation is management innovation, which is an important link for China to promote economic development mode to mainly rely on scientific and technological progress, improve the quality of workers, and manage innovation. It is of great significance to plan and implement collaborative innovation from the perspective of national strategy. Chinese universities, especially research universities, should carry out in-depth cooperation with scientific research institutions and enterprises to actively promote collaborative innovation. The basic tasks of higher education are personnel training, scientific research, and social service, and innovation runs through the basic tasks of higher education. However, the integration of science and technology with the economy and science and technology with education in China has not been truly solved. To strengthen collaborative innovation means to emphasize the synergy between science and technology and economy, and to generate the nonlinear utility of 1 + 1 + 1 > 3 through in-depth cooperation and resource integration between knowledge creation subjects and technological innovation subjects. The success of Silicon Valley lies in the strategy and policy of the organic convergence and integration of technology and capital, technology, and market in university and market. It has been proved by practice that the five links of government, industry, academia, research and use connect, penetrate, and support each other, which is the necessary condition for the production of major scientific and technological achievements. The philosophical basis of the legal existence of higher education can be broadly divided into two categories: epistemological basis. The basis of political theory, the knowledge that higher education seeks to have a profound impact on the country. In addition to preserving, inheriting, and innovating knowledge, the main function of higher education has gradually assumed the function of public service. The perfection of academic achievements is measured by their public verifiability, comprehensiveness, and conciseness, which are measured by social practices, including industrial applications. We will raise the quality of higher education in an all-round way. We need to consciously participate in accelerating the development of strategic emerging © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 E. Xue and J. Li, Innovating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2788-3_6
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industries, promote close integration of industries, universities, and research institutes, accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and the industrialization of science and technology, and make great efforts to transform “made in China” into “created in China”. To comprehensively improve the quality of higher education, we need to strengthen the social service capacity of colleges and universities, take the initiative to serve the transformation of the mode of economic development and industrial transformation and upgrading, accelerate the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities, strengthen the construction of technology transfer centers in colleges and universities, and form a relatively complete technology transfer system. Since the 1980s, the cooperation between Chinese universities and industry has been further strengthened and made great achievements. However, the level of cooperation between universities and industries is low, the motivation is insufficient, the benefits are not high, and the scientific cooperation mechanism has not been established, which is difficult to meet the needs of rejuvenating the country through science and education and building an innovative country. Therefore, it is urgent to find out the causes of the problems, put forward countermeasures, establish benefit cooperation mechanism, promote the cooperation between universities and industries, meet the fierce challenges of international competition, and adapt to and lead the rapid economic growth and scientific development. National innovation system theory, triple helix theory, the theory of open innovation theory and cross-organizational collaboration universities, and the principle of industrial cooperative innovation has made the explanation, and the university and industry cooperation strategy choice and institutional arrangement made the analysis of the different forms, but the same principle, combining with the theoretical tools and realistic conditions of our country, through policy analysis, based on the interests of stakeholders, put forward the policy suggestions to promote the university and industry cooperation, macro policy adjustment and innovation of higher education, to promote synergy innovation (Moraes Silva et al. 2019).
6.1 Exploration of the Nature and System Comparison of Cooperation Between Universities and Industry I. Exploration of the nature of cooperation between universities and industry In collaborative innovation, the nature of university–industry cooperation is to build a network for the production, creation, and flow of university and industry knowledge and technology. The real purpose of cooperation between universities and industry is how to improve the accessibility of knowledge and technology, to maximize the value of knowledge and technology, and to improve the effectiveness of knowledge and technology reception and transfer performance. National innovation system theory, triple helix theory, the theory of open innovation, and cross-organizational collaboration theory from different perspectives to explain the essential of the relationship
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between university and industry cooperation, implied in different degrees for cooperation in knowledge and technology flow fountain explain the theory of identity, university and industry cooperation is the ultimate goal of creating knowledge and innovative technology, decide the success or failure of the cooperation is the key to knowledge and technology could effectively flow between university and industry, knowledge and technology of blending between different organizations. No matter from what perspective the transfer of knowledge and technology is viewed, there is no doubt that the movement of knowledge and technology runs through the whole process of university–industry cooperation, and the top-level policy design according to the key factors and mechanism of the whole process is the key to the strategic selection and institutional arrangement of university–industry cooperation (Azagra-Caro et al. 2019; Lyu et al. 2019). The flow of knowledge and technology between universities and industry creates the conditions for promoting technological innovation, which in turn promotes academic research, thereby raising the level of academic innovation. The cooperation between universities and industries enables them to accumulate their own advantageous resources, form a circular effect of collaborative innovation and expanding benefits, and promote economic and social development. Universities strengthen their close ties with enterprises by avoiding research that downplays practicality, increasing communication between universities and enterprises, applying for patent rights and signing research cooperation agreements, and setting up technology transfer companies or technological innovation enterprises. University is not only the birthplace of new knowledge and technology, is also a key link in the process of knowledge and technology flow in the world, but also the center of the local knowledge and technology innovation network formation, is the most important nodes connected to the network knowledge and technology, with the aid of academic innovation, technology innovation, and implement personnel training, scientific research, the combination of social services. Knowledge and technology transfer in universities can be divided into horizontal and vertical forms. Vertical knowledge and technology transfer occurs between universities and local enterprises, resulting in overflow due to different knowledge and technology levels between universities and local enterprises. Horizontal knowledge and technology transfer occurs between regional universities and research institutions, realizing knowledge and technology spillover in personnel exchange and information sharing. Universities and industries, based on their respective constituent elements and operating mechanisms, show different system characteristics. They belong to different subsystems in the social activity system, and their division of labor is relatively clear. However, with the development of society, the barriers of the division of labor hinder each other’s innovation and development. It is increasingly impossible for universities and industries to control and possess all the knowledge and technical resources needed for their own innovation and development, and their cooperation becomes the inevitable requirement and trend of social development. The main function of the industry is to realize the reproduction of material, and also to engage in technological development and innovation activities, so as to realize the reproduction of knowledge and the reproduction of talents. The main function of universities
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is to realize the reproduction of intelligence, as well as the inheritance and innovation of knowledge, so as to realize the reproduction of technology and material production. The phenomenon of cross-integration between them is becoming more and more obvious. University is talent training, scientific research, social services, cultural innovation of integrated system, the industry is a product development, technology innovation, technology improves the comprehensive system, talents, the university is given priority to with inheritance and innovation of knowledge, industry is given priority to inheritance and innovation, both bear the knowledge and technology innovation, personnel training, and exercise, the function of cultural inheritance and innovation, through mutual cooperation to achieve collaborative innovation and development. The cooperation between universities and industries enables the industrialization of university scientific research results through enterprise operation, which not only brings innovative technologies and service modes to enterprises, improves their innovation ability and competitive advantages, and lays a solid foundation for the formation of enterprises’ core competitiveness. Meanwhile, the research results of universities can also be tested in the process of industrialization and commercialization, so as to discover new problems, find new research directions and form new growth points of knowledge. Practice is the only criterion for testing truth. The results and problems in the transformation of scientific research achievements point out the direction for further research activities in universities and become an important source of academic research and knowledge innovation in universities. Based on innovative knowledge and technology, the university cultivates suitable technical talents, management talents, and service talents for the industry, integrates knowledge and technology into the basic knowledge and talents possessed by talents, and then transforms them into the intellectual resources of enterprises, so as to realize technological innovation and promote knowledge innovation. The efficiency of collaborative innovation enterprises with universities and research institutes is much higher than that of imitation enterprises. The technical efficiency of collaborative innovation enterprises is 10% points higher than that of imitation enterprises. Collaborative innovation is the best product innovation mode for enterprises in the economic transition to improve efficiency and enhance competitiveness (Peng et al. 2019; Mrowiec-Denkowska et al. 2019; Ma and Zeng 2019).
6.2 Comparison of Institutions of Cooperation Between Universities and Industry A total of more than 4000 universities in the United States, more than 200 of them are research universities, more than 800 federal government research institutions, except for a few more focus on theoretical research, most of the universities and research institutions engaged in the applied research in different degrees, and enterprises maintained a close contact, university and industry cooperation scope wide, deep degree.
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Most governments, through policies, require domestic institutions of higher education to seek nongovernment funding sources and engage in various entrepreneurial activities. Many universities have effectively diversified their funding sources and research bases. At the strategic and institutional level, the United States has established a relatively complete legal security system, mainly through the establishment of scientific and technological industrial parks around universities, such as Silicon Valley. Collaborative research between universities and industry, with enterprises as the main players; The government supports the establishment of joint research institutes between universities and industry to carry out cooperative research; Universities and industries should establish industry–university-research alliance or technological strategic alliance to promote the cooperation between universities and industries. Japanese universities give priority to basic research, research institutes give priority to applied research, and enterprises give priority to development research. At present, Japanese enterprises have strengthened cooperative research with universities. Universities are engaged in basic research, and also carry out technical research. They accept the commissioned research or cooperate with enterprises to help enterprises improve the level of technological innovation and train researchers. All methods of providing funds for universities contain factors of market regulation. The behavior of university organizations is largely determined by the allocation of resources to the organization and the distribution within the organization. Market regulation can constantly stimulate universities to adapt to changing economic and social conditions. The Japanese government clearly put forward the policy of cooperation among production, study, and officer, from policy ensure the smooth progress of universities and industrial cooperation, mainly through the creation of university system environment and industrial cooperation, strengthening the construction of science and technology information communication platform, promote industry cluster and the construction of knowledge base, the construction of production, research base, set up the major projects and plans, establish science and technology intermediary agencies and other means, to promote various forms of university and industry cooperation. The German government innovates the mode of cooperation between universities and industries. On the one hand, it gives full play to the technological innovation advantages of its large international enterprises and urges them to cooperate with universities to establish industry–university-research alliance and carry out research on industry generic technologies. On the other hand, we should strongly support the cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises and universities, establish or form various research consortia, mobilize the active participation of research universities with strong innovative research strength, and support the development of industrial clusters. The idea of universities as the birthplace of science has been greatly valued in Germany, and its influence on the German people has never been truly weakened. Science is the basis of problem-solving, technology development and entrepreneurs’ business operation. Germany promotes various forms of cooperation between universities and industry by innovating cooperation models between large enterprises and high-level universities, establishing cooperative industrial research
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institutions or associations, setting up industrial incubation and science and technology parks, encouraging personnel mobility and strengthening training for employees, and realizing cross-organizational transfer of knowledge and technology (Zhou et al. 2019; Huosong et al. 2019). The British government attaches great importance to the cooperation between universities and industry and believes that “enhancing the links between higher education, industry and scientific research is of great significance to the healthy development of the British economy, which is of long-term significance.” British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once stressed that science and technology should go out of the laboratory and be closely integrated with industry. Scientists should have industrial concepts and industrialists should have scientific minds. Higher education has a great responsibility in developing and acquiring new ideas and technologies, discovering and training talents, and guiding them to be more useful. The UK has rationalized the macro-management system of science and technology, organized and implemented science and technology plans, developed science and technology intermediaries, and established science and technology parks. At the same time, by setting up special funds and encouraging enterprises to increase investment, protecting the income that university researchers should get from enterprises, supporting the scientific and technological innovation of small and medium-sized enterprises and other measures, actively promoting the cooperation between universities and industries. On the whole, the economic and technological level, culture and historical traditions of different countries affect the strategic choice and institutional arrangement of the cooperation between universities and industries. The functions and functions of universities in different countries vary significantly. In different development stages of a country, the functions and functions of universities also change significantly with the needs of social development. However, most countries usually adopt policies, regulations, administrative measures, and other means to exert influence on universities and industries and bring university scientific research and industrial cooperative innovation into the track of national economic construction and social development. Universities are not only important bases for cultivating high-level innovative talents, but also important sources of innovation achievements in basic research and hightech fields, as well as important driving forces for cultural development and prosperity. Only the combination of knowledge and capital can produce great economic returns, and only by creating a good development environment for knowledge-based enterprises can the investment generate greater comprehensive benefits. Innovative knowledge can only be transformed into real productivity if it serves the industry, which requires close cooperation and cooperation between universities and industry. Therefore, many countries have formulated and implemented relevant policies, such as establishing or appointing specialized agencies to strengthen the government’s leadership or guidance on the cooperation between universities and industries from the perspective of organization and management, and to build a new model of the cooperation between universities and industries. To form industrial policies, science and technology policies, financial policies and personnel policies to promote university–industry cooperation, and to create an institutional environment conducive to
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university–industry cooperation; We will formulate major plans for science and technology, identify key areas for university–industry cooperation, increase government funding, strengthen macro-control, and promote university knowledge innovation and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.
6.3 The Difficulties and Influencing Factors of the Cooperation Between Chinese Universities and Industry I. Challenges and problems of cooperation between Chinese universities and industries The basic model of our university and industry cooperation to set up the university science park, the school-run industries, holding or equity of the listed company, university transfer patent to enterprises, enterprises entrusted university research and development, combined with the enterprise application project, university and enterprise jointly set up laboratory, university and industry to set up cooperation funds, enterprises set up the study in university, to form a strategic alliance of industry, university and industry, etc. Among them, university science and technology park is the basic platform of university and industry cooperation, and university-run industry is an important way of university and industry cooperation (Hong et al. 2019). National University Science and Technology Park is an organic part of the higher education system with Chinese characteristics, and an important way for colleges and universities to combine production, learning, and research, serve the society, and cultivate innovative and entrepreneurial talents. By the end of 2010, there were 86 national university science parks, covering 134 universities in 24 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government. Incubated enterprises in national university science and technology parks have undertaken 1728 planned projects of various levels, among which 345 are national projects. Incubated enterprises have applied for 5603 patents, including 2333 invention patents. 2857 patents were granted, including 872 invention patents and 34 foreign patents purchased; A total of 4364 graduated enterprises, including 21 listed enterprises. In 2010, 4606 items of scientific and technological achievements were transformed by incubated enterprises in the national university science park, with the total revenue of incubated enterprises reaching 22.163 billion yuan and 683 graduated enterprises. However, the sustainable development of national university science and technology parks is faced with certain difficulties: regional development is unbalanced, the relations between national university science and technology parks and universities, governments and enterprises have not been completely straightened out, and the policy guidance and support for national university science and technology parks are not enough. The management mode and operation mechanism of national university science and technology parks are still being explored, and the level of running parks needs to be further improved. The financing difficulties of small and medium-sized
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enterprises in national university science and technology parks still exist and fail to give full play to the advantages and potential of national university science and technology parks. To explore and improve the scientific management system and efficient operation mechanism, and to give full play to the comprehensive advantages of the science and technology innovation platform of national university science and technology parks are the new requirements of the new situation of national university science and technology parks. The university-run industry, especially the science and technology enterprises, occupies the leading position in the total revenue, total profit, net profit, and personnel training. In 2010, there were 3564 enterprises and 23 listed companies in 494 colleges and universities that participated in the statistical work of school-run enterprises. Among them: 190 asset companies, accounting for 5.33%; Level I enterprises (refers to the enterprises wholly owned, held, and shared by the school directly invested and the enterprises wholly owned, held, and shared by the asset company), accounting for 56.32%; The number of secondary enterprises (refers to the wholly owned, holding, and joint-stock enterprises invested by first-level enterprises) is 1557, accounting for 43.67%. In 2010, the total revenue of science and technology enterprises in Chinese universities accounted for 67.92% of the total revenue of school-run industries, which was about 113.549 billion yuan. The net profit reached 4.469 billion-yuan, accounting for 54.50% of the total net profit of the school-run industry. The number of registered staff and workers totaled 108,600, accounting for 27.05% of the staff and workers in school-run industries. The number of students accepted for internship is 181,600 person-times, accounting for about 16.90% of the number of students accepted for internship in school-run enterprises. The number of doctoral students and master’s students involved in the cultivation of doctoral students and master’s students in school-run industry accounts for 38.81 and 47.73% of the total number. However, many problems have been exposed in the development of the university-run industry. In 2010, there were 1044 sci-tech enterprises in China’s universities, accounting for only 29.30% of the number of school-run industries. During the past ten years from 1999 to 2007, the number of university-run enterprises in China has been decreasing year by year, and the number of university-run science and technology enterprises has decreased by 106 annually. At the end of 2010, only one listed university company had a market value of more than 10 billion yuan, accounting for 4.35% of the listed university company. There are 6 listed companies with a market value of less than 1 billion yuan, accounting for 26.09% of the listed companies in colleges and universities. Traditionally, the scientific research activities of Chinese universities are often limited to the level of disciplines, which is characterized by academic innovation based on knowledge innovation. However, technical innovation is often not paid enough attention to, and its effects are not good. Although the scientific research funds of universities continue to increase and the sources are increasingly diversified, the conversion rate of scientific research achievements of universities is very low, and a large number of research achievements are for the highest purpose of publishing
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academic papers. The proportion of university patents filed and obtained is relatively low, and the proportion of patents obtained applied to industry is also relatively low. A survey by the state intellectual property office shows that from 1999 to 2003, the number of university patents sold accounted for 22.8% of the authorized amount. In 2010, universities obtained 19,036 patents, an increase of 4645 or 32% compared with 14,391 in 2009. In 2009, only 1571 university patents in the fields of science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine were sold, accounting for about 34% of the total number of patents granted. Between 2003 and 2007, Chinese universities applied for 100,102 patents and obtained 45,350 approved patents, but only 3596 patents were sold or transferred, accounting for less than 8% of patents applied to industry. At present, the conversion rate of scientific and technological achievements in our country is about 25%, and the real industrialization is less than 5%. Compared with the advanced countries in Europe and America, there is a big gap. Our country university scientific research achievements conversion rate, granted patents of utility ratio is not high, the scientific research ability of university itself, growing academic innovation level, the development of both serious deviations, this is bound to affect the university to further improve the innovation ability of scientific research, to further improve the enterprise innovation ability, thus affect the levels of collaborative innovation and building an innovative country (Zhou et al. 2019; Huosong et al. 2019). Enterprises are not very active in cooperation with universities. Although the funds entrusted by Chinese enterprises to universities for development and research increase year by year, the proportion in the total funds of university science and technology activities decreases, which makes the cooperation lack sustainability. In the 10 years from 1998 to 2007, it basically remained at 37%. After 2003, the research and development funding sources of institutions of higher learning gradually formed a relatively stable structure, that is, government funding accounted for 54–58%, enterprise funding accounted for 35–37%, and domestic and foreign funding accounted for 7–10%. In 2010, the proportion of R&D funds from the government in China’s institutions of higher learning rebounded, while the proportion from enterprises declined slightly, 60.1% and 33.2%, respectively. Our high technology research and development program (863 program), after 10 years of implementation of about 1200 high technology research results have been identified, published 20,000 academic theses, but patent application for more than 200, only 1% of the amount equivalent to about publishing, but in fact relevant scientific research personnel through part-time jobs in the industry technology, related research achievements will be part of the transformation, the common phenomenon of informal knowledge and technology transfer. Due to the lack of stakeholder benefit-sharing mechanism in China’s scientific research activities, a large number of research results have not applied for the protection of intellectual property policy, and the management of relevant results is relatively casual, lacking the consciousness of transformation and use. At the same time, it leads to the informal and illegal use outside the intellectual property policy, and the loss of intellectual property interests of universities is obvious.
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6.4 Factors Affecting the Poor Cooperation Between Universities and Industry in China 1. The benefit distribution and coordination mechanism of cooperation between universities and industry have not been established. The cooperation between universities and industry can be carried out effectively. Scientific and reasonable profit distribution and the establishment of coordination mechanism are the key factors. The main interests involved are intellectual property rights and the economic interests generated from them. Although China emphasizes the cooperation principle of “joint investment, benefit sharing and risk sharing,” conflicts arise due to the interests of stakeholders in order to obtain more self-interests. China’s existing policies have a relatively vague definition of intellectual property rights interests, not clear division of science and technology reward interests, and relatively general provisions on intellectual property rights and science and technology reward subjects, which makes relevant policies unable to effectively adjust the rights and interests of different stakeholders in university and industrial cooperation. Universities and industries have different views on the value of technological innovation, and contributions in cooperation are often difficult to measure accurately. In addition, the price of technological innovation is difficult to determine, which makes the definition of responsibilities, rights, and interests of both parties unclear. The management of cooperation agreements between universities and industries is not standard enough, and there is no corresponding supervision of laws and regulations. According to the survey, the cooperation between universities and industries is relatively smooth at the beginning, and problems may occur when innovative achievements are obtained, which may affect further cooperation, or even lead to failure of cooperation due to unresolved conflicts. Scientific and technological enterprises tend to involve universities in setting up research and development centers, while universities tend to set up research and development centers in universities, because research and development territories are directly related to intellectual property rights and profit distribution. In order to gain more control from cooperation, universities and industries, coupled with the lack of trust and social integrity, are unwilling to compromise and lack of enthusiasm and motivation for cooperation. Ignoring the benefit distribution and coordination mechanism of cooperation between universities and industry will not lead to a healthy and sustainable development of bilateral cooperation. 2. In the cooperation between universities and industry, enterprises, universities and governments do not cooperate well enough. Universities look down on applied research carried out by enterprises, while enterprises think that university research activities are impractical, too abstract and of no real use. As the main body of cooperation between universities and industries, enterprises should play a leading and core role, mainly bearing the risk of technological innovation failure. Some enterprises have weak innovation consciousness, and lack long-term strategy when cooperating with universities. They hope that universities can produce technologies that can be directly commercialized, but this is not the main function and core task of
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universities. The existing enterprise’s evaluation index system is defective, coupled with some large enterprises’ monopoly on the existing technology or product process, which leads to their low innovation motivation and reluctance to invest in the development of new products and technologies, which seriously affects the promotion of the cooperation between universities and industry, and is very unfavorable to the improvement of the innovation ability of enterprises and the country. As the main force of university–industry cooperation and the source of innovation, universities play an important role in producing innovative achievements and training innovative talents. There are some problems in scientific research in Chinese universities, such as lack of originality and improper selection of research topics. The research results are far from practical use. Even in applied research, the results still need to be transformed for commercial production. The degree of attention to applied research is not enough, it still needs a long time to change the long-term formed concept that emphasizes theory over practice and emphasizes paper over application. There are defects in the performance assessment and evaluation mechanism for teachers, and the lack of a mechanism to encourage teachers to serve production and enterprises, which reduces the possibility of cooperation between universities and industries and aggravates the separation between universities and industries (Zhou et al. 2019; Huosong et al. 2019). The government’s role in promoting collaboration between universities and industry is clear, but not yet fully realized. The research on policy issues of university and industry cooperation in China is not deep enough and there is no normative policy and measure to coordinate the distribution of benefits. The selection and evaluation of government-supported university and industrial cooperation projects are not enough, and they do not play their due guiding role. Lack of supervision on the irregularities of cooperation projects with government financial aid and insufficient leading policies to encourage enterprises to increase cooperation investment; Lack of supervision on innovation research and development platform of enterprises or universities, and the relevant scientific research achievements still fall short of the requirements of national development; The encouragement and incentive policies and measures for R&D personnel are insufficient and not standard, which is not conducive to fully mobilizing the enthusiasm and creativity of R&D personnel, and the government has not played a strong role in promoting and leading the cooperation between universities and industries. 3. Asymmetric information, lagging development of science and technology intermediaries and venture capital. Academic and technical exchanges between universities and industry are insufficient, and personnel exchanges are even less frequent. Enterprises lack understanding of the latest trend, direction, and innovation achievements of science and technology development, universities lack scientific grasp of practical problems and technical problems, and information asymmetry leads to the lack of cooperation opportunities, which limits the application of scientific research achievements in the industry. In cooperation between foreign universities and industries, science and technology intermediaries play a very important role. The development of domestic science and
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technology intermediaries is lagging behind, and there is no clear policy to encourage development, regulate operation, and make profits legally. The orientation of science and technology development and intermediary institutions such as university science and technology parks is not clear, the relationship between responsibilities and rights is not yet straightened out, and the lack of high-level and professional science and technology development and intermediary personnel affects the transformation of important scientific research achievements. Venture capital can make scientific and technological achievements into real productivity as soon as possible, which is conducive to the marketization of scientific and technological achievements. It can not only bring funds, but also scientifically implement the results screening, evaluation and transformation, enterprise production and market operation, and allocate funds and benefits. The main problem in China is not the lack of venture capital funds, but the lack of excellent venture capital institutions and high-level professional venture capital talents, which affects the incubation and industrialization of scientific research results.
6.5 Strategies and Policies to Promote Cooperation Between Chinese Universities and Industry I. Clarifying the ownership of the rights to scientific research achievements of university and industry cooperation and establishing the mechanism of benefit distribution. The intellectual property system defines the ownership of innovative scientific research achievements of university and industry cooperation and determines the policy arrangement of benefit distribution mechanism. Should formulate policy detailed rules for the implementation of intellectual property system, the government department or the state financial funding for scientific research project transfer the rights and ownership, transfer the intellectual achievements, profit distribution, such as to make clear rules, especially the relationship between rights and obligations of the patent owner, the profit distribution and regulating mechanism in the invention, the knowledge of the scientific research personnel rights and allocation system and so on to make operable rules, the assignment of the patent results for university scientific research personnel and used to make mandatory provisions. The United States, the European Union, Japan, and other developed countries and regions, Singapore, Brazil, and other emerging industrialized countries and regions, the national post university patent in the patent application and grant the application and grants are low, at about 10%, China’s relevant proportion is higher, about 20– 35%, so for school after technical evaluation shall not apply for a patent of invention, suggested that the ownership of the invention without violating the relevant provisions of the state, under the condition of the university teachers or free patent inventor, to encourage the enthusiasm of university teachers’ innovation (Huosong et al. 2019).
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Special management measures shall be formulated to regulate the relationship of interests among enterprises, universities, intermediary institutions and financial (risk) investment institutions in cooperative innovation. A special organization, management, and coordination agency shall be responsible for notarization and supervision. Through cooperation, enterprises are supported to acquire core technologies of research and development results and improve their ability to innovate and cultivate talents. Their economic benefits should be reflected in the commercial production of new products and technologies. We will support universities’ use of cooperative funds for academic innovation and discipline development, give them preferential treatment in the distribution of economic benefits from research and development projects, and enhance their capacity for original innovation. A scientific cooperation process shall be formulated and strictly implemented after both the university and the industry reach an agreement. If necessary, the government shall play a coordinating and promoting role. Define the quality standards of research and development project results, check the quality of research and development results in the actual production activities of enterprises, and conduct quality control. University should adopt a more open, flexible way to delegate, under the premise that ensures the basic interests of the school, as far as possible to encourage scientific research personnel in the form of intellectual property rights transfer and technological achievements, spread by way of patent nonexclusive license corresponding technical innovation, energy release contains the great innovation of university scientific research personnel. Recommended by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology, and the State Intellectual Property Office of the joint team established, formulate action plan of university intellectual property strategy, carry on strategic planning and deployment of knowledge, especially for the basic research that can produce basic patents layout in advance, establish the public finance of university and longitudinal research projects, through the university and industry cooperation form the virtuous cycle of technology innovation, into a real scientific and technological innovation of the original motive force, improve the benefit of fiscal input and output of science and technology. 2. Strengthen the impetus and enthusiasm of cooperation between universities and industries and establish a mechanism for coordinating interests. For large enterprises, push them to establish research and development cooperative relations with universities, such as setting up joint research funds, guiding enterprises to invest in cooperative funds, forming strategic cooperative partners, conducting substantive cooperation, and improving the independent innovation ability of enterprises; For small and medium-sized enterprises, technological innovation plans should be set up, and cooperation should be guided and promoted under the support or funding of the government, and joint ventures of enterprises (industries) and universities should be established to promote the further development, transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements with industrialization prospects. Small and medium-sized enterprises are the focus of promoting cooperation between universities and industry, which can make greater contributions to improving China’s scientific and technological innovation capacity.
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To clarify the research and development objectives and tasks of university and industry cooperation, which should be mainly determined by enterprises. According to the development status and needs of the enterprise (industry) or the basic research needs of technological innovation, the enterprise proposes research and development tasks, listens to the opinions of the university, and understands the research and development and production status of relevant fields at home and abroad, and forms cooperative projects. In the cooperation process, the enterprise does not interfere in the specific research and development work but can know the research and development situation at any time, so as to evaluate the progress of the cooperative research and development and ensure the problem-oriented research and development. The enterprise shall fully guarantee the R&D funds, and all the R&D funds obtained from the state and society shall be used for project development and shall be fully matched in accordance with regulations (Zhou et al. 2019; Huosong et al. 2019). Universities should pay full attention to the needs of enterprises in cooperation with industry and closely link it with their own scientific research. Besides taking knowledge innovation as the goal, all R&D tasks are dominated by technological innovation, and the output of knowledge innovation achievements cannot be overemphasized, and the main goal of the cooperation is not to publish papers. Universities should consider the possibility of enterprises using research and development results, realize technological innovation with the joint efforts of enterprise personnel, reflect expected economic benefits, and promote enterprises to improve the innovation ability. At the same time, improve the level of academic research, promote discipline construction, to obtain innovative knowledge. We will improve the university evaluation system, strengthen guidance, and encourage cooperation between researchers and enterprises. We will take the work and effects of collaborative innovation, such as technology development, technology transfer, and contract research and development, as important indicators for performance evaluation and professional title evaluation. 3. Establish management and coordination institutions of universities and industrial cooperation organizations and establish an interest protection mechanism. It is suggested that the ministries and commissions of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology should set up special organization, management and coordination organs, formulate reasonable assessment indicators and systems to promote the cooperation between universities and industries, and conduct assessment on relevant institutions and principals of universities and industries. The purpose of university and industry cooperation should be knowledge innovation and technology innovation to improve the innovation ability of enterprises. In cooperation, enterprises should be the core and play a leading role. Universities are the main force, giving play to the role of innovation source; The government is leading, giving play to its guiding role. The Chinese government should give full play to its leading role, create favorable environments and conditions for the cooperation between universities and industries, set up organization, management and coordination institutions, and establish an interest protection mechanism. To study and formulate key policies, supporting measures
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and major plans for promoting university–industry cooperation, and fully mobilize the initiative of university–industry cooperation; With regard to major cooperation projects and industry common technologies, the government may directly intervene and play its role in organizing, coordinating, and supporting them. We will strengthen links between universities and industry, and strengthen exchanges in academic, technical, and personnel fields. Enterprises and science and technology intermediaries should often attend academic lectures and seminars held by universities, keep abreast of the research direction and trends of universities, and discover research projects with promising application prospects, so as to find cooperation opportunities. Universities should visit relevant enterprises frequently to learn about production and development issues and industry development direction, so as to better serve enterprises and production with research work. The Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Intellectual Property Office of the relevant administrative department of the government and policy documents issued by the more outstanding university scientific research ability, set up intellectual property management and technology transfer office work of university technology transfer, including technology evaluation, invention disclosure, patent applications, the market transformation of business work make evaluation standard, the relevant administrative expenses to compensate or carried out in accordance with the performance awards; For universities that have set up offices for the administration of intellectual property and offices for the transfer of technology, respectively, it is encouraged to merge the two institutions so as to enhance the coherence of intellectual property creation, technology patent application, and license transfer. As for those universities that are temporarily unable to set up intellectual property management and technology transfer offices, if necessary, they should be encouraged to carry out their work by purchasing the services of professional intellectual property management agencies or technology transfer agencies. 4. Actively promote the development of science and technology intermediaries and venture capital institutions and establish a peripheral development mechanism. To formulate measures for the administration of science and technology intermediaries to improve the social status of science and technology intermediaries such as national university science parks and to provide opportunities for legal participation in university and industrial cooperation projects. As soon as possible to cultivate and develop high-quality science and technology intermediary service institutions, including science and technology intermediary institutions set up by enterprises, universities, research institutions, and private intermediary institutions. Science and technology intermediaries should regulate their operations, make profits legally, and play a greater role in the transformation, application, and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. To support, guide, and promote the establishment of cooperative alliances between universities and industries, construction can be divided into two categories: one is to form a strategic alliance led by the industry or super-large enterprises, and form a strategic alliance with relevant enterprises and high-level universities to focus on solving major issues or common technologies in the industry; A kind of cooperative
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alliance consists of enterprises with similar peers, similar level or complementary advantages and universities with similar majors, focusing on solving specific issues or technical problems of enterprises through cooperation. We will take scientific and appropriate measures to encourage the establishment of standardized and highquality science and technology venture capital funds and institutions. Full attention is paid to the introduction and training of high-level interdisciplinary talents, that is, scientific and technological entrepreneurs or scientists with modern entrepreneurial spirit; Actively cultivate and boldly introduce professional management personnel, vigorously cultivate and train high-level professional personnel engaged in venture capital business, promote the gathering, transformation and incubation of scientific and technological achievements, promote the investment and financing of scientific and technological projects, and improve the operation level of scientific and technological enterprises. Draw on the effective experience of foreign countries in practice, ensure the interests of science and technology intermediaries, venture capital funds and institutions, and promote the commercial application of scientific and technological achievements.
References Azagra-Caro, J. M., Tijssen, R. J., Tur, E. M., & Yegros-Yegros, A. (2019). University–industry scientific production and the Great Recession. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 139, 210–220. Hong, J., Zhu, R., Hou, B., & Wang, H. (2019). Academia–industry collaboration and regional innovation convergence in China. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 41(28), 78–85. Huosong, X., Qingdi, W., & Zhang, Z. (2019). Knowledge heterogeneity in university–industry knowledge transfer: A case analysis of Xu’s Ruyi textile. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 23(21), 32–39. Lyu, L., Wu, W., Hu, H., & Huang, R. (2019). An evolving regional innovation network: Collaboration among industry, university, and research institution in China’s first technology hub. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 44(3), 659–680. Ma, S., & Zeng, G. (2019). Effects of network closure on cooperative innovation: Evidence from Dongying’s petroleum equipment industry in China. Chinese Geographical Science, 29(3), 517– 527. Moraes Silva, D. R. D., Lucas, L. O., & Vonortas, N. S. (2019). Internal barriers to innovation and university–industry cooperation among technology-based SMEs in Brazil. Industry and Innovation, 12(3), 1–29. Mrowiec-Denkowska, J., Chen, Y., Zoll, F. S., & Wang, K. (2019). Challenges facing Chinese and European universities in mobility cooperation: Managerial administrative staff perspectives. In University Governance and Academic Leadership in the EU and China (pp. 313–324). Hershey: IGI Global. Peng, F., Zhang, Q., Han, Z., Ding, Y., & Fu, N. (2019). Evolution characteristics of government–industry–university cooperative innovation network of electronic information industry in Liaoning Province, China. Chinese Geographical Science, 29(3), 528–540. Zhou, X., Chen, H., Chai, J., Wang, S., & Lev, B. (2019). Performance evaluation and prediction of the integrated circuit industry in China: A hybrid method. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 26(4), 47–53.
Chapter 7
Constructing Educational Think Tanks for Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China
This chapter concentrates on investigating the policy analysis on the construction of a new think tank with Chinese characteristics in China’s colleges and universities. A new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics is a non-profit research and consulting institution with strategic issues and public policies as its main research objects and the purpose of serving the party and government in scientific, democratic, and law-based decision-making. In the historical process of deepening the “four modernizations” of economic globalization, world multi-polarization, cultural diversity, and social informatization, China is faced with the dual mission of deepening comprehensive reform and promoting world peace and development. In the report of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the conclusion of “the importance of developing think tank” appeared for the first time. At the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, the development of think tanks was elevated to a national strategic height, and it was proposed to build a new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics. It is a major decision to strengthen the building of new types of think tanks with Chinese characteristics, establish and improve the decision-making consultation system, and carry out in-depth consultation on legislation, administration, democracy, participation in politics, and social affairs. At the sixth meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, general secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out that the construction of a new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics should be a major and urgent task, and we should attach importance to the construction of specialized think tanks. Intellectual resources is a country, a nation’s most precious resources, by 2020, overall promote the party and government department, Chinese academy of social sciences, administrative college party school, universities, military, scientific research institutes and enterprises, social coordinated development, think tank form a clear positioning, characteristic, appropriate scale and reasonable layout of new think tank system with Chinese characteristics. Colleges and universities are an important force in building new types of think tanks with Chinese characteristics. We should promote the construction of new types of think tanks with Chinese characteristics, give play to the important functions of strategic © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 E. Xue and J. Li, Innovating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2788-3_7
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research, policy advice, talent training, public opinion guidance and public diplomacy, and provide high-level intellectual support for the scientific decision-making of the party and government (Luo and Guo 2019; Li et al. 2019; Liang and Zhang 2019).
7.1 The Analysis of the Current Situation of the Construction of New Think Tanks with Chinese Characteristics in Chinese Universities China’s universities have gathered more than 80% of the social science forces, nearly half of the academicians of the Chinese academy of sciences and the Chinese academy of sciences, 60% of the “thousand talents plan” candidates, and a large number of graduate students. Universities and colleges across the country have won 1 first prize and 26 second prizes of the 2014 national natural science awards, accounting for 58.7% of the total 46 awards. The scientific research strength of universities and colleges is constantly improving, contributing more and more to China’s scientific and technological innovation and economic development. No matter in terms of scientific research personnel, ability, conditions or output, colleges and universities are the main force of research in China. However, in terms of the construction of think tank, colleges and universities play a very insufficient role. I. The international influence and quantity of Chinese university think tanks are not enough. On January 22, 2015, the global think tank report 2014, an annual report released by the University of Pennsylvania, pointed out that the main development trend of think tanks is globalization and democratization, and the international power affecting think tanks is increasing. At present, there are 6,681 think tanks in the world, including 1,830 in the US, 429 in China and 287 in the UK. Although the number of think tanks in China ranks second in the world, it is not matched with China’s international status, only 23% of the number of the United States, and only 6% of the number of global think tanks. In the most important “global think tank top 150 lists”, there is no Chinese think tank in the top 20, and think tank’s international influence is very limited. Although seven Chinese think tank for top 150, but remain 27, 36, 40, 48, 61, 71, 106, Chinese academy of social sciences, China academy of international issues, the state council development research center, China institute of contemporary international relations, Shanghai international studies and international strategic research institute of Peking University, Renmin University of China Chongyang Financial Institute. Among them, only two university think tanks are shortlisted, ranking 61 and 106, respectively. University think tanks are not only of limited international influence, but also seriously insufficient in number. Of the top 55 global education policy think tanks, not a single Chinese university think tank made the list (only the development research center of the state council, ranked 15th). Global think tank top 45 in colleges and universities, the five colleges and universities, a think tank, Peking University international institute for strategic studies,
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Tsinghua University, respectively, Carnegie—Tsinghua Global Policy Center, Institute Of International Relations, Tsinghua University, Tsinghua University—for public policy research center, Renmin university of China financial institute, Chongyang in 10, 13, 14, 16, 43, top think tank, the lack of colleges and universities. Think tank as “thought enterprise” in the complicated and changeable global pattern is playing the new “union”, “mongols” function, its “product” is a national “soft power” is the most important “shape”, the development as economy, science, and technology presents the basic situation of the leading developed countries, including America’s most prominent, embodies the think tank and the proportional relationship between the national comprehensive national strength (McGann 2019a, b, c).
7.2 The Influence and Quantity of University Think Tanks in China Are not Enough 1. The comprehensive influence and quantity of university think tanks in China are insufficient. On January 12, 2015, the think tank research center of Shanghai academy of social sciences released the “China think tank report”, which published the influence ranking of Chinese think tanks, divided into four categories: comprehensive influence ranking, itemized influence ranking, systematic influence ranking, and professional influence ranking. The top 10 are the Chinese academy of social sciences, Peking University, development research center of the state council, Fudan university, party school of the CPC central committee, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Macroeconomic Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, Renmin University of China and China Academy of Reform and Development. Less than a third, or three universities, made it into the top 10. On January 15, 2015, the report on the influence of Chinese think tanks 2014 jointly released by zero international development research institute and china.com.cn adopted four kinds of influence indicators: professional influence, government influence, social influence, and international influence, and calculated the score of think tanks based on four kinds of objective indicators combined with subjective index. In the 2014 report on the influence of Chinese think tanks, only 1/5 or 2 think tanks of universities, ranked among the top 10 in comprehensive influence. Only 30%, or 6 university think tanks, ranked in the top 20 of comprehensive influence, namely, national development research institute of Peking University, Chongyang Institute of Finance of Renmin University, National Conditions Research Institute of Tsinghua University, American Studies Center of Fudan university, Institute of Contemporary International Relations of Tsinghua University, National Defense University of China. The subcategories and professional influence of Chinese university think tanks are not prominent enough. In terms of influence, the Chinese academy of social sciences, the development research center of the state council, Peking University, the party school of
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the central committee of the communist party of China, and the macroeconomic research institute of the national development and reform commission ranked top 5 in decision-making influence, accounting for 1/5 of the total. Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Peking University, Fudan University, Tsinghua University and Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences rank the top 5 in academic influence, accounting for 3/5 of the total. The Chinese academy of social sciences, the development research center of the state council, Peking University, the party school of the central committee of the communist party of China, and Fudan University ranked top 5 in media influence, accounting for 2/5 of the total. The Chinese academy of social sciences, the development research center of the state council, Peking University, the party school of the central committee of the communist party of China, and Tsinghua university ranked among the top five in terms of public influence. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Peking University, the Development Research Center of the State Council, Fudan University, and Tsinghua University ranked among the top 5 in international influence, accounting for 3/5 of the total. Colleges occupy the dominant position in terms of academic influence and international influence, in the aspect of the media influence and influence public occupy a certain status, position in terms of decision-making power is not enough outstanding professional influence, the state council development research center, Chinese academy of social sciences, the national development and reform commission, the macroeconomic research institute, the National Development Research Institute of Beijing University and the China International Economic and Exchange Center Column Economic Construction Research Area, the top five universities accounted for 1/5. The Party School of the CPC Central Committee, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Development Research Center of the State Council, the National Development Research Institute of Peking University, and the Pudong Cadre Institute of China were ranked among the top five in political construction research, accounting for 1/5 of the total. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, National Research Center for Cultural Industry Of Tsinghua university, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Development Research Center of The State Council and Institute Of Chinese Culture of Jilin University ranked top 5 in the research field of cultural construction, accounting for 2/5 of the total. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Development Research Center of the State Council, the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Population and Development Policy Research Center of Fudan University and the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences ranked top 5 in the field of social development research, accounting for 1/5 of the total. The Development Research Center of the State Council, The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Macroeconomic Research Institute of the State Council and the National Development Research Institute of Peking University ranked among the top five in comprehensively deepening reform research, accounting for 1/5 of the total. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the China Institute of International Studies, the China Institute of Modern International Relations, the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, and the Shanghai Institute of International Studies rank among the top five in the field of major-country and neighborhood relations, accounting
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for 1/5 of the total. In the fields of economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, social development, comprehensive deepening of reform, relations between major countries and neighboring countries, universities play a very limited role, and only occupy a certain position in the field of cultural construction. The think tank construction in colleges and universities with the state requirements is compared to the demand for the economic and social development, obvious lag, the gap is bigger. There are not many universities think tanks with weight and influence, the structure is not reasonable, the research results with high quality and profound insights are few, and the influence of consulting reports on major decisions is not ideal. It is urgent to give full play to the role of colleges and universities, overcome institutional obstacles, and build a number of new think tanks with Chinese characteristics in colleges and universities, so as to offer suggestions for the modernization of the rule of law, the national governance system and governance capacity, and the realization of the Chinese dream (McGann 2019a, b, c).
7.3 The Policy Problems of Constructing New Think Tanks with Chinese Characteristics in Chinese Universities At present, although some research institutions in colleges and universities in China are involved in policy research, it is difficult to effectively play the role of policy consultation in solving major problems due to the institutional mechanism and other policy reasons. From the perspective of research objectives, academic issues or work problems improvement is the goal, less to solve major policy issues as the goal; From the point of view of scientific research evaluation, it mainly focuses on the academic evaluation and rarely regards service decision as the main criterion of evaluation. From the perspective of funding support, the proportion of competitive research funding is too large to carry out long-term policy research planning and layout, lack of sustainable research; From the perspective of the problem, it mainly studies the local and fragmentary problems of the discipline and specialty, and lacks the grasp of the overall problem and systematic research. From the perspective of team composition, the research is mainly carried out within a single discipline and relies on individuals. There are few problems tackled by teams from the perspective of multidiscipline, and the participation of government decision-making departments, enterprises and public institutions, and social groups is lacking. Only by carrying out a comprehensive system and mechanism reform can we build a new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics in our universities. 1. Think tank construction lacks top-level design and strategic layout During the period of 2008 and 2013, China’s university scholars, through various channels for the party and the government and enterprises and institutions to provide the consulting report 26530, totally 14043 adopted, involved in the property law, the civil procedure law, criminal procedure law and so on all important state law drafting and revision work, for the party and the government decision-making, has made a
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great contribution to social services, etc. Colleges and universities set up internal think tank can be broadly divided into the Ministry of Education Humanities and Social Science Research Base, Center for International Studies, Collaborative Innovation Center, the State Ministries or Departments Joint Construction of Research Center and so on, many institutions, category, the characteristics of the forms, confused but in staffing, capital use, external cooperation, joint research aspects have limitations, small, scattered, weak, scattered forces, inaccurate positioning, in the research level the good and bad are intermingled. China’s think tank institutional system is diversified, the management system is localized and departmentalized, and each of them plays its own role. The degree of mutual exchange, cooperation, and competition is very limited, and the work functions and positioning are different. Inevitably, all kinds of think tank institutions in China are small and numerous, and the overall strength is not strong. This problem also exists in the construction and development of the university think tank. China’s university think tanks lack overall construction planning, scattered, overlapping, fragmented, closed operation, lack of communication, the phenomenon of large and complete, small and complete is relatively serious, resulting in a waste of resources and repeated construction. Due to the lack of corresponding cooperation mechanisms, the communication between “pieces” and “blocks” is very limited, and they often operate in closed operation with each side taking its own part, which affects the overall development of think tanks in universities. In a large number of universities think tank institutions, the truly influential think tank occupies a small proportion, so it is very urgent to realize the transformation of think tank construction from quantity to quality. 2. Think tank and decision-making department lack of scientific cooperation mechanism Most think tanks in universities are dependent on the government for survival, which is highlighted in that the allocation of people, money, and materials in research institutions is determined and arranged by the government. Most of the research work of think tanks is carried out in the form of government funding, project establishment or task assignment, and the project conclusion is often reviewed and evaluated by government departments or official institutions. It is difficult to guarantee the independence, objectivity and innovation of the consulting Suggestions. Some university think tanks are close to decision-making institutions, and the results are quickly applied to public policies. However, too close, there is often a lack of credibility, difficult to form “unique views and opinions” risk, and easy to “far away” from the public. Ninety-five percent of American think tanks are independent, they work with individuals, they receive private funding, they receive almost no funding from the government, and although American think tanks are not affiliated with the government, they are part of the political culture of the United States. At the same time, some universities think tank based in colleges and universities set up a research institute, research center and so on, and decision-making body distance “far”, lack of contact and communication channels to the information of policy, the lack of research achievements to the decision-making departments into the channel, the lack
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of research results to promote public platform, cannot effectively play its participation in decision-making, the application of policy recommendations and public opinion guide function. Chinese think tanks are divided into several big circles, the most core of which the research departments of the party and government at all levels are. They are between the academic circle and the government management department, and they are the most direct in the project acquisition and the use of research results. The outer circle is the system of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Chinese Academy of Engineering. The third circle is the university think tank, which is more inclined to academic research. The last circle for all kinds of civilian think tank. The credibility of the think tank depends on its reliability and independence. If the think tank has written its conclusions in advance, or made a highly biased report for the sake of its sponsors, it will undoubtedly undermine its standing. How to maintain the balance between “near” and “far” and establish a good scientific cooperation mechanism is a serious problem for the development of Chinese university think tank. 3. Think tank construction lacks high-end talents and innovation team Due to personnel and scientific research system problems, university think tanks have not yet really established a scientific talent pool mechanism and similar “revolving door” personnel exchange system, which is highlighted in a large number of academic personnel, and less applied personnel from policy-makers, affecting the combination of “wisdom” and “politics”. Most college teachers have never worked in the party and government departments, and they are not familiar with the process of policy formulation, modification and improvement, as well as the working experience of local departments, enterprises and public institutions. Therefore, it is difficult for them to meet the talent needs of think tank construction. There is a serious shortage of highend talents and innovation teams needed for the construction of university think tanks. The knowledge structure and research methods are not reasonable, the efficiency of talent renewal and enrichment is low, and experts and scholars are not targeted and operable in policy consultation. Some researchers are not targeted enough, practical enough, and too academic. If the complex strategic issues are simplified to a single subject, it is difficult to grasp the overall problem, and may even be trapped in the embarrassing situation of “blind people feel the elephant”. Academic think tanks tend to apply theories, lack a policy-oriented research framework, and a clear awareness of consulting services. They are professional for their own sake, and do not pay attention to meeting the needs of the government and society, which seriously affects the quality of consulting advice. University scientific research evaluation, staff motivation, resource allocation, standards, responsibility, etc., mainly for teaching and scientific research, evaluation standard is primarily academic papers, monographs, reproduced reference, longitudinal project, project budget, etc., and research reports for policy-makers instructions, use, research results into policy consultation results, researchers in policy decision consulting activities of the weight is relatively small, leading to quite a number of university researchers put policy advice to do as a sideline, investment of time and energy is limited, which seriously affects the quality of the consultancy services. The evaluation method of think tank workers is not perfect,
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and the evaluation content of achievement transformation has not formed a system, which affects the enthusiasm of university teachers to engage in political counseling research and restricts the potential of the university think tank. 4. Think tank construction lacks long-term funding guarantee mechanism Fixed funds, donations, commissions, and service fees are the revenue model of most think tanks. Many influential think tanks have the support of the stabilization fund. Think tank in colleges and universities by way of competitive research grants, countries do not have to establish a relatively stable investment mechanism, the think tank is difficult to formulate conforms to the national requirements of colleges and universities and scientific research and development plan of the characteristics of the school, some universities think tank research has certain blindness, difficult to form a long-term, prospective layout, policy research on the study of long-term, strategic issues has certain limitation, not give full play to the university, a think tank, free inquiry, and tracking the advantage, unable to effectively service system of governance, governance ability modernization needs. Compared with other types of think tanks, university think tanks should place more importance on basic research and encourage long-term research and basic research, which is basically not done or cannot be done by other research institutions and is an irreplaceable function of universities. Think tank in theory in colleges and universities play an important role in the country’s decision-making, but for the government, the society provides foresightedness, practicability, reserves and diversity also do enough research aspect, from the new standard there is still a big gap between the think tank, the survival and development environment needs to be improved, that the important reasons are the lack of long-term funding mechanism of decision-making consultation. The country is the direct beneficiary of the products of the think tank in universities. What kind of products the think tank can produce directly depends on the input and demand of the country and society. In addition, the management of scientific research funds in colleges and universities is too rigid and rigid. The person in charge of the project cannot receive labor fees. The proportion of labor fees for one-way projects cannot exceed 20–30% of the total funds. The end result is clear: basic, long-term research is underfunded, and individual intellectual work by university think tank researchers is not recognized, and significant consulting results are not made. With concentrated human resources, complete disciplines, strong basic research force, and extensive academic exchanges with foreign countries, universities, and colleges have the natural advantages of building high-level think tanks, which can provide continuous academic resources support for policy research and strategic research. Implement them on strengthening the construction of Chinese characteristics, a think tank construction in colleges and universities should be to serve the party and the government decision-making as the guidance, to enhance the ability as the core, powered by deepening reform, build a scientific mechanism of system, build a batch of high-end think tank, and it has the important influence at home and abroad to build characteristic, reasonable structure, forms the new pattern, a think tank, and development in colleges and universities (Xu 2019).
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7.4 Policy Suggestions on the Construction of New Think Tanks with Chinese Characteristics in Chinese Universities First, further improvement of the top-level design and strategic layout of think tank construction. The characteristics of Chinese think tanks are mainly based on the differences in the development environment, while the “new type” is reflected in the requirements of the new situation of China’s economic and social development. It is necessary to take a long-term view, further strengthening the planning, according to different areas and needs of social governance, and based on the discipline and talent advantages of institutions of higher learning, integrate the resources of various university think tanks, and form a rational layout. With major national strategic needs, policy reform needs, economic transformation and structural upgrading needs, and social transformation needs as the guidance, and with major issues as the core, the platform for interdisciplinary university think tanks is set up. On the one hand, we should break through the institutional mechanism of the establishment, personnel and fund management of university think tank, and form a scientific and reasonable organization and management system. On the other hand, a benign participation and cooperation mechanism should be formed, which should not only avoid the phenomenon of an isolated and independent government, but also prevent the vicious competition for resources or win the trust of decision-makers. The top-level design and strategic layout of the university think tank construction should take China’s practice, improve the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and realize the “Chinese dream” as the value pursuit, reflect China’s national conditions, Chinese background and Chinese elements, and reflect “Chinese characteristics”. To be on the basis of theoretical innovation, to serve the scientific decision-making, leading the social ideological trend, service people, for the purpose of the access for major innovations on the standard and management system, to promote college think tank transformation from the traditional to the “new”, to form a government to guide and influence think tank. Improve the system and mechanism and smooth the dissemination channels of the achievements of university think tanks. Due to the limitation of communication and transformation channels, the major research achievements of some think tanks in Chinese universities cannot be effectively transformed into the consulting Suggestions needed by the country and society, so the influence of decision-making and social influence is limited. International experience shows that the success of think tank operation is closely related to the smoothness of its achievement transformation channels. Establishing scientific and reasonable mechanisms of achievement transformation or promotion and unimpeded channels of achievement transformation are the key links in the construction of a new think tank. We should gradually straighten out the relationship between university think tanks and government departments and official think tanks and establish a regular consultation mechanism.
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University think tanks are relatively independent and have strong advantages in basic research. They can complement each other’s functions with official think tanks in solving national and social problems, providing supplementary information, and providing decision-making consultation, so as to achieve a win-win situation. When establishing and improving the decision-making consultation system, government departments should bring professional and high-level university think tanks into the consultation scope and establish a regular consultation mechanism. Establish the communication and liaison mechanism between the university think tank and the decision-making organ to form a stable channel. Decision-makers can communicate with university think tank experts and scholars conveniently, and experts and scholars can participate in major government decisions and policy consultation. Meanwhile, university think tanks can timely and conveniently submit the latest countermeasures, Suggestions and research reports to the government decision-making departments, so as to ensure the timeliness and function of research results and promote the scientific and democratic decision-making. In addition, it is necessary to establish a multichannel, multiform, multilayer, and multicarrier release mechanism of the achievements of the university think tank and broaden the channels and carriers of the achievement’s transformation. For example, the research results of the Brookings Institution are generally published publicly, with about 24 monographs published every year, quarterly journals like the Brookings Review and the Brookings Journal of Economics published regularly, and more than 100 seminars held to strengthen the contact with experts from all walks of life and fields. Every year, the rand corporation publishes hundreds of books, reports, and professional papers, and distributes as many as 300,000 copies of materials to governments, universities, industry, and the general public. China’s universities and colleges should set up relevant release platforms to enhance the guidance and influence of the results of university think tanks on government decisions and public opinions through electronic media, network media, television media and other modern media and carriers, as well as academic reports, high-end BBS, research reports, popular science activities, and other forms. Third, establish a scientific funding mechanism to ensure the sustainable development of think tanks. One is to change the funding mechanism of university think tanks. The traditional way of our government to subsidize university think tank is competitive and lack of stable investment. But think tank construction is suitable for continuous and stable funding mechanism, not competitive funding mechanism; Moreover, the competitive funding mechanism leads to the overall layout of research tends to be state-oriented, which makes the accumulated effects of science overly dependent on the short-term development goals of the government and society, and reduces the independence and scientific of university think tanks. It is necessary to formulate the aid plan for the construction of think tank in colleges and universities in line with China’s national conditions, optimize the input structure of competitive and noncompetitive scientific research funds, and appropriately increase the input of noncompetitive funds. According to international practice, the proportion of noncompetitive research funds should account for more than 50% of all research funds
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of university think tanks. Some university think tanks with a strong research foundation should be given stable support on the basis of evaluation, so as to carry out continuous research on major issues of national and social concern. Regular assessments are conducted over five or ten years as an important criterion for government procurement of services. Second, we will change the way that university think tank funds are used. We will gradually revise and improve the measures for the management of scientific research funds for think tanks in universities, strengthen the overall management of scientific research funds for think tanks, and effectively combine budget management with target management. It is clear in the measures for the management of university think tank funds that the personnel funds are not limited to the labor expenses of graduate students and temporary employees, and the project leaders and members of the research group draw a certain proportion of labor remuneration according to their contributions (such as workload). The proportion of personnel expenses will be increased accordingly, and the wage and subsidy standards for all types of personnel will be further clarified to enhance the enthusiasm of think tank staff. Noncompetitive scientific research funds should be used to strengthen the support to the innovation team, and a scientific research and innovation team composed of teachers, full-time scientific research personnel, auxiliary scientific research personnel, postdoctoral students, and doctoral students should be formed with reasonable division of labor, coordination, and efficiency, and put forward high-level and high-quality consulting suggestions. Third, adjust the fund orientation of university think tank projects. Project funds of university think tanks should be combined with discipline construction, academic activities, practice research, achievement transformation, team construction, and performance appraisal, etc. Project funds should especially strengthen the support of practice research and achievement transformation, so as to make the research of think tanks closer to reality, closer to the national economy and people’s livelihood, and play a better role. We will improve the bidding and application procedures for public policy consulting projects, and ensure the proper entry points for project initiation, inspection, and acceptance. At the same time, we should implement classified guidance and overall planning to ensure the scientific nature and transparency of project supply. Meanwhile, funding channels should be expanded. In addition to financial allocation, individuals, enterprises, and foundations can also be introduced to ensure that funding sources do not affect the process and results of research. Reform the personnel system to fully pool intellectual resources in different fields. The core competitiveness of think tanks lies in foresight and foresight, and effective strategic prediction or research and judgment generally need three important preconditions, that is, close contact with decision-makers and core personnel, and can get the corresponding information resources in the first time; Rich experience and practical management experience related to it; Be able to keep abreast of the latest research trends and keep up with the forefront of social development. The realization of the three premises depends on personnel systems that can pool intellectual
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resources in different fields. Meanwhile, a Chinese “revolving door” system between think tanks and government departments should be established to unite cross-border talents. In terms of personnel structure, a two-level talent team, namely, a professional research team, is established to carry out continuous and in-depth research on fixed issues for a long time. A mobile talent team to conduct rapid research on emerging issues, so as to build a dynamic research environment We should establish a talent flow mechanism in government, academic, research, and other fields, promote the exchange of talents between think tanks and governments, and establish a benign interactive relationship between think tanks in universities and decision-making organs. Select and recommend university think tank staff to take posts in international organizations, actual departments and social organizations; Think tanks in universities invite decision-making departments to directly participate in research topics, jointly determine key research tasks of think tanks, jointly set up research teams and jointly discuss research results, so as to solve the problem of disconnection between scientific research and decision-making needs and between academic research and social needs from the source. We will establish a system for the recruitment of researchers to think tanks in universities and colleges, and employ personnel with working experience in international organizations, government departments, and social institutions to work in think tanks, and take charge of the research and achievements transformation of think tanks, so as to put forward high-quality consulting suggestions. We will establish a mechanism for the flow of staff from think tanks in universities, official think tanks, private think tanks and other different types of think tanks, establish long-term and stable strategic cooperative relations between think tanks, and explore the establishment of think tank associations or alliances in universities. On the one hand, we should pool the wisdom of experts, scholars, citizens, enterprises, officials, and the media to share information and achievements. On the other hand, collect and integrate the opinions, opinions and public opinions of the society, follow the forefront of The Times, and grasp the social trends. Through the cooperation and exchange of think tank staff and the establishment of information and resourcesharing mechanism, the university think tank accurately obtains the most valuable and core information in the mass information, forms a timely and targeted service, and avoids repeated research as much as possible. We will introduce personnel from nongovernmental think tanks and well-known foreign think tanks to participate in the research of university think tank projects, and promote interaction, cooperation and exchange across fields, departments, and even national boundaries, so as to cope with diverse, complex, and comprehensive decision-making issues and provide high-level consulting and advice. Fifth, the improvement of the evaluation method, guidance for the university think tank construction and development. We will establish and improve scientific and reasonable standards for classified evaluation and establish multiple evaluation methods in light of the characteristics of new think tanks with Chinese characteristics and the rules of applied research, so as to form a multi-evaluation mechanism dominated by user evaluation by the government, enterprises, and society. It mainly
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provides theoretical support, research basis, strategic thinking, opinions and suggestions, and social public opinion for government decision-making, and mainly evaluates enterprises to solve management, technology, sales, production, and other problems, and evaluates enterprises to popularize knowledge and lead social public opinion. Based on research reports, consulting reports, policy suggestions, and public opinion analysis, an evaluation standard system and performance appraisal system with the quality and benefit of policy suggestions and consulting services as the core should be established. Take the quality and level of policy suggestions and consulting reports, the scope and level of influence, and the benefits and functions of application as criteria to establish corresponding scientific research evaluation, performance assessment, promotion, reward and punishment mechanism of university think tank staff. On this basis, the annual salary system of think tank staff in colleges and universities should be explored for trial implementation, and the management system of objective responsibility should be established to form a scientific and reasonable appointment and withdrawal mechanism. Through effective evaluation methods, macro-guidance is given to the value orientation, development concept, professional level, sense of responsibility, development characteristics, and brand construction of university think tanks.
References Li, L., Chen, X., & Hanson, E. C. (2019). Private think tanks and public-private partnerships in chinese public diplomacy. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 14(3), 293–318. Liang, H., & Zhang, Y. (2019). Discourse power of think tanks: track II diplomacy of belt and road is just in time. In The theoretical system of belt and road initiative (pp. 45–49). Singapore: Springer. Luo, Y., & Guo, C. (2019, July). Research on Chinese think tank evaluation based on bibliometric analysis. In 4th International Conference on Contemporary Education, Social Sciences and Humanities (ICCESSH 2019). Atlantis Press. McGann, J. G. (2019a). Think tanks: The new knowledge and policy brokers in Asia. Brookings Institution Press. McGann, J. G. (2019b). 2018 global go to think tank index report. McGann, J. G. (2019c). Think tanks, foreign policy, and national, regional, and global politics. In Think tanks, foreign policy and the emerging powers (pp. 421–430). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. Xu, L. (2019). Emergence of a think tank and a rising power on the world stage: China institute of international studies. In Think tanks, foreign policy and the emerging powers (pp. 173–189). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Chapter 8
Investigating University-Based Science and Technology for Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China
This chapter concentrates on the investigation and policy analysis of university-based Science and Technology Enterprises in China. In the process of collaborative innovation reform of universities, science and technology enterprises serve as a vital channel to commercialize the scientific and technological results. They prompt universities to advance the reform of the talent development mode and adjust the direction of scientific research and expand the ways to serve the society. This study investigates the basic tasks of university-run science and technology enterprises, their relations with universities, the characteristics at different stages and governance structure, and analyzes the role of stakeholders. It is found that inaccurate positioning is a critical issue in the development of university-run science and technology enterprises, institutional defects are the fundamental issue, and the shortage of funds restricts their growth. In response, it is recommended that universities develop specialty industries relying on their competitive disciplines; enterprises focus on technology innovations and accelerate the application of research results; universities and enterprises should be managed separately and their development should be regulated; the governments should make financing channels available to these enterprises and give importance to the development of capital markets. In today’s ever-changing world, the innovation concept and mode should be changed urgently and the collaboration between governments, industries, universities, research institutes, and users should be promoted so as to the transformation of the economic and social development mode.1 Since the reform and opening up, China has made great efforts to transform scientific and technological results into productivity, and Chinese universities have achieved good economic and social benefits through running science and technology enterprises (sci-tech enterprises), which constitute a distinctive university-based science and technology sector. Sci-tech enterprises serve as a vital channel to commercialize the scientific and technological achievements of
1 Editor-in-chief:
Yuan Guiren; Editor: Guo Xinli. Toward top universities: From “211 Project” to “2011 Program”. Beijing: Higher Education Press, 2012, 50. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 E. Xue and J. Li, Innovating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2788-3_8
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universities. They prompt universities to advance the reform of the talent development mode and adjust the direction of scientific research, and expand the ways to serve the society. Under the impacts of the international financial crisis and the European debt crisis, the global economy is at a critical stage of institutional innovation; domestically, with the fading demographic dividend, the challenges in environmental protection and the increasingly severe shortage of resources, China’s industrial structure is in urgent need of adjustment and the transformation of the economic development mode has entered a key stage. Adopting the multiple streams (MS) framework of policy analysis, this study investigates university-run sci-tech enterprises on the basis of the interorganizational cooperation theory and open innovation theory, analyzes the relevant policy system, and puts forward policy proposals on promoting the effective cooperation between universities and industries.
8.1 The Restructuring of University-Run Enterprises and the Development of University-Run Sci-Tech Enterprises The transformation of university-run enterprises The multiple streams framework has been used in many studies on the policy process as an approach to analyze public policies and interpret policy-making issues under the conditions of fuzziness. On the basis of the bounded rationality theory and the organizational theory proposed by Herbert A. Simon, Kingdon (1995) brought forward the multiple streams framework, holding that policy formation involves three streams: the problem stream that consists of various problems and definitions, the policy stream that consists of various “solutions” and the politics stream that consists of election events and elected officials. The three streams flow largely independent of one another and each according to its own set of interior dynamics. The problem stream is used to explain why policy-makers give attention to certain problems while disregarding others. That largely relies on how decision-makers get to know the conditions and which conditions policy-makers have chosen to interpret as problems. The policy stream mainly refers to the interactions, alternations, and combinations of policy proposals and solutions, and only those that meet certain requirements (for example, they are technically viable, tally with mainstream values, are within budget, and are likely to get support) will be retained.2 The politics stream involves the influences of politics on the proposed solutions: the public mood, public opinions, electoral politics, interest group politics, and so on. If policy proposals tally with the public mood, get support from interest groups or no opposition from organizations and fit the preference of the administrative and legislative branches, they are more likely to be put on top agenda. The most striking feature lies in the “convergence” of the three streams at a time when the problems are put on agenda and the “policy 2 Zahariadis. Fuzziness, time and multiple streams analysis. In Sabatier, P.A. (Eds.), Theories of the policy process, Peng, Z.C. (Trans.). Beijing: Joint Publishing, 2004, 92–122.
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window” opens. Then how was the “policy window” of the university-run enterprise reform opened in China? The problem stream caused by social conflicts consists of: Large number yet small scales and imbalanced development of university-run enterprises; Unclear ownership, and deficiencies in the management system, and the investment and exit mechanism; Lack of awareness of property rights in human capital, and absence of property right incentive mechanism. Social elites engaged in the policy stream: they detected the problems, put forward policy proposals and made wide debates on universityrun enterprises. The debates concentrated on two issues: whether universities should establish enterprises, and how universities run the enterprises well. Political elites engaged in the politics stream: the Party and governments gave high attention and support, which was the key driver for the rapid development of the science and technology industry of universities in the 1990s. In 1993, the then State Commission for Restructuring the Economic System, National Education Commission, and State Scientific and Technological Commission held a conference on the science and technology industry of universities, and the Ministry of Education held a conference on the technology innovation of universities in 1999. These two milestones gave a boost to the development of the science and technology sector of universities. Around the year 2000, the discussions and policy proposals social elites made in this regard started to draw high attention from political elites. Then Vice Premier Li Lanqing gave a series of instructions regarding the development and problems of that field.3 The outstanding problems in university-run enterprises, the proposals of social elites and the strong support of political elites collectively kick-started the restructuring of university-run enterprises. On November 1, 2001, the General Office of the State Council adopted the Guiding Opinions on the Pilot Program on Regulating the Management System of Enterprises Run by Peking University and Tsinghua University, which explicitly vowed to standardize the management of enterprises run by the two universities according to the requirements of modern enterprise system, and approved the two universities to establish wholly state-owned limited liability companies to manage the assets of university-run enterprises. Yet until 2006, the Company Law had prohibited the establishment of wholly owned limited liability companies, which presented a great institutional barrier to the pilot reform in the two universities. To advance the reform, the country capitalized on powerful political resources and the State Council issued a special document approving the two universities to establish their assets management as wholly state-owned limited liability companies,4 laying a policy basis for the restructuring of enterprises run by the two universities. The pilot program had two purposes: first, to clarify the property rights of universityrun enterprises, straighten out the administrative system, improve the management 3 Department
of Science and Technology, and Science and Technology Development Center, Ministry of Education. Materials about the seminar on the national science and technology sector of universities, May 2001. 4 Su, J., Ru, P., Du, M., & Wang, T. From university-run enterprises to university-owned enterprises: A transition of university knowledge industrialization in China. Studies in Science of Science, 2007(6): 40–45.
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systems, and establish the modern enterprise system with capital as the link featuring clarified property rights, well-defined rights and responsibilities, separation of school administration and enterprise management, as well as scientific management, so that university-run enterprises can become business entities that assume limited liability, operate independently, take responsibility for its own profits and losses, pay taxes in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Chinese tax law, and assume responsibility for the maintenance and increase of state-owned assets, so as to protect the legitimate rights and interests of universities and effectively avoid operating risks of university-run enterprises. Second, to phase in mechanisms for the universities’ investment in and exit from sci-tech enterprises, expand and improve the channels for technology commercialization, and continue boosting technology commercialization so that the teaching, research and economic activities of universities embark on a virtuous circle, and promote one another.5 The main measures in the process of restructuring included: further advancing the building of modern enterprise system, straightening out the property relations of universities and enterprises, regulating the investments of universities in enterprises, regulating the behavior of university leaders working concurrently and holding shares in enterprises, and regulating the enterprises’ use of university names, and encouraging teachers and researchers to start businesses. The development of university-based sci-tech enterprises After the restructuring of university-run enterprises, the sci-tech enterprises have achieved great development. According to the Opinions of the Ministry of Commerce on Encouraging Sci-tech Enterprises to Go Global released in 2005, the main indicators to define a sci-tech enterprise are as follows: science and technology personnel who hold associate college degrees above and directly engage in research and development (R&D) account for more than 20% and 5% of the entire staff, respectively; the expenses enterprise spends on the R&D of high and new technologies and relevant products account for more than 3% of its total sales in the year; the technology-related income and the sales revenue of new- and high-tech products together account for more than 50% of the enterprise’s revenue in the year; and a newly established enterprise makes at least half of its total investment in new- and high-tech fields.6 The Ministry of Commerce also explicitly stipulates that new-and high-tech enterprises certified by science and technology authorities above the level of provincial governments can also be defined as sci-tech enterprises. According to the Administrative Measures for the Designation of High and New Technology Enterprises promulgated in 2008, evaluation indicators for high and new technology enterprises are as follows: the enterprises hold proprietary intellectual property rights
5 Huang,
W. regulated the management system of university-run enterprises and promote the commercialization of scientific and technological results: An interview with Xie Huanzhong, Director of the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education. China Education Daily, 2002-1-6(3). 6 Ministry of Commerce. Opinions of the Ministry of Commerce on Encouraging Sci-tech Enterprises to Go Global (SHANG JI FA [2005] No. 139), November 29, 2005.
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to the core technologies used in their main products (services); science and technology personnel who hold associate college degrees above and directly engage in R&D account for more than 30% and 10% of the entire staff respectively; and the enterprises have consistently conducted R&D activities to attain and creatively use new knowledge of science and technology, or substantively improve their technologies and products (services).7 Based on the relevant provisions, university-run sci-tech enterprises can be defined as those that are wholly owned or whose shares are controlled or held by universities; R&D personnel with associate degrees above account for more than 20% of the entire staff and the annual R&D expenses account for at least 3% of its sales revenue; and the technology-related income and the sales revenue of technology products together account for more than 50% of the enterprise’s revenue in the year. In 2012, there were about 988 such enterprises across China, accounting for 28.41% of all universityrun enterprises. While their number fell shy of one-third of that of university-run enterprises, sci-tech enterprises raked in RMB 137.075 billion in revenue, accounting for 65.71% of the total of university-run businesses, and paid RMB 552 millions of profits or dividends to university shareholders, accounting for 43.09% of the total.8 In 2012, sci-tech enterprises had 149,500 employees, accounting for 31.32% of the total of university-run enterprises, and R&D staff accounted for 25.89%; 210,400 interns worked 8,436,100 h in sci-tech enterprises, accounting for 22.59 and 23.6% of total interns and working hours of university-run enterprises; sci-tech enterprises took part in the education of 564 Ph.D. students and 4181 postgraduate students, accounting for 42.57 and 45.94% of the total doctoral and master students educated together with university-run enterprises respectively. Sci-tech enterprises made up about half of university-run enterprises in terms of total revenues, total profits, net profits, and talent development (see Fig. 8.1). In 2007, sci-tech enterprises had 115,400 employees, accounting for 55.88% of the total of university-run enterprises; 67,600 interns worked 12,659,200 h in sci-tech enterprises, accounting for 50.17%; sci-tech enterprises took part in the education of 407 Ph.D. students and 1848 postgraduate students, accounting for 71.53% and 66.21% respectively.9 It can be seen that sci-tech enterprises hold a leading position among university-run enterprises in terms of total revenues, total profits, net profits, and talent development. Between 1999 and 2012, the number of university-run enterprises showed a downward trend, but the revenues of university-run enterprises and sci-tech enterprises both grew rapidly (see Fig. 8.2). In 1999, Chinese universities had 5444 enterprises,
7 Ministry
of Science and Technology, Ministry of Finance, and State Administration of Taxation. Administrative measures for the designation of high and new technology enterprises (GUO KE FA [2008] No. 172), April 14, 2008. 8 Association of University-run Enterprises, Science and Technology Development Center, Ministry of Education. Statistical report on China’s university-run businesses 2012. Beijing: Beijing Institute of Technology Press, 2013, 1–60. 9 Association of University-run Enterprises, Science and Technology Development Center, Ministry of Education. Statistical report on China’s university-run businesses 2007. Guangzhou: South China University of Technology Press, 2009, 7–20.
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Fig. 8.1 Comparison between university-based enterprises and other enterprises in 2012 (%)
Fig. 8.2 Changes in university-run enterprises and sci-tech enterprises from 1999 to 2012
including 2137 sci-tech enterprises, which posted total revenues of RMB 37.903 billion and RMB 26.731 billion respectively.10 Afterward, the number of university-run enterprises declined while their total revenues grew. By 2007, university-run enterprises had seen an annual decline of 198 in their number and annual growth of RMB 11.05 billion in revenues. The number of sci-tech enterprises showed nonlinear variations. It culminated in 2003 to 2447,11 but was in an overall downward trend, while their revenues kept growing. As of 2007, the number of sci-tech enterprises decreased to 106 annually and the revenues increased to RMB 10.142 billion annually. In 2010, there were 3564 university-run enterprises across China, with total revenues of RMB
10 Association of University-run Enterprises, Science and Technology Development Center, Ministry of Education. Statistical report on China’s university-run businesses 2003. Chengdu: Southwest Jiaotong University Press, 2004, 13–14. 11 Association of University-run Enterprises, Science and Technology Development Center, Ministry of Education. Statistical report on China’s university-run businesses 2006. Chengdu: Southwest Jiaotong University Press, 2007, 18.
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167.183 billion, and there were 1044 sci-tech enterprises, which registered revenues of RMB 113.549 billion.12
8.2 Design of Investigation and Analysis on the Development of University-Run Sci-Tech Enterprises Design of investigation on the development of university-run sci-tech enterprises To understand the status quo and problems of university-run sci-tech enterprises after restructuring and to provide a scientific basis for policies concerning the development of such enterprises and foster a better environment for their development, this study conducts a thorough and systematic investigation on university-run sci-tech enterprises with the help of questionnaires. In the process of questionnaire design, the project team took field trips to Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Nanjing University, Fudan University, Tongji University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, East China University of Science and Technology, CUMT National University Science Park and elsewhere to investigate the situations and interview experts, and preliminarily determined the outline of the questionnaire. Then, after 17 thematic discussions, the project team worked out the draft of the questionnaire, tested it in relevant units in Beijing, and finalized it after revisions. The questionnaires were only distributed to universities with national university science parks, and complete enumeration, instead of a sample survey, was adopted. As of 2012, China had 86 national university science parks, which were established by 134 universities in 24 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government in a bid to promote cooperation between universities and industries. In this study, questionnaires, in print and electronic forms, were distributed to 86 national university science parks, 109 universities and 138 scitech enterprises. In the meantime, the Science and Technology Commission of the Ministry of Education issued the Notice Concerning the Investigation on National University Science Parks and Sci-Tech Industries, which played a vital role in ensuring that the subjects could give enough attention to the survey and return the questionnaires timely. National university science parks returned 80 questionnaires to the project team, accounting for about 93% of the total distributed to them; universities returned 102, accounting for about 94%; and sci-tech enterprises returned 120, accounting for 87%. The project team then entered the data on the questionnaires, and conducted statistics mainly on multi-choice questions, calculated the percentage of respondents choosing certain options and used the weighted average method when calculating the average of options (see the formula as follows):
12 Association of University-run Enterprises, Science and Technology Development Center, Ministry of Education. Statistical report on China’s university-run businesses 2010. Beijing: Beijing Institute of Technology Press, 2013, 1–54.
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Average =
Importance score × Number of respondents choosing the corresponding score
Score=1 5
Number of respondents choosing the corresponding score
Score=1
Investigation and analysis of the development of university-run sci-tech enterprises 1. Basic tasks and university–enterprise relations (1) Basic tasks Chinese universities have established sci-tech enterprises for the purpose of promoting the transfer of research results, providing fieldwork base for students, supplementing the university’s funds and achieving both social and economic benefits. While their legal status is no different from that of enterprises incepted by other investors, the particularity of university-run sci-tech enterprises lies in that the universities hold part or all shares of the enterprises and contribute to some or all core technologies, thus granting sci-tech enterprises with different development tasks. According to the survey (see Fig. 8.3), to promote the application of innovations is regarded as the most important task by 73% of university-run sci-tech enterprises, with a weighted average of 4.4 (5 represents the most important, and 1 the least); the second is to stimulate universities to develop technology, which has a weighted average of 4.3; to provide research funds and to improve the allocation of technology resources come next, both with a weighted average of about 4.1; other tasks are to provide entrepreneurial opportunities for students, expand student employment channels and help nurture innovative talent, with a weighted average between 3.8 and 3.9. Universities boast distinctive advantages over enterprises in terms of research forces and research facilities, but research activities in universities are often out of line with the market. Established as the pilot-scale experiment base and technology promotion center, university-run sci-tech enterprises serve as the basic channel to accelerate the transfer and application of scientific and technological results. Thus, their paramount task is to promote the application of scientific and technological results. The incubation or transfer of scientific and technological results by universityrun sci-tech enterprises can reduce the uncertainties that may arise from being applied
Fig. 8.3 Main tasks of university-run sci-tech enterprises
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Fig. 8.4 Returns paid by sci-tech enterprises to universities (RMB 100 million)
by other enterprises due to information asymmetry, and greatly help identify research projects and mitigate the risks in the transfer of scientific and technological results. University-run sci-tech enterprises achieve the knowledge-created value by turning the research advantage of universities into market advantage in the process of the transfer of scientific and technological results; in turn, that accelerates the market feedback to universities as to the research directions and topics, provides funds for research, advances interdisciplinary integration, promotes the combination of basic research, application research and development research of universities, helps link research activities in universities with the society and economy, and improves the social service ability and level of universities. From 2003 to 2007, sci-tech enterprises accumulatively contributed RMB 6.329 billion to universities (Fig. 8.4), and the number exceeded RMB 1 billion in 2012 alone.13 Universities that establish sci-tech enterprises can get development funds apart from fiscal appropriation, a supplement to funds needed for the rapid development of universities. (2) University–enterprise relations In accordance with the Higher Education Law of the People’s Republic of China, a university is a legal entity that runs independently. Universities are encouraged to cooperate, in diverse forms, with enterprises, public institutions, social groups, and other social organizations in scientific research, technology development and application, and other fields. Returns from industries run by universities or transfer of intellectual property rights as well as other scientific and technological achievements shall be used for running the school.14 As shown in Fig. 8.5, about 43% of universitiesrun sci-tech enterprises think they have shareholding relations with the universities, Fig. 8.5 University– enterprise relations
13 Association of University-run Enterprises, Science and Technology Development Center, Ministry
of Education. Statistical report on China’s university-run businesses 2003–2012. 14 Higher Education Law of the People’s Republic of China, August 29, 1998.
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about 36% consider them as equal legal persons to universities, and about 18% think they are affiliated to universities. Overall, about 79%, the first two combined, have a proper view of their relations with universities. Both universities and university-run sci-tech universities are legal entities, and their economic relations are equal legal persons. That is different from the administrative subordination relationship of universities to the government, as the latter has greater power in terms of decision-making and dominion. When providing resources for universities, enterprises consider that a transaction and expect returns, but the governments do that as a support, usually without expectations of definite returns. Resources provided by enterprises, easily accessible to universities, are abundant in contents, forms and exchange channels, while universities are unlikely to appeal to the government for more interests when it allocates the resources. As independent legal entities, universities will not provide their scientific and technological resources, educational resources and intellectual resources to sci-tech enterprises as pure public goods; instead, the two sides exchange resources in a market-based manner. Through enterprises, universities get involved in the social and economic system, extend their traditional functions and expand the scope and fields of social service. 2. Stage characteristics and governance structure of university-run sci-tech enterprises First, about 73% of the enterprises’ core technologies are about the application of scientific and technological achievements. 54% of core technologies are at a stage of ascent, 40% of maturity, and 2% are in their infancy. It usually takes a long time to put new technologies into use. On one hand, new technologies must go through multiple tests and be modified and improved before they are ready for the market. On the other hand, turning new technologies into new products requires special instruments, processes, and fixtures, and this also needs time. The concept of innovation quality implies how smoothly technology innovations are translated into productivity.15 At the stage of maturity, the application of technology becomes standard with the expansion of the market and the producers’ growing familiarity with the technical features. After this stage, the market demand for products gets saturated and it is difficult to make breakthroughs in technical performance, so the technology life cycle enters the stage of decline. Currently, about 94% of the core technologies of university-run sci-tech enterprises are at the stage of ascent and maturity, indicating that these enterprises are thriving. Second, about 51% of university-run sci-tech enterprises attain new technologies through collaborative R&D, 23% through contract-based R&D, and 9% through patent purchase. Enterprises that get new technologies through the first two methods account for 74%, which suggests that universities are their essential partners. About 37% of enterprises see their core technologies come directly from universities, and 56% develop core technologies independently. Universities boast powerful research strengths and have an advantage in collaborative innovation, but because of the slow development of technology agencies and the immature system for the transfer of 15 Haner, U.E. Innovation quality—A conceptual framework. International Journal of Production Economies, 2002(80): 31–37.
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scientific and technological achievements, the proportion of enterprises developing core technologies on their own is still high. Third, university-run sci-tech enterprises are usually organized through the jointstock system, shareholding cooperative system and partnership, about 60% of senior executives are researchers from the universities, 33% promoted from within, and only 7% recruited from outside. About 49% of R&D personnel are projectized R&D specialists, 18% recruited among college graduates and 16% chosen among interns. Through sci-tech enterprises, universities can effectively transfer and commercialize research results. That, at least in part, overcomes the separation of technology and market. Due to the link between universities and their enterprises, a majority of senior executives are researchers from the universities, with only a small part recruited from outside; the market nature of enterprises determines that a large part of R&D personnel are projectized R&D specialist; by taking part in project development, college students can develop innovation and entrepreneurial abilities and prepare themselves for future work. Fourth, 65% of enterprises produce specialized products, 15% provide consulting or research services, 9% specialize in platform technology licensing, and 7% produce consumer products. In other words, most of these enterprises established by universities produce specialized products, while only a few engage in consulting, platform technologies, and other agency services. About 63% of enterprises are at the stage of industrial development, 30% are at the stage of maturity and 5% are at the stage of startups. All enterprises are at a specific stage, and will generally go through four stages: take-off, development, maturity, and decline. At the stages of take-off and development, enterprises compete with a small number of peers within the industry, have a large market capacity and rich resources, and monopolize the market; with the industrial development, more market players join the industry, boosting the market supply capacity and intensifying the competition, leading the industry to a stage of maturity; the increasing access of enterprises results in intense competition, degenerates the industrial environment and reduces profitability, forcing some uncompetitive enterprises to withdraw from the industry, which now enters a stage of decline. Fifth, about 51% of enterprises raise money mainly through industrial investment, 32% through credit investment, 6% through venture capital and 5% through government investment; 66% of enterprises develop core technologies with internal funds, 14% with credit funds, 9% with government investment, and 3% with venture capital; about 59% of enterprises open up markets for new products using internal funds, 25% using credit funds, 7% using government investment, and 6% using venture capital. The process of innovation lacks no uncertainties and needs large amounts of investments, advanced venture capital market, diverse financing channels, and sufficient private capital. However, only 10% of enterprises have obtained development funds, developed core technologies or expanded the market for products using venture capital, while more than half of them have done that using industrial investments and internal inputs, suggesting that the financial environment university-run sci-tech enterprises need for their development is far from sound.
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8.3 Roles Analysis of Shareholders of University-Run Sci-Tech Enterprises (1) Support from universities The most important support universities give to sci-tech enterprises consists in technology development, with a weighted average of 4.3 (5 represents the most important and 1 the least); the second is brand support, with a weighted average of 4.2, which is followed by financial support, with a weighted average of 4.0; other forms of support include collaborative research, talent development, scientific guidance, strategic guidance, and personnel mechanism, with their weighted average ranging from 3.91 to 3.97 (see Fig. 8.6). The support from universities is at least reflected in three aspects: first, universities can help enterprises save R&D costs, as it is not cost-effective for enterprises to develop all new technologies and products on their own. Through their close relations with universities, enterprises get access to the latest scientific and technological results at comparably low costs, accelerate the process of product development and thus enhance their technology innovation ability and competitiveness in the market. Second, R&D activities involve great uncertainties and face risks. Uncertainties in the process of innovation are a primary reason for market failure and government failure. Those uncertainties may bring profits to enterprises and also cause risks to technology innovation.16 Research activities of universities to some extent reduce the external uncertainties of enterprises’ innovation activities, thus mitigating the R&D risks. Finally, relying on their rich educational resources, universities foster talent for enterprises, introduce the advanced management system, bring about changes and innovations in management concepts, improve production and operation efficiency of enterprises, and enhance their ability for sustainable development. (2) Support from governments The most important support the governments gives to sci-tech enterprises is policy support, with a weighted average of 4.6 (5 represents the most important and 1 the
Fig. 8.6 Support from universities 16 Phaal, P., Farrukh, C., & Probert, D. T-Plan: Fast start to technology roadmapping. Su, J. (Trans).
Beijing: Tsinghua University Press, 2009, Translator’s Foreword.
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Fig. 8.7 Support from governments
least); the second is financial support, with a weighted average of 4.4, which is followed by human resources support, with a weighted average of 4.0; and the last are information support and technical support, both with a weighted average ranging from 3.8 (see Fig. 8.7). The governments mainly perform functions of macro guidance, policy guidance, and organizational coordination in the development of enterprises. First, integrate resources to elevate the level of innovation. The governments participate, as organizers and guides, in the interactions between universities and enterprises, and effectively integrate the human resources, materials, and other resources in a planned and targeted manner in a bid to promote collaborative innovation. Second, concentrate strengths to promote regional economic development. University-run sci-tech enterprises help the governments to adjust industrial structure and advance the transformation and upgrading of the regional economy, while nurturing high-quality innovative talent to lift the level of innovation. Finally, establish the mechanism to improve R&D efficiency. Through the enterprises, the governments can give full play to the universities’ advantage in scientific research and the enterprises’ advantage in their connection with the market to improve the R&D efficiency and combine scientific and technological advances with the economic development. (3) Enterprises’ support for universities The most important support sci-tech enterprises give to universities is to transfer research results, with a weighted average of 3.98 (5 represents the most important and 1 the least); the second is to exalt university reputation, with a weighted average of 3.97; then it is to promote disciplinary development, with a weighted average of 3.94; to promote student entrepreneurship and fund research follows with a weighted average of 3.86–3.83 (see Fig. 8.8). The support of enterprises for universities is mainly reflected in three aspects: first, enterprises provide an experiment base and incubation environment for the transfer of universities’ scientific and technological achievements, not only accelerating the transfer but also making universities’ research more targeted and practical. Second, enterprises strengthen universities’ ability for serving society, thus elevating their reputation; leveraging the universities’ reputation, enterprises can grow into large-scale groups quickly and even take lead in the industry, thus propping up the development of universities. Finally, through enterprises, universities get to know and even grasp the social and industrial needs to run the school accordingly, adjust
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Fig. 8.8 Enterprises’ support for universities
disciplinary structure and size, advance the reform of education and teaching systems and improve the quality of talent development. 3. Analysis of the problems in the development of university-run sci-tech enterprises The biggest challenge faced by sci-tech enterprises is the lack of financial support, with a weighted average of 4.2 (5 represents the most important and 1 the least); the second is the lack of policy support, with a weighted average of 4.1, which is followed by the lack of infrastructure (3.9), lack of credit support (3.7) and lack of venture capital (3.6) (see Fig. 8.9). (1) Inaccurate positioning is a crucial issue in the development of enterprises Universities have not positioned themselves properly in the establishment and development of sci-tech enterprises. Universities are both investors and administrators of these enterprises. As public institutions, they undertake the basic tasks of talent
Fig. 8.9 Main challenges in the operation of enterprises
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development, scientific research, and social service. Universities should not take maximum profit and business expansion as their ultimate goal for enterprises they have established, or it would go against the nature and fundamental missions of universities; but enterprises are bound to seek maximum profit and business expansion, running counter to the development goal of universities. Apparently, universities cannot act as technology developers, venture capitalists, and enterprise administrators at the same time. The confusion caused by multiple roles will inevitably hamper the development of enterprises and pose a threat to the advance of universities. The society has yet to get a correct understanding of university-run sci-tech enterprises. Firstly, opinions are divided over whether universities should run enterprises. On one side, opponents hold that universities would be derelict in duty if they engaged in the businesses, and the high risk involved could endanger the public assets of universities; others worry that developing sci-tech businesses would take up the time and energy the teachers should have spent in teaching and research, and taint the learning environment on campus, thus affecting the educational activities of universities. With the orderly development of sci-tech enterprises, the number of opponents has declined in recent years. On the other side, there are divergences among proponents. Some regard developing sci-tech businesses as a makeshift measure for universities to supplement their insufficient funding, while others put it in an overly high position, overemphasizing or even exaggerating the social service function of universities. Secondly, there are different opinions as to which types of enterprises should be developed. Some think that given their advantages such as comprehensive disciplines, strong scientific and technological strength and legion research achievements, universities should develop knowledge-intensive, high value-added sci-tech enterprises, while others believe general sci-tech enterprises will be advisable because many of the enterprises are restructured from the previous university-run businesses, with weak capabilities for technology management and innovation and lacking sufficient funds. Thirdly, there are also divergences over the development mode. Some enterprises lack long-term planning and focus on just immediate interests or economic benefits; some people think that enterprises should be completely separated from universities and operate on their own. University-run sci-tech enterprises also lack accurate positioning in the market. First, their ability for innovation is weak. Many research projects of universities are not closely related to the key technological issues that are urgently need to be addressed for the country’s social and economic development, and there are great technological gaps between scientific and technological achievements of universities and the production of enterprises; the insufficient inputs in research lead to a low level of maturity of research results, making it difficult to apply them in production; the research personnel of universities are not enthusiastic about the application of their research results because there is not an effective mechanism to protect their interests. It is not viable for enterprises to lift the level of innovation of their core products by relying on universities alone. Second, the innovation mechanism needs improvement. Due to the institutional restraints, university-run sci-tech enterprises sometimes are unable to fully exercise the autonomy of legal persons, and form
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the power restraint mechanism, scientific decision-making mechanism, and incentive and restraint mechanism, deviating enterprise operations from the basic rules and requirements of the market economy. Finally, enterprises are short of operation and management talent. On the one hand, they lack scientists with profound market insights and entrepreneurs with scientific and technological thinking, as well as marketing personnel with technology backgrounds and market sensitivity. A large part of enterprise operation and management personnel are scientific and technological workers who are not adept at operation and management, lack high-level strategic decision-making and market operation competence, and are insensitive to market situations and business risks, unable to fully cater to the needs of the development of the market economy. On the other hand, there is a shortage of highly competent technology brokers. In China, technology brokers are simply playing a basic intermediary role, but in fact, they should act as technology consultants and advisers, which require essential knowledge and skills in science and technology, economy, law, market and other fields. (2) Institutional defects are a fundamental issue in the development of enterprises In terms of property relationships, university-run sci-tech enterprises are established with the direct investment of universities; legally, the property ownership is very clear. In practice, however, due to inappropriate property arrangements, many enterprises face problems such as the failure to clarify property rights, separate operating assets, and non-operating assets, and balance rights and responsibilities. Enterprises are often taken as affiliates to or administrative departments of universities, and universities directly administrate the enterprises in accordance with public institution administration measures. Due to such problems as the lack of sound enterprise management systems, high proportion of wholly owned enterprises (more than 60%), inflexible operation systems and various malpractices, there have been no effective mechanisms to maintain and increase the value of the universities’ operating assets and prevent the loss of state-owned assets. That deters enterprises from being competitive market players and makes universities difficult to mitigate economic and legal risks that may arise from directly establishing and running enterprises.17 As to enterprise operations, a prominent feature of university-run sci-tech enterprises is the high concentration of property rights. State-owned property assumes absolute superiority in the property structure of enterprises, whose shares are mostly held by universities or corporate groups wholly owned by universities, which have exclusive ownership of most university-run sci-tech enterprises. These enterprises are unlikely to operate free from the intervention of administrative power. First, they generally have multiple objectives, including both business objectives (maximum profit) and social goals (such as taking part in talent development, and providing jobs for the redundant personnel of universities and children of the faculty). In some stages, social goals even completely overtake business objectives. The administrative 17 Science and Technology Development Center, Ministry of Education. Deputy Director Li Zhimin
shares views on the standardization of university-run businesses. Website of the Ministry of Education, August 15, 2005.
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intervention of universities makes it difficult for enterprises to form a standard property restraint mechanism. Second, the state-owned property in enterprises cannot be substantively transferred, which hinders the formation of a competitive market for property rights, and affects the efficiency of the allocation of social resources and the market-based operation of enterprises. Third, it is difficult for enterprises to form a sound mechanism to select their executives. Administrative departments or organizational departments of universities appoint the executives out of considerations for university development or personnel placement, rather than select the most suitable talents through public recruitment. In terms of industrial structure, the enterprises also lack a mechanism to foster professional entrepreneurs. Professional entrepreneurs take it their mission to ensure the enterprises are in good operation and achieve their own value and attain social status through the development of enterprises.18 By linking their own interests to that of enterprises, professional entrepreneurs do their utmost for the survival and prosperity of enterprises. That is a core mechanism for enterprise innovation. In practice, however, many executives of enterprises still retain their posts, administrative titles, and remunerations at universities, which will inevitably lead to multifaceted behavioral orientations. The conflicts between multiple objectives, such as managing the enterprises well and getting higher level administrative titles make it difficult for these executives to take the development of enterprises as their lifelong undertaking and career. The enterprises have not put in place an effective incentive and restraint mechanism for the management. Many of them still adopt a remuneration system of “salary plus bonus”, and the incentives they offer to executives are principally administrative benefits, instead of economic benefits. The income gaps between senior executives and general employees are not huge, but different rights and responsibilities entail different actual benefits from the power of control, which may cause the incentives to be distorted and thus undermines the efficiency and competitiveness of enterprises. (3) The shortage of fund restricts the growth of enterprises The process of applying and commercializing scientific and technological achievements entails large amounts of funds and numerous risks in technology, market, management, and other aspects. On top of large amounts and long periods, investments in the incubation of high and new technology projects may see unexpected results. University-run sci-tech enterprises are based on science and technology innovations, and their products feature high value added and strong market power. Free from the restraint of the development level of traditional technologies, these enterprises are likely to embrace leapfrog development, requiring enormous funds which may bring hefty returns but also involve high risks. First, the governments have not provided adequate funds for sci-tech projects undertaken by universities. Because of the great difficulty in research, uncertain research period, unclear market prospects, and easy access to the intellectual property rights, such projects are difficult to attract external investments and, in this case, the governments should step in. However, China’s fiscal investments are mainly steered 18 Wang, Z.M. Institutional arrangements for the development of university-run businesses. Jiangsu Higher Education, 1997(4): 90–92.
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into the basic research of universities and key technologies that concerns the national economic development and are seldom used for the transfer and commercialization of scientific and technological achievements made by universities. Many of them hence resort to nongovernment channels, which are limited in sources and capital. Second, they are short of venture capital. China’s venture capital is unable to timely engage in the transfer and commercialization of scientific and technological achievements made by universities, or effectively provide support and guidance for university-run sci-tech enterprises in terms of fund, management, and other aspects. A high-level venture capital industry requires not only high-quality investments but also high-level management. Science and technology are complex goods, China has not established an objective and authoritative mechanism to evaluate the risks of venture capital investments, a mature property rights exchange market, and a sound venture capital exit mechanism, so venture capital investments in China face enormous technical risks and market risks, deterring the formation of a systematic venture capital system. Third, the capital markets are flawed. The development of China’s capital markets has structural defects. So far, the country has only two functionally similar stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen that provide financing services for more than 1000 listed companies, most of which are large- and medium-sized enterprises; the hi-tech board is unable to meet the tremendous financing demand. At present, only physical assets or monetary assets can be accepted as a mortgage on commercial credit. Universities, as technology owners, cannot mortgage non-operating assets to get commercial credit for the transfer of scientific and technological achievements, which renders them into a financing difficulty.
8.4 Policy Proposals on the Development of University-Run Sci-Tech Enterprises Universities should develop specialty industries based on their competitive disciplines Universities, in essence, are educational and research institutions, and the ultimate goal of transferring scientific and technological achievements is to create social and economic benefits. Universities have advantages in knowledge innovation, sci-tech innovation, and familiarity with the middle and upper streams of the industrial chain, while their weak spot lies in the downstream which is directly linked to the market. Thus, they should combine discipline construction with the transfer and commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, promote the transfer by leveraging their discipline and talent advantages, facilitate the development of specialty industries, while advancing discipline construction and talent development through the transfer and striving to achieve a win–win situation where talent development, scientific research and social service—the three functions of universities, promote one another.
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To help attain China’s goal for educational, scientific, and technological advances, universities must stick to the path of working together with enterprises and research institutes to conduct collaborative innovation, promote the transfer of scientific and technological achievements, boost the development of sci-tech enterprises they run and improve the level of social services. The widening business scope and expanding service fields of university-run sci-tech enterprises have added difficulty to supervision, making it urgent for universities to establish the operating assets supervision system and operation mechanism. At the same time, they should focus on talent building, optimize the structure of the management, operation and R&D teams of the enterprises, and form a professional talent team versed in management and operations. It is essential to straighten out and clarify the relations between universities and enterprises. It is not that the latter are subordinate to the former but that the two are equal legal persons, so their relations are based on rights and obligations. University-run sci-tech enterprises, invested by university-owned asset management companies, are liable to maintain and increase the assets invested in them and have the right to get profits; as the shareholder of asset management companies, universities should perform their shareholder’s obligations according to law and also be entitled to corresponding rights. Enterprises should focus on technology innovation and accelerate the application Universities are abundant in knowledge resources, technology resources, and talent resources, and have strong R&D capabilities, but they are short of fund, policy support, and the ability to translate scientific and technological achievements into productivity. Sci-tech enterprises provide a basic solution to those issues. In running sci-tech enterprises, universities should focus on innovations in science and technology and the R&D of related products and services, match innovative patents and nonproprietary technologies with venture capital funds and enterprises, and cooperate with them through the conversion of technologies or services into shares. Universities should not make big investments on a large scale and need to guard against the operating risks of enterprises without dominating their daily operation and management. Innovation ability holds the key to the efficient operation of enterprise, and pivotal to the enterprises’ innovation ability is the efficiency and effectiveness of technology and service innovations, which enterprises should take as a core task. The establishment, development, and prosperity of university-run sci-tech enterprises have their particular rules. At different stages the enterprises may be merged, restructured, liquidated, or even shut down when necessary; only very few enterprises can grow into mature enterprises and go public. Asset management companies of universities should strengthen management of operating assets, withdraw, entirely or partially, from enterprises that have been successfully incubated through market measures (such as equity trading), establish a benign cycle of investment, management and exit and a sustainable development mechanism to effectively maintain and increase the value of state-owned assets and realize the sustainable efficiency of investments.
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Universities and enterprises should run independently of each other and in a regulated way In the process of restructuring, university-run sci-tech enterprises face various challenges. First, their relations with universities are not straightened out, and their operations may bring economic and legal risks to universities. Second, enterprises may bring moral hazards to universities, which may be under fire because of enterprises’ malpractices. Third, they may bring political risks to universities. In the event of major economic losses, and ethical incidents, in particular, caused by the poor management of enterprises, universities may be beset by a political crisis.19 The standardized development of university-run enterprises is not a process in which universities and enterprises are separated completely. The restructuring of university-run enterprises is a basic path to advance their market-based development, enhance core competencies and establish the modern corporate system. Explorations should be made to form an open, integrated, and efficient new mode of collaboration between universities, enterprises (industries) and local governments (regions).20 In addition to their rights as investors, universities should assume the obligations to inject their scientific and technological achievements into enterprises in the form of operating assets, provide innovations and management talent for enterprises, and offer consultations on the application of scientific and technological advances. Through standardized development, enterprises, along with universities, will embark on a path of sound development. Asset management companies of universities should manage the sci-tech enterprises in accordance with the modern corporate system by establishing scientific corporate governance structure, building financial and accounting management systems, selecting executives who are familiar with market rules and have high managerial competencies and decision-making skills, and improving the management measures and risk warning mechanism for sci-tech enterprises they invest in. Universities should establish the operating assets management committee to perform the role of investors and exercise the rights of shareholders on behalf of the asset management companies of universities. As investors of university-run sci-tech enterprises, asset management companies should, according to market rules, conduct effective supervision over the enterprises that are wholly owned or whose shares are controlled or held by them, ensure the sound operation of university-owned operating assets, and gradually establish and perfect the management system and operating mechanism of university for the asset company and the asset company for the investment enterprises.
19 Chen, X. deepens the standardization of university-run businesses and strengthen risk management and control to promote the development of university-run businesses. Speech delivered by Vice Minister of Education Chen Xi at the conference with universities directly under the Ministry of Education, January 13, 2009. 20 Ministry of Education. Opinions of the Ministry of Education on Comprehensively Improving the Quality of Higher Education (JIAO GAO [2012] No. 4), March 16, 2012.
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The governments should smooth out financing channels and focus on the building of capital markets The life cycle of a sci-tech industry based on scientific and technological achievements of universities can be divided into four stages: seed, startup, growth, and maturity. Different stages have different demands for funding from different financing channels. The governments serve as the primary financing channel in the seed stage, venture capital in the startup stage, venture capital and startup investing in the growth stage, and capital markets and commercial credit in the maturity stage. Scientific and technological achievements of universities go through three key stages before they are translated into products and services: the R&D stage, pilot-scale experiment stage and production stage. Lack of funds during the last two stages is the main reason why a vast number of advances and innovations in science and technology have not been applied, necessitating the building of capital markets. It will be beneficial to improve the financial environment, provide funding for university-run sci-tech enterprises short of funds, and promote the numerical expansion and quality improvement of these enterprises. The central and local governments should place a high value on the development of capital markets and lift the level of financial services to promote the rapid development of enterprises. The options include setting up innovation funds dedicated to sci-tech SMEs to support venture capital firms, venture capital management companies, SME investment services and early-stage sci-tech SMEs,21 and improving the financial environment for sci-tech SMEs. University-run sci-tech enterprises should take initiatives to get support from universities, local governments and private capitals and establish investment, financing and venture capital channels for innovation projects. Where conditions permit, the enterprises should strive to obtain early-stage funds (angel funds) from universities and governments for the application of scientific and technological achievements, straighten out the venture capital access and exit mechanism and conduct market-based operations to ensure the sustainable investment in and financing for the commercialization.
21 Wan, G. China’s 30-year reform and opening up: Science and technology. Beijing: Science Press,
2008, 427–428.
Chapter 9
Exploring Empirical Practices for Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China
This chapter involves exploring the practice of technology-oriented innovation education in China. After the reform and opening up, the state vigorously promotes the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into real productive forces. Scientific and technological enterprises are an important way for the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities. The science and technology industry in colleges and universities accelerates the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, supports the construction and development of colleges and universities, and improves the status and role of colleges and universities in the national science and technology innovation system as a whole. On the other hand, many problems have been exposed to the development of the science and technology industry in colleges and universities.
9.1 School-Run Enterprises and School-Run Science and Technology Enterprises Since there is no standard evaluation standard for sci-tech enterprises in universities in China, this chapter explains the basic standards of sci-tech enterprises in universities by referring to the relevant provisions of domestic high-tech enterprises. (1) having the status of enterprise legal person. (2) scientific and technical personnel with a college degree or above account for more than 20% of the total number of employees, and scientific and technical personnel directly engaged in research and development account for more than 5% of the total number of employees; The annual funds used for research and development of new and high technologies and their products account for more than 3% of the total sales of the year. (3) the sum of the enterprise’s technical income and sales income of new and high-tech products accounts for more than 50% of the enterprise’s annual income; The investment of new enterprises © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 E. Xue and J. Li, Innovating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2788-3_9
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in the field of high and new technology accounts for more than 50% of the total investment. The regulations of the Ministry of Commerce also clearly pointed out that high-tech enterprises recognized by science and technology departments of people’s governments at or above the provincial level can also be recognized as science and technology enterprises. (1) within the territory of the People’s Republic of China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) registered enterprises, through independent research and development, the transferee, donated nearly 3 years, mergers and acquisitions, or through the exclusive license more than 5 years, the main product (service) of the core technology with independent intellectual property rights. (2) scientific and technical personnel with a college degree or above account for more than 30% of the total number of employees in the enterprise, among which R&D personnel account for more than 10% of the total number of employees in the enterprise. (3) enterprise for science and technology (not including the humanities, social sciences) new knowledge, creative use of science and technology, new knowledge or substantial improvement techniques and products (services) and continuous research and development activities, and total cost over the last three fiscal years of research and development accounts for the proportion of total sales revenue in accordance with the following requirements, the latest year sales income less than 50 million yuan, not less than 6%; At least 4% of enterprises with sales revenue of 50 million to 20 million yuan in the latest year; In the most recent year, the proportion of enterprises with sales revenue of more than 20,000 yuan shall not be less than 3%. Among them, the total R&D expenses incurred by enterprises in China shall account for no less than 60% of the total R&D expenses. If the enterprise has been registered and established for less than 3 years, it shall be counted according to the actual operating years. The income of high-tech products (services) accounts for more than 60% of the total income of the enterprise. With reference to the relevant regulations of the state, the standards of sci-tech enterprises in colleges and universities can be defined as: the enterprises established by colleges and universities in the form of wholly owned, holding and equity participation; Scientific and technological R&D personnel with a college degree or above account for more than 20% of the total number of employees, and the proportion of annual technology R&D expenses in the annual sales revenue of the enterprise should reach more than 3%; The sum of the enterprise’s technical income and sales income of high-tech products accounts for more than 50% of the enterprise’s annual income. Considering the similarity of concepts, this paper does not make a clear distinction between school-run enterprises and school-run industries, or between school-run science and technology enterprises and science and technology industries. Development overview of various enterprises of institutions of higher learning Since the reform and opening up, colleges and universities have established scientific and technological enterprises with the advantages of science and technology and talents and made remarkable achievements in accelerating the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. Scientific and technological industries in universities have made important contributions to the adjustment
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of national industrial structure, the promotion of technological progress in related industries, the cultivation of new economic growth points, the increase of national tax revenue and the promotion of social employment. It plays an important role in adjusting the structure of disciplines and the direction of scientific research, improving the comprehensive level of scientific research, stabilizing the scientific research team, training innovative and applied talents, and supplementing the insufficient funds of the university. The scope of Chinese university enterprises involves many fields such as logistics, service, productive management, publishing, and the industrialization of high and new achievements. By the end of 2007, 510 colleges and universities had participated in the statistical work of school-run enterprises of ordinary colleges and universities, a total of 3,665 enterprises, among which 96 were asset companies, accounting for 2.62%. Level I enterprises (refers to the enterprises wholly owned, held, or shared by the school’s direct investment and the enterprises wholly owned, held,or shared by the asset company) 2,970, accounting for 81.04%; There are 599 second-level enterprises (refers to the enterprises invested by first-level enterprises that are wholly owned, holding, or joint-stock), accounting for 16.34%. The classified statistics of first-level and second-level enterprises. In 2007, there were 1,185 sci-tech enterprises in China’s universities, accounting for 32.33% of the school-run industry. Although the number of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities is less than half of the total school-run industry, the total revenue in 2007 accounted for about 85.92% of the total schoolrun industry revenue, which was about 118.012 billion yuan. In the same year, the total profit of the university-run industry reached 11.853 billion yuan, among which the total profit of science and technology enterprises reached 10.374 billion yuan, accounting for 87.52% of the total profit. The net profit reached 9.153 billion yuan, among which the net profit of science and technology enterprises reached 7.98 billion yuan, accounting for 87.18% of the total net profit. 5.702 billion yuan of taxes were paid to the state, of which 4.376 billion yuan was paid to the state by science and technology enterprises, accounting for 76.75% of the total amount of taxes paid by the school-run industries. In 2007, the number of registered employees of sci-tech enterprises in universities and colleges totaled 115,400 (10,348 employees in universities and colleges, accounting for 8.97% of the total), accounting for 55.88% of the registered employees in university-run industries. The number of students accepted as interns reached 67,600 person-times, with a total working time of 12.6592 million hours, accounting for 50.17% of the number of students accepted as interns in school-run enterprises. 407 doctoral students participated in the training, accounting for 71.53% of the total number of doctoral students in university-run industrial training, and 1,848 postgraduate students participated in the training, accounting for 66.21% of the total number of postgraduate students in university-run industrial training. Science and technology enterprises of colleges and universities occupy the leading position in the school-run industry in total revenue, total profit, net profit, and personnel training.
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By the end of 2006, there were 49,166 high-tech enterprises in China, accounting for 2.4% of them. High-tech enterprises employ 11.826 million people, and 1.811 million people are engaged in scientific and technological activities. In 2006, the total expenditure on science and technology of high-tech enterprises was 318.7 billion yuan, an increase of 10.9% over the previous year, of which 172.92 billion yuan was spent on research and development, accounting for 57.6% of the total expenditure on research and development of the whole society. The total revenue of high-tech enterprises reached 7649.29 billion yuan; The added value of industrial enterprises reached 1.6492 trillion yuan, accounting for 18.2% of the national total. Profit reached 442.74 billion yuan; Tax paid amounted to 384.23 billion yuan; Export revenue totaled us $244.63 billion. From 1999 to 2007, the number of university-run enterprises in China has been decreasing year by year, but both the total income of school-run enterprises and the total income of science and technology enterprises have been increasing year by year. In 1999, there were 5,444 university-run enterprises in China, of which 2,137 were technology-oriented enterprises with total revenues of 37.903 billion yuan and 26.731 billion yuan, respectively. Since then, the number of school-run enterprises decreased year by year, but the total income increased year by year. By 2007, the number of school-run enterprises had decreased by 198 annually, and the total annual increase in revenue was 11.05 billion yuan. The number of university-run science and technology enterprises showed the characteristics of nonlinear change, with the largest number reaching 2,447 in 2003, but the overall trend was decreasing, while the total income increased year by year. By 2007, the number of sci-tech enterprises run by the university had decreased by 106 annually, and the total annual increase in revenue was 10.142 billion yuan.
9.2 Reasons for Promoting the Management Reform of School-Run Enterprises In the twenty-first century, the reform of school-run enterprises is accelerating. At the end of 2001, approved by the general office of the state council “about specification at Peking University, Tsinghua university school-run enterprise management system reform pilot instruction opinion”, after the pilot work of Peking University, Tsinghua university two schools restructuring under the direct leadership of the Ministry of Education began to organize the implementation. At the same time other universities around the country are with reference to the state council general office document spirit, combined with our actual actively promote university–enterprise restructuring. As an epoch-making and revolutionary change in the history of school-run enterprises, the research on this process has important theoretical and practical significance. This section attempts to use the multisource analysis framework in the policy process analysis to explain how the policy of school-run enterprise restructuring started by the Chinese government around 2002 was put on the agenda and promoted rapidly.
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Self-development problems of school-run enterprises 1. The number of school-run enterprises is too large, the scale of enterprises is too small, and the development is unbalanced In 2001, the number of university-run enterprises in China was 5,039, among which the number of science and technology enterprises was 1,993, with a total income of 60.298 billion yuan and 44.775 billion yuan, respectively. Around the year 2000, significant changes have taken place in university-run enterprises in China. School-run enterprises have a strong development momentum and the number keeps increasing. In 2002, there were more than 200 school-run enterprises in a university. At that time, there were 4,664 personnel engaged in teaching and scientific research in the university, which is equivalent to one company for every 23 teachers. The rapid development of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities has an increasingly significant impact on the national economy. By the end of 2000, there were 29 listed companies held or shared by universities nationwide, among which 25 were listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen with a total market value of about 130 billion yuan, accounting for about 3% of the total market value of Shenzhen and Shanghai. The market value of university legal person shares in listed university companies is about 47 billion yuan, accounting for about 1% of the total market value of Shenzhen and Shanghai. University enterprises have become an important part of the national economy, which also means that once the development of university enterprises experience problems or even large-scale fluctuations, it will have a huge impact on the stability of national economy and social order. 2. The property right relationship is not clear, the management system is not standard, and the investment withdrawal mechanism is not perfect University science and technology enterprises in its inaugural year, due to the time of the external environment, such as policy, law special preferential policies for college school-run enterprises, namely college school-run enterprises registered as research institute, technology development department or the company, and have the competent units, then it can be owned by the whole people and collective ownership enterprise science and technology, in order to enjoy the “three no three minus” enterprise income tax preferential policies. Therefore, no matter how complicated the sources of funds are, most university enterprises are registered as enterprises under ownership by the whole people or collective ownership, thus weakening or blurring the ultimate property rights of enterprises. For example, some enterprises have been developed mainly through their own accumulation, and schools have only a small amount of investment. Some enterprises borrow funds from the school for registration. After years of operation, they not only repay capital and interest to the school, but also have a considerable scale and certain accumulation. There are many real investors who are enterprises themselves or operators; Some enterprises not only have school investment, but also have self-raised funds invested by colleges and departments, even some individuals raise funds, etc. The complexity of enterprise capital sources makes it difficult to define property rights. The vagueness of ultimate ownership not only makes it difficult to divide the property rights of stock assets, but
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also makes the division of incremental property rights more complicated because of its accumulation and amplification effect. There is no perfect corporate governance structure—shareholders’ meeting, board of directors, and board of supervisors in university science and technology enterprises. In addition, the phenomenon of “insider control” (that is, managers take advantage of the convenience of the direct control of enterprises and being familiar with inside information to damage the owners’ rights) still exists in large numbers. In addition, although some enterprises have a board of directors, it is difficult to form a binding mechanism among different property rights subjects in the board of directors because its members come from the same property right subject—the school. School-run enterprises have disordered property right relations, unclear asset relations, undifferentiated management between schools and enterprises, unclear rights and responsibilities, and lack of effective investment withdrawal mechanism in colleges and universities. It is difficult for operational capital to flow freely, and it is difficult to guarantee the maintenance and appreciation of state-owned assets and serious losses. What’s more, since most of the legal representatives of school-run enterprises are from their universities, the university bears unlimited joint and several liabilities for the school-run enterprises, and the university will face huge losses in terms of economy and reputation once problems occur. For example, a university and a department established a joint company with a Macao enterprise. The technical investment was not in place and the teaching laboratory was used as the asset investment. Later, the company was badly managed, and the Australian shareholders ran away with debts. The university was sentenced to assume legal responsibilities, and the teaching laboratory was closed by the court. 3. Human capital property rights consciousness is not strong, property rights incentive cannot be in place In university science and technology enterprises, human capital bodies represented by managers, venture capitalists, technological development, and technological innovation personnel are playing more and more important roles. In colleges and universities set up enterprises under the old system, many of them are appointed by university organization and personnel department managers, not only did they change the sector membership in colleges and universities, but also enjoy the corresponding administrative level, the value orientation of the double identity makes them show as multifaceted: as a business owner, they have done their best to manage the responsibility of the enterprise; As administrative personnel, promotion is their goal. In the conflict of multiple goals, it is difficult for them to pursue running university enterprises as their lifelong career and career. Although there is no shortage of scientific and technological talents in universities, there is a shortage of professional managers with good management skills, understanding of market demands, and good decision-making ability. Due to the insufficient understanding of the importance of human capital property rights, scientific and technological enterprises in colleges and universities generally lack incentive mechanism to attract human capital, especially the imperfect incentive mechanism of property rights.
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From the macroscopic system background of economic operation, the university enterprises lack the exit mechanism of operational assets. As investors, colleges and universities are unable to avoid risks caused by poor operation or mistakes in capital market operation, and cannot withdraw funds freely, which makes it difficult for colleges and universities to form a virtuous cycle of operating assets.
9.3 Social Debate on the Development of School-Run Enterprises Social elites are sensitive to problems, put forward policy suggestions, and raise a wide range of disputes around university-run enterprises. The debate centers on two issues: one is whether universities should run businesses; Second, how do universities run a good business? 1. Should universities run businesses Companies should be left to fend for themselves, not parasitic on the school’s assets and reputation. Wu Jinglian, a famous economist, has also pointed out on the basis of empirical observation that it is difficult for the universities, colleges, and enterprises that prevail in mainland China to operate effectively. Such school-run enterprises are unique products of China. Take Silicon Valley as an example, Stanford University does not have any school-run enterprises, although up to 60% or 70% of the enterprises are related to teachers and students of Stanford University. In China’s special state enterprises run by schools, inventors and entrepreneurs lack their own interests, making them hard to manage. The above views are more based on the daily management experience and empirical observation of social elites and hold a negative attitude toward university-running enterprises. Another view holds that colleges and universities have become the “third function” of China’s colleges and universities by directly serving the country’s economic construction and social development with their scientific and technological achievements and other intellectual resources. As one of the main providers of high-tech achievements in China, colleges and universities play an important role in promoting the transformation of high-tech achievements and promoting the development of the national high-tech industry. Some scholars also believe that it has special significance for universities to establish high-tech enterprises and actively promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, which is determined by China’s national conditions. Chinese enterprises have weak innovation ability and poor technology digestion ability, so it is difficult to copy the foreign transformation mode of patent licensing. According to statistics, at present, only 25% of enterprises above the national scale carry out scientific and technological research and development activities, and the proportion of research and development expenditure in the sales revenue of enterprises only accounts for 0.56%, 0.76% of large and medium-sized enterprises, and 2% of high-tech enterprises on average. Only 0.03% of enterprises have independent
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intellectual property rights. This shows that, on the whole, Chinese enterprises have few R&D institutions, low R&D investment intensity and obvious lack of innovation capacity. 2. How do universities run businesses At the present stage, China’s economic and social conditions are quite special, and China’s specific national conditions determine that the situation of university running enterprises will continue to exist in the future, and still become an important and effective way for the transformation and industrialization of China’s universities’ scientific and technological achievements. The issue of whether a university should run a business is no longer the focus of debate. The key is to solve the problem of how to run a good business. The primary problem facing the development of university science and technology enterprises is to carry out standardized management in accordance with the requirements of the modern enterprise system, so as to prompt university science and technology enterprises to embark on the road of standardized operation and standardized development as soon as possible. The problems existing in school-run enterprises are highlighted. Social elites have proposed, and political elites have made great efforts to promote the restructuring of school-run enterprises into school-owned enterprises. On November 1, 2001, the general office of the state council approved the guiding opinions on the pilot reform of regulating the school-run enterprise management system of Peking University and Tsinghua University. The main spirit of the guiding opinions is as follows: (1) explicitly put forward the standardized management of school-run enterprises in accordance with the requirements of the modern enterprise system; (2) use powerful political resources to approve the establishment of “solely stateowned limited liability company” by Tsinghua University and Peking University in the form of state council documents to manage the assets of school-run enterprises; (3) in principle, the company law before 2006 prohibits the establishment of “sole proprietorship limited liability company,” which has become an important institutional obstacle to the pilot reform of the two universities. In order to promote the reform, the state has used powerful political resources to specially approve the assets management companies of Peking University and Tsinghua University as solely state-owned limited companies in the form of state council documents, which laid a policy foundation for the restructuring of school-run enterprises of the two universities. One is through clear school-run enterprise property right relations and straighten out the school-run enterprise management system, improve the system of the management of school-run enterprises, establish a capital as the link, clear property rights, well-defined right and responsibility, separation between colleges, management science, the modern enterprise system, make school-run enterprises limited liability and independent market main body, self-financing, pay taxes, and the state-owned assets value responsibility, protecting the legal rights and interests of the school in accordance with the law, effectively avoid school-run enterprise management risk.
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We need to gradually establish and perfect the school which was founded high-tech enterprises in investment and withdrawal mechanism, to further expand and improve the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, to vigorously promote the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, make the school normal teaching, scientific research and school-run enterprise management in the path of a virtuous cycle, promote the healthy development of the teaching, scientific research and school-run enterprises. Restructuring operation process of the main measures are: to further advance the establishment of modern enterprise system, thoroughly straighten out of college and enterprise property right relations, standardize the investment in science and technology enterprises, standardize the leading cadres of colleges and universities in part time and its behavior of enterprises, standardized enterprise use the names of colleges and universities, encourage and support the teachers’ scientific research personnel engaged in business activities.
9.4 Implementation of School-Run Enterprise Reform Policies In 2004, the opinions of the Ministry of Education and the ministry of finance on further strengthening the fund security management of colleges and universities directly under the administration of the Ministry of Education further emphasized that all colleges and universities should strengthen the management of school-run industries and carry out a comprehensive cleaning of the existing school-run industries. For incomplete investment procedures and inconsistent accounting treatment between the school and the enterprise, relevant procedures should be completed as soon as possible, so as to ensure the consistency between the school’s foreign investment and the paid-in capital of the school-run enterprise; School-run enterprises with poor operation and management, high risk or low contribution rate to the school shall be closed according to relevant legal procedures and properly handle the relevant creditor’s rights and debts. No institution of higher learning shall provide a guarantee for the economic activities of any unit (including university-run industries) or individuals. If a guarantee has been provided, it shall be cleaned up carefully to avoid economic losses. In 2005, the national scientific and technological industry work of colleges and universities was held, and it was pointed out that to transform scientific and technological achievements and realize industrialization, to establish or participate in the establishment of high-tech enterprises, to promote the industrialization of high and new technologies, to cultivate new economic growth points, and to promote the development of regional economy, which was an important content of our country’s colleges and universities to serve the society. In the process of promoting the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, it will also bring bigger and faster development opportunities to colleges and universities. Subsequently, the Ministry of Education further defined the development direction of the school-run
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industry as a positive development, standardized management, reform and innovation, and actively guided and promoted the healthy development of the science and technology industry in colleges and universities on the basis of standardized management. Since then, Chinese university science and technology enterprises have entered the standard development stage. Promoting the standardization construction of the industry in colleges and universities mainly includes three aspects: first, establishing a new industrial management system in colleges and universities; Second, promote the reform of the corporate system of wholly owned enterprises in colleges and universities, and establish modern enterprise system in colleges and universities. Third, standardize the investment behavior and business activities of colleges and universities and enterprises. To this end, the Ministry of Education has put forward “two time limit to complete” and “a standardized construction” worksheet. In the “two time-limited completion”, one refers to the completion of the establishment of a university asset management company at the end of 2006, the establishment of a new university enterprise management system and operation mechanism, to achieve the separation of university and enterprise, and avoid the risk of school operation; In the second half of 2007, the reform of the corporate system of wholly owned enterprises in colleges and universities was completed, and the modern enterprise system was generally established. “A standardized construction” refers to clarifying the investment behavior of colleges and universities, prohibiting the investment and operation of enterprises in the internal institutions of colleges and universities, prohibiting the part-time jobs of school leaders in the enterprises of colleges and universities, and standardizing the use of the name of colleges and universities. In 2006, 5 years after the restructuring, Tsinghua University and Peking University, both of which had been reformed earlier, achieved their goals. Tsinghua University has completed the pilot reform of the school-run enterprise management system at the end of 2003. Peking University has established a wholly state-owned asset company. The operational assets and non-operational assets of the university have been basically separated and transferred to the asset company in succession. From the practice of university–enterprise reform of the two universities, the key policies of university–enterprise reform in universities should include three aspects: first, it is the basic policy to clarify the relationship between school-run industrial property rights; second, it is the basic policy to clarify the relationship between school-run industrial property rights. Secondly, school-run enterprises should be reformed in accordance with the company law step by step, and modern enterprise governance structures such as shareholders’ meeting, board of directors, and board of supervisors should be established in accordance with the law, so as to make them perform their respective duties and responsibilities and establish a perfect school-run industrial management system. Third, the school sets up a special management organization for school-run industrial assets (operational assets of the school) to adjust the industrial structure, optimize the allocation of resources, and maximize the operational benefits of assets through the reasonable flow of assets. At the end of 2006, the Ministry of Education organized the first special inspection on the industry standardization construction of colleges and universities nationwide, especially those directly under the Ministry of Education. The special inspection
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covered all colleges and universities directly under the Ministry of Education except Peking University and Tsinghua University. On-site inspection was also conducted on the implementation of the spirit of the industrial work conference by the educational administrative departments of 23 provinces, municipalities directly under the central government and autonomous regions. Among the universities under the central ministries and commissions, 17 universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, and University of Science and Technology Beijing (15 universities directly under the Ministry of Education and 2 universities under the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense) have established wholly state-owned asset management companies. Nanjing Agricultural University and other 2 universities have set up asset management companies solely owned by legal persons. Four universities have established assets management companies with a corporate system. Quite a few colleges and universities have identified related entities to reform and establish asset management companies, and some other colleges and universities have begun to plan to establish asset management companies. In addition to Peking University and Tsinghua University, 18 of the 73 minister-affiliated universities have excellent grades, 44 have good grades, and 11 have average jobs. Among the 32 education departments of provinces, cities and autonomous regions, 4 provinces and cities were excellent, 15 provinces and cities were good, and 13 provinces and cities were mediocre. Among the 37 colleges and universities of other central ministries and commissions and local colleges and universities selected for this special inspection, there are 6 excellent ones, 24 good ones and 6 general ones (one of which has a small industrial scale and no score). In 2007, the Ministry of Education issued new requirements. First of all, colleges and universities will separate the operational assets from the schools and transfer them to the asset companies, so as to establish a new management system for the industry of colleges and universities. Secondly, promote the reform of wholly owned enterprises, promote the socialization process of university enterprises, and establish modern enterprise system in university enterprises as soon as possible. Finally, set up the new school to further strengthen the system construction of industry management system, gradually improve school of assets, asset companies to its wholly owned, holding, equity investment by the enterprise management system and operational mechanism, the supervision of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities, as far as possible through the social mechanism, use of intangible assets to invest in principle, is generally not in cash. By the end of August 2007, 63 national institutions of higher learning (except those affiliated to the Ministry of Education) and local institutions of higher learning had set up asset companies, and 147 institutions of higher learning were under construction. As of September 30, 2008, the total operating assets of 74 universities are about 60 billion yuan, and the total operating assets transferred to the asset companies are about 20 billion yuan. The number of wholly owned enterprises has halved from more than 1,300 when the standardization work started in 2005. By the end of 2008, among the 72 institutions of higher learning affiliated to the ministry (75 campuses), a total of 60 institutions had established asset companies, including 39 wholly legal enterprises and 21 wholly state-owned enterprises. Most colleges and universities
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according to the requirements of the Ministry of Education, gradually formed the school operational assets management committee, to perform the duties of asset companies sponsor, exercise their right of the shareholders of a company’s assets, and in accordance with the provisions of the company law, the company’s board of directors and board of supervisors, respectively, set up a school assets, set up the assets of the company operations management team, assets of the company’s corporate governance structure in colleges and universities have been established. Financial and industrial management departments of most colleges and universities have made a preliminary understanding of their financial resources and established accounts for foreign investment by carrying out property and capital verification, laying a foundation for establishing a system of classified accounts and separate management of operating assets and non-operating assets of colleges and universities and improving the supervision and management system of operating assets. In January 2009, the Ministry of Education held a meeting on the industrial work of colleges and universities directly under the Ministry of Education.
9.5 Restructuring of University-Run Enterprises of ZJ University In the reform of the university-run industry, ZJ university clarified the property rights and clarified the relationship between the university and the enterprise. Establish modern enterprise system and establish market-oriented school-enterprise governance structure; Scientific management and standardized industrial behavior of the university and enterprises have achieved good results. In the reform, the school industry moves from “school-run industry” to “school-owned industry”, and the relationship between schools and enterprises moves from “direct holding” and “direct operation” to “capital control” and “supervision and development”, providing support for each other’s development. At the end of June 2005, ZJ university had more than 480 investment or related enterprises, including 150 enterprise groups, 20 logistics groups, 205 science and technology parks, 7 Xinyu groups, 55 schools and departments, and 43 foreign investment and other enterprises. There are 447 companies with assets related to ZJ university, with a total registered capital of 4.67 billion yuan. The equity held by ZJ university is 690 million yuan, among which 103 companies directly invested using the university and 340 million yuan was held by ZJ university. There are 33 companies with no asset relationship but a management relationship with ZJ university, with a total registered capital of 46.05 million yuan. The school-run industry has made contributions to promoting the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, supplementing school funding, and stabilizing the teaching and administrative staff. However, there are still many problems, such as vague investment subject, lack of investor supervision, and inaccurate registered capital, which
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lead to the prominent risk of the school. Therefore, ZJ university has carried out systematic reform on the university-run industry and achieved good results. 1. Clarify the relationship between schools and enterprises: clear property rights First, a wholly state-owned asset management company shall be established in accordance with the law. In September 2005, the Ministry of Education approved the establishment of ZJ university investment holding co., LTD., an asset management company, and ZJ university investment holding co., LTD. (ZD holding) was formally established on December 8, 2005. ZD holdings signed an equity transfer agreement with ZJ university, and transferred the equity of ZJ university enterprise group holding co., LTD., ZJ university science and technology park development co., LTD., ZJ university logistics investment holding company and ZJ university Xinyu property development co., LTD. According to the book value agreement. As wholly owned or controlled subsidiaries of ZD, the four group companies undertake their respective tasks of maintaining and increasing the value of their assets and manage the assets of their subsidiaries in various ways such as investment income. Secondly, ZJ university has set up the management committee of operational assets. In November 2005, the operational asset management committee of ZJ university was established, which planned and led the industrial standardization construction of ZJ university in a unified way, and acted as the representative of the investor of ZD holding and exercised the rights of shareholders. ZD holding is authorized to operate state-owned assets as the sole asset management company of the university. ZD holdings adopt the legal person governance mode of operating assets management committee, board of directors, and board of supervisors. The company’s operation and management organization is separated from the school’s administrative organization, with four functional departments including general office, financial investment department, human resources department, and enterprise management department. In early 2007, the industrial and logistics committee of ZJ university was established. At this point, what ZJ had university–industry management has been transformed from a pure administrative management mode for asset management mode, complete the establishment of a new industry management system of colleges and universities, thus preliminary straighten out the relationship between the school and industrial investment, established between the enterprise and the school to evade the risk of unlimited liability “firewall”, avoid the problem impact and influence of enterprise management what ZJ had the normal order of teaching and scientific research of university. 2. Establishing market-oriented school-enterprise governance structure: modern enterprise system First, enterprise reform and asset restructuring. In 2005, according to the notice on further reform of the investment management system of school-run enterprises issued by ZJ university, 102 enterprises with ZD as the main investor were transferred to 3 enterprises including ZJ university enterprise group, science and technology park company and logistics group, respectively. Subsequently, it has formed four groups (excluding publishing houses and architectural design institutes) with
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enterprise group, science and technology park company, logistics group and Xinyu group as the core. From March to June 2006, ZJ university conducted a comprehensive and standardized audit and assessment of assets, assets and net assets of 51 enterprises. After assets liquidation and capital verification, ZD holding and its subsidiaries shall make accounting adjustment and treatment according to the assets liquidation and capital verification results approved by the state-owned assets management department; The financial department of the university and ZD holding also conduct accounting adjustment and processing in accordance with the principle of separate accounting and management of operating and non-operating assets. In November 2006, ZJ university put forward requirements on the implementation of video conference spirit of the standardization construction of the higher education industry of the Ministry of Education. Secondly, ZD holdings will clarify the relationship with the school’s assets and accounts as soon as possible. Third, ZD holding is required to control the “three major” issues of each group. Since then, 72 ZD holding enterprises have been canceled or closed, 24 have been restructured, and about 70 have been recovered or handled by the school’s wholly owned enterprises in various forms of foreign investment (such as using the school’s name or making the false investment). By the end of 2007, the withdrawal and closure of wholly owned enterprises were basically completed. Second, structural adjustment and market orientation. At the school level, ZJ university has set up a school-run industry management committee led by the main leaders of the university, which exercises the leadership and management power over the school-run industry on behalf of the university, while enterprise groups or independent enterprises are responsible for maintaining and increasing the value of the property entrusted by the university to ensure the income of the university. It has formed a governance mechanism with property rights as the core, companies as the main body and mutual checks and balances. The “committee management” mode represented by ZJ university is similar to the “board management” mode represented by Tsinghua University. Third, people-oriented, personnel placement. The establishment of the modern enterprise system in ZJ university involves a total of 323 employees (including 259 employees in the enterprise, 64 employees in the enterprise, and other organizations), 202 employees in the enterprise and other organizations have left their posts in advance, 57 employees have transferred to other enterprises, and 64 employees in the enterprise and other organizations have terminated their labor contracts. On the one hand, ZD holding has done a lot of in-depth and meticulous ideological work in close cooperation with various group companies; On the other hand, ZJ university has formulated a series of policies on resettlement, early retirement and retirement, so as to properly deal with the problems of stability and development in the university– enterprise reform. 3. Standardize the industrial behavior of university and enterprise: scientific management First, rectify “ZJ” naming. There are 179 companies named “ZJ” and 206 companies named “ZD”. In 2006, ZD holdings issued the notice on the rectification of the
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school name used by enterprises and cleaned up the school name used by enterprises according to the principle of “leaving or not leaving and keeping ‘ZD’ as much as possible.” In 2007, the university issued the “administrative measures for ZJ enterprise to use the school name,” which stipulated that except ZJ’s wholly owned enterprises “ZJ investment holding co., LTD.” and “ZJ national university science and technology park,” other enterprises could not use the full name “ZJ” in the process of restructuring, reorganization or industrial and commercial changes. Enterprises that have set up and use the full name of “ZJ” school name are required to complete the name change by the end of 2008. After the reorganization, ZD holdings of the existing four groups, have their own names. Currently, the number of companies with the name “ZJ” is down to 33 and the number of companies with the name “ZD” is down to 152. Second, we need to protect the rights and interests of ZJ. In order to protect the intellectual property rights and reputation rights of “ZJ”, ZJ registered and applied for full class protection with the state trademark office in 2004 for “ZD”, “eagle pattern”, and other four types. Approved by the state trademark office, “ZD” and other three types have been approved. Third, strict school-enterprise external guarantee. ZJ requires schools and enterprises that have made an external guarantee to cancel the external guarantee within a time limit and timely track the cancelation of the external guarantee. All enterprises are required to make more strict and standard provisions for external guarantee in the articles of association to ensure the normal operation of enterprises and the safety of state-owned assets. The property right relationship between universities and enterprises should be straightened out according to law, and a scientific and standardized industrial management system should be established to avoid the economic and legal risks caused by the direct operation of enterprises by universities. The development of science and technology industry in colleges and universities should follow the objective law of the socialist market economy and the general law of industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. We must deal with the dialectical relationship between the development and the norm. Colleges and universities should comprehensively promote the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements through standardized management, reform and innovation, and promote the coordinated development of personnel training, scientific research and the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. Only under the standard system and system, can the university effectively avoid the risk brought by the enterprise management, and can ensure the coordinated development and benign interaction of the university teaching, scientific research and industrial work. On the basis of comprehensively sorting out and verifying the assets of enterprises, defining the property of enterprise legal person and defining the investment subject of enterprises, the responsibilities and rights of enterprises shall be implemented. We will separate ownership from the management by entrusting management of assets, and let enterprises operate in accordance with economic laws and market rules. Therefore, scientific management and standardized industrial behavior are also important trends in school-enterprise reform.
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After the reform, ZJ has made great progress. For example, Zhejiang ZD network’s new group owns two listed companies. Relying on ZJ’s comprehensive advantages in applied disciplines and taking “high-end positioning, service leading and international route” as the market strategy, the group has paid a total of about 800 million yuan in taxes since its establishment 5 years ago. What ZJ had medical instrument co., LTD., complete the restructuring in 2003, five consecutive years by the provincial is rated as large taxpayer. Zhejiang province, is the domestic first through the ISO9001 and CE product certification of medical device companies, one of its research and development center to complete with the international advanced level of more than 10 scientific research projects, eight national patents, including two provincial scientific and technological progress second prize, four won third prize for science and technology progress, in collaboration with lh-zd tumor (a), product twice on promotion project “ten years” of the ministry of health.
9.6 Basic Information of Science and Technology Enterprises in Chinese Universities
1. Analysis of the operation of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities The survey found that the scientific and technological enterprises in colleges and universities have a higher overall evaluation of their operation since their establishment. Scientific and technological enterprises in universities often adopt the forms of enterprise property rights organizations such as joint-stock system, joint-stock cooperative system, and partnership system, and most of them are flexible in enterprise operation mechanism. Based on scientific and technological achievements of colleges and universities, science and technology enterprises of colleges and universities have great advantages in innovation mechanism, innovation vitality and innovation efficiency, and strong ability to adapt to market competition. In addition, science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities also get great support from the government’s support policies for small and medium-sized science and technology enterprises. For example, the government supports the development of small and medium-sized science and technology enterprises in tax, financing, employment, export, and other aspects. Constantly improve the entrepreneurial incubation system of small and medium-sized science and technology enterprises, so as to transform scientific and technological achievements more quickly and effectively, and generate more small and medium-sized science and technology enterprises; Set up the innovation fund for technology-based SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises as the only domestic policies for small and mid-sized enterprise focus of special funds plan, the central government’s fiscal support startup investment enterprise of venture investment, venture investment management enterprise, which has the function of investment of small and medium-sized enterprise service agencies and improve the financial environment of small and mid-sized enterprise.
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2. Analysis of the listing of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities According to the survey, about 41% of the college of science and technology enterprises believe that listed companies of colleges and universities and the general basic no difference or no difference between the listed company, about 22% of the college of science and technology enterprises believe that listed companies of colleges and universities and the general public company is a little different, think about 37% of the college of science and technology enterprises listed companies and listed companies generally have a difference of colleges and universities. Some university science and technology enterprises believe that the differences between university listed companies and general listed companies are mainly reflected in five aspects: First, the listed companies of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities are supported by schools and have abundant human capital. Listed companies in colleges and universities have relatively smooth channels for production, learning, and research, and convenient utilization of scientific research resources. They can transform cutting-edge technologies in colleges and universities into products rapidly, and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements has great advantages. Listed companies in colleges and universities have strong scientific and technological innovation ability, many scientific research projects, and fast replacement of new products in the market. It has more innovative resources than general listed companies. Second, listed companies in colleges and universities can improve the popularity of the school, enhance the ability of the school to serve the society, reflect the achievements of the school in serving the society, enhance the awareness of the school staff in serving the society, and establish a platform for serving the social functions. In terms of enterprises, it can improve their visibility, shorten the path of technological innovation and talent training, reduce the risk of technological innovation, and build a regular bridge between knowledge innovation and technological innovation. Third, the predecessor of listed university companies is school-run enterprises, whose main purpose should be to serve the school. Different from the management system, mechanism and personnel structure of general listed companies, the enterprise management mechanism of colleges and universities may restrict the listed companies to some extent and suffer more disturbances than those of general listed companies, making them unable to operate completely in the market. Colleges and universities themselves are public institutions whose main mission is personnel training and scientific research. As the major shareholders of listed companies, they lack the understanding and ability of enterprise management and operation, which may lead to the conflict between the interests of colleges and listed companies. Relatively speaking, the legal person governance structure of listed companies in colleges and universities is less robust, the property rights relationship is often more complex or chaotic, the operation and management is more arbitrary, the marketization consciousness is relatively weak, and the ideology is lagging behind the general listed companies. It is less likely to be bigger or stronger for institutional reasons. Fourth, listed companies in colleges and universities may enjoy special policies, which is reflected in the large number of concept stocks in colleges and universities.
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The concept of colleges and universities improves the innovation ability and resource integration ability of listed companies, but it is also more prone to the phenomenon of fish-eyes mixed with pearls. The reform of school-run enterprises, especially the clearing and cancelation of university names in the name of enterprises, has a great impact on listed university companies, and the withdrawal and withdrawal mechanism of university assets increases the possibility of mergers and acquisitions of listed university companies. Fifthly, the listed companies of colleges and universities should develop new and high technologies and industrialize according to the scientific and technological strength of colleges and universities, form the core competitiveness of enterprises, and present the listed companies with certain characteristics and culture of colleges and universities.
9.7 Development Orientation of Science and Technology Enterprises in Chinese Universities 1. Overview of the development of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities Through the statistics of the questions related to the general situation of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities in the questionnaire, it can be found that: First, about 73% of the core technologies of sci-tech enterprises in Chinese universities belong to professional application product technologies, which are basically the application and development of scientific and technological achievements. Fiftyfour percent of core technologies are in development, 40% are mature, and 2% are in infancy. New technologies often take a long time to germinate before they are put into use. On the one hand, the new technology must be tested many times, adjusted and improved before it can be operable; On the other hand, turning a new technology into a new product usually requires special tools, processes, fixtures, etc., which also takes time. The quality of innovation is to realize technological innovation and turn it into real productivity. At the mature stage of the technology life cycle, the use of technology tends to be standardized as the market expands and producers become more familiar with the characteristics of the technology. After the mature stage, the product market demand gradually becomes saturated, it is difficult to make a breakthrough in technical performance, and the technology enters the life cycle recession stage. About 94% of the core technologies of sci-tech enterprises in colleges and universities are in the development stage or mature stage, indicating that sci-tech enterprises in colleges and universities are in the booming stage. Second, about 51% of university science and technology enterprises acquire new technologies through joint research and development, 23% through contract development, and 9% through patent purchase. About 74% of university science and
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technology enterprises acquire new technologies through joint research and development or contract development, indicating that universities and research institutions are extremely important partners for university science and technology enterprises to acquire new technologies. About 37% of the core technologies of sci-tech enterprises in colleges and universities come directly from universities or research institutions, and 56% of them develop core technologies by themselves. The university scientific research strength is strong, has the multidiscipline crossing and the coordinated attack key superiority; A considerable number of scientific and technological achievements in universities have independent intellectual property rights, reaching the international or domestic leading level. Scientific and technological enterprises in universities can directly obtain innovative scientific and technological achievements from universities. However, the development of intermediary organizations mainly providing technology intermediary services in China is slow, and the transformation system of scientific and technological achievements is not yet perfect. Therefore, the proportion of scientific and technological enterprises in colleges and universities developing core technologies by themselves is still relatively high. Third, about 60% of the senior management of science and technology enterprises in universities are from the original university research and development personnel, 33% are from internally trained managers, and only 7% are external executives. About 49% of the R&D talents in science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities come from project-based professional R&D personnel, 18% from college graduates and 16% from interns. The university sets up the science and technology enterprise, the university science and technology achievement can effectively transform the industrialization; The results of scientific research have been tested and incubated into society without leaving school, which partly solves the contradiction between technology and market. Due to the natural connection between universities and science and technology enterprises in universities, most of the senior management of science and technology enterprises in universities come from the research and development personnel of original universities, and a few are external managers. The market nature of enterprises also determines that most of the research and development talents of science and technology enterprises in universities should come from project-based professional research and development personnel. By participating in project research and development, college students not only exercise their innovation and entrepreneurship ability, but also lay a foundation for future work. Fourth, about 65% of the science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities are mainly engaged in professional products, 15% in consulting or research services, 9% in platform technology franchising, and 7% in consumer products. Science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities generally founded by schools, direct control or holding, or even directly involved in the enterprise management and operation, thus to some extent performance for most of the science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities is given priority to with professional products, and give priority to with consulting services and platform technology
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of science and technology intermediary company is less. About 63% of sci-tech enterprises in universities are in the development stage, 30% are in the mature stage, and 5% are in the embryonic stage (Xu et al. 2016; Zhang et al. 2018; He et al. 2017; Ji et al. 2019). Any enterprise is in a specific industrial stage, which generally goes through four stages: germination, development, maturity, and decline. In the germination and development stage, the number of enterprises in the industry is small, the competition is weak, the potential market capacity is large, and the resources are abundant. With the development of industry, a large number of enterprises flooded in, the market supply capacity expanded rapidly, competition intensified, and gradually to the mature stage of transition; The increase in the number of enterprises leads to increasingly fierce competition, worsening industrial environment, and declining profitability, forcing some enterprises with weak competitiveness to exit and entering a recession period. About 93% of the core technologies of sci-tech enterprises in colleges and universities in China are in the stage of development or maturity. Fifth, about 51% of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities receive funds mainly through industrial investment, about 32% through credit investment, about 6% through venture investment, and about 5% through government investment. About 66% of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities mainly get funds from internal investment, about 14% from credit capital, about 9% from government investment, and about 3% from venture capital. About 59% of college and university technology enterprises’ funds for developing new product markets mainly come from internal input, about 25% from credit funds, about 7% from university funds, and about 6% from venture capital. The innovation process of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities is full of uncertainty, which needs the support of a large amount of capital investment, developed venture capital market, abundant financing channels, and abundant private capital. But in the survey, the use of development funds, risk investment developed the core technology, expand product market less than 10% of the university science and technology enterprises, and the use of industrial investment, internal investment way of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities more than half, financial conditions required for the development of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities is highly improved. The perfect financial environment can promote the quantity growth and quality improvement of university science and technology enterprises by providing financial support for the university science and technology enterprises which are in the bottleneck of capital shortage. National and local governments should attach importance to the development of the capital market and improve the level of financial services, which is very necessary to promote the rapid development of science and technology enterprises in universities (Xu et al. 2016; Zhang et al. 2018). 2. The basic tasks of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities The main reasons for the establishment of science and technology enterprises in China’s colleges and universities are to realize the transformation of scientific
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research achievements, provide students with places to practice, supplement school funding, and take into account the social and economic benefits of university scientific research. In terms of legal status, sci-tech enterprises in colleges and universities are no different from those invested by other investment subjects. Their particularity only lies in that some or all of their investment comes from universities and some or all of their core technologies or products come from universities, which makes them display different roles. According to the survey, the most important task for sci-tech enterprises in universities is to promote the transformation of innovation achievements. About 73% of sci-tech enterprises in universities consider it the most important, with a weighted average of about 4.4 (5 is the most important, 1 is the least important). Secondly, the weighted average is about 4.3. In order to provide scientific research funds and improve the allocation of technical resources, the weighted average is about 4.1. In addition, providing entrepreneurial opportunities for students, expanding employment channels for students and assisting the cultivation of innovative talents are also considered as tasks of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities, with a weighted average of about 3.8 and 3.9. At present, most enterprises in China do not have the human resources necessary for the transformation of high-tech achievements. Moreover, the proportion of enterprises setting up technology research and development institutions is low, and there is a shortage of technology developers. The proportion of enterprises introducing and absorbing new and high technologies is not high. Compared with enterprises, both in research and development power of colleges and universities and research facilities, has a unique advantage, but as a result of scientific research and with the market remains a widespread phenomenon, and therefore science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities as the experimental base and technology promotion center, promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements has become the most important task of university science and technology enterprises. The incubation or transformation of scientific research achievements in scientific and technological enterprises in universities can reduce the uncertain factors of scientific research achievements in the transformation of social enterprises caused by information asymmetry, so as to solve the problems of identifying scientific research projects and avoiding the risk of failure of scientific research achievements transformation to a large extent (Xu et al. 2016; Zhang et al. 2018). In the process of transformation of scientific and technological achievements, sci-tech enterprises in colleges and universities turn their scientific research advantages into market advantages and realize the value of knowledge creation. In turn, it accelerates the feedback of market direction and content of university scientific research, and provide important financial support for scientific research, thus promote discipline overlapping and fusion, promote the basic research of the university of application, basic research, applied research together, is advantageous to the scientific research in colleges and universities and combined closely with the social economy, promote each other, improve the service ability and level of society. Teaching and scientific research in colleges and universities provide scientific and
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technological achievements and intellectual labor force for scientific and technological enterprises in colleges and universities. Scientific and technological enterprises in universities provide practice and research bases for teaching and research, and promote the organic integration of teaching, research and society. The establishment of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities can provide colleges and universities with sources of funds other than government financial allocations, and to some extent supplement and solve the difficulties in running funds and operating funds in the rapid development of colleges and universities. According to incomplete statistics, in the past 5 years, science and technology enterprises have returned to schools, with a total return of 3.365 billion yuan. In 2007, the dividend payable to colleges and universities in the industry of colleges and universities nationwide was 824 million yuan, and the dividend payable to colleges and universities in the technology enterprises was 387 million yuan, accounting for 46.97% of the dividend payable to colleges and universities in the industry of colleges and universities nationwide. Among them, the dividends payable by wholly owned enterprises of the university to the university are 523 million yuan, accounting for 63.47% of the total number of university-run enterprises in China. The dividends allocated to schools by school-holding enterprises are 194 million yuan, accounting for 23.54% of the total number of university-run enterprises in China. The dividends to be distributed by the school-owned enterprises are 107 million yuan, accounting for 12.99% of the total number of university-owned enterprises in China 3. The relationship between science and technology enterprises and universities The higher education law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that a college or university is an independent legal person running a school independently. Institutions of higher learning independently carry out scientific research, technological development, and social services in accordance with their own conditions; The state encourages institutions of higher learning to cooperate in various forms with enterprises, institutions, public organizations, and other social organizations in scientific research, technological development, and popularization; We will implement preferential policies for the university-run industries of institutions of higher learning. Profits from the industries run by institutions of higher learning or from the transfer of intellectual property rights and other scientific and technological achievements shall be used for running schools of higher learning. According to the survey (as shown in Fig. 9.1), about 43% of sci-tech enterprises in universities consider their relationship with their parent university as a controlling relationship, 36% consider their relationship with their parent university as an equal legal person, and 18% consider their relationship with their parent university as a subordinate relationship. On the whole, about 79% of sci-tech enterprises in colleges and universities regard their relationship with their parent university as a controlling relationship or equal legal person relationship, which has enabled them to correctly view the relationship between universities and enterprises. Both universities and scientific and technological enterprises in universities are legal persons, and the economic relationship between the two sides is that of a legal person. The legal person relationship between universities and enterprises is different from the administrative
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Fig. 9.1 Annual returns of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities (unit: 100 million yuan)
subordination relationship between universities and the government. The government has higher decision-making power and more power in resource allocation than universities. The resources provided by university science and technology enterprises have an obvious trading function and profit expectation. The resources provided by the government for universities have strong supply characteristics and security functions, and generally do not have clear revenue expectations. The contents, forms, and ways of exchange resources provided by science and technology enterprises in universities are more abundant, which are easy to be obtained by universities. However, universities are unlikely to ask for more benefits from the government in terms of resource allocation (Xu et al. 2016; Zhang et al. 2018). University as a separate legal entity, may not like the government put the own resources of science and technology, education resources and intellectual resources are provided as a complete public products to science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities, so the relationship between the university and the university science and technology enterprises must be based on the resource exchange relationship of market economy, universities, and enterprises within the legal framework, according to their regular operation development. The university participates in the social–economic system through the university science and technology enterprise substantively, expands the university traditional function at the same time, extends the university social service scope and the domain.
9.8 The Main Role of Science and Technology Enterprises in Chinese Universities
1. The supporting role of universities to science and technology enterprises in universities According to the survey, science and technology enterprises in universities believe
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that, firstly, the most important supporting role of universities is technology development, with a weighted average of about 4.3 (5 is the most important, 1 is the least important). Secondly, it is brand support, with a weighted average of about 4.2. Thirdly, it is financial support, with a weighted average of about 4.0; Finally, the weighted average of cooperative research, talent training, scientific research guidance, strategic guidance, and employment mechanism is between 3.91 and 3.97. As profit-making institutions, science and technology enterprises in universities aim to create profits and pursue the maximization of economic benefits. Science and technology enterprises of colleges and universities rely on the university has a greater role in supporting the realization of profit maximization. The specific performance is as follows: firstly, it is not economical to save the cost of science and technology development of university science and technology enterprises. Through the close relationship with universities, sci-tech enterprises in universities can obtain cutting-edge scientific research results at a lower cost, accelerate the product development process, and enhance their technological innovation ability and market competitiveness. Secondly, research and development activities themselves with great uncertainty, there is a certain risk. The uncertainty of the innovation process is an important reason for market failure and government failure in the innovation process. This uncertainty not only brings profits to enterprises but also leads to risks of technological innovation. Scientific and technological enterprises in universities rely on the research and development activities of universities to reduce their own research and development risks to some extent. Close cooperation between the two can realize the complementarity of scientific and technological innovation resources and obtain favorable policy environment support, so as to reduce the external uncertainty brought by innovation activities. Finally, university science and technology enterprises in obtaining highquality talent, high-quality scientific and technological achievements at the same time, also can make use of the university of relying on abundant education resources develop talent for the enterprise, the introduction of advanced management system, and drive the change and innovation of enterprise management concept, improve the production and management efficiency of enterprises, strengthen enterprise’s sustainable development ability. The process of standardized development of school-run enterprises is not a process of complete decoupling of school–enterprise. The reform of school–enterprise system is the basic way for the market-oriented development of school-run enterprises, improving their core competitiveness and establishing a modern enterprise system. In addition to exercising the right of funders to enterprises, universities should also undertake the responsibility of investing scientific research achievements in the form of operational assets, continuously providing project R&D and management talents to enterprises and providing consultation on the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. Through the standardized development of school-run enterprises, colleges and universities and university science and technology enterprises, respectively, into a benign development track.
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2. The supporting role of government to science and technology enterprises in universities According to the survey, science and technology enterprises in universities and colleges believe that the most important supporting role of the government is firstly manifested as policy support, with a weighted average of about 4.6 (5 is the most important, 1 is the least important). Secondly, the weighted average is 4.4. Again, it is manpower support, with a weighted average of 4.0; Finally, information support and technical support, with a weighted average of 3.8. The government plays the role of macro-guidance, policy guidance, organization, and coordination in the development of science and technology enterprises in universities. First, integrate resources to improve the level of national innovation. Government as the organizers and directors to participate in the interaction between university and college science and technology enterprises, in a planned way, targeted to dispersion of science and technology research and development of human, financial and material resources, and other resources effectively integrate, concentrate superior forces to closely related to the national development strategy and social development needs of major S&T projects for joint research, so as to improve the level of national overall innovation; Secondly, focus on advantages and promote regional economic development. The government obtains high-quality innovative talents through scientific and technological enterprises in colleges and universities to improve the level of regional innovation. Meanwhile, it adjusts the industrial structure through scientific and technological enterprises in colleges and universities to promote the development of regional characteristic economy purposefully. Finally, establish a mechanism to improve the efficiency and efficiency of research and development. Through university science and technology enterprises, the government can not only give full play to the advantages of universities in scientific research, but also give play to the advantages of enterprises in combination with the market. At the same time of improving the efficiency of research and development, realize the effective combination of science and technology and economy (Wang and Xiao 2017; Li and Lu 2018; Zhang 2017). 3. The supporting role of science and technology enterprises to universities According to the survey, the most important supporting role of science and technology enterprises in universities is to transform the achievements of universities. The weighted average value is about 3.985, which is the most important and 1 is the least important. Secondly, the weighted average is about 3.97. In order to promote the development of subjects, the weighted average is about 3.94. Finally, to promote entrepreneurship and support research funds of college students, the weighted average value is about 3.86 and 3.83, respectively. The university has rich knowledge resources, technical resources, and human resources, and strong research and development ability. However, there is often a lack of sufficient financial support, policy support, and the ability to transform scientific research results into real productivity. The emergence of science and technology enterprises in universities provides a basic way to solve the above problems.
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First of all, sci-tech enterprises in universities provide experimental bases and incubation environments for the transformation of scientific research achievements in universities. While accelerating the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, the pertinence and practicability of scientific research in universities will be stronger. Secondly, scientific and technological enterprises in universities can improve their ability to serve the society, so as to improve the reputation of universities. Moreover, scientific and technological enterprises in universities can also use the “reputation” of universities to rapidly develop into large enterprise groups and even occupy an important position in the industry, thus promoting the leap-forward development of universities. Finally, through scientific and technological enterprises in colleges and universities, schools can understand and even grasp the needs of society and industry, so as to run schools according to the actual situation, adjust the structure and scale of disciplines and specialties, add shortage and emerging disciplines and specialties, drive the reform of education and teaching system of the whole school, and improve the quality of talent cultivation.
9.9 Analysis of the Problems of Science and Technology Enterprises in Chinese Universities According to the survey, science and technology enterprises in universities and colleges think that the biggest difficulty they face in the development process is the lack of financial support. The weighted average value is about 4.2 (5 is the most important, 1 is the least important). The second is the lack of policy support, with a weighted average of 4.1. Again, the lack of infrastructure, with a weighted average of about 3.9; Finally, the weighted average of credit support and venture capital is 3.7 and 3.6, respectively. 1. Inaccurate positioning is the key problem for the development of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities (Wang and Xiao 2017; Li and Lu 2018; Zhang 2017). From the perspective of universities, the orientation of universities in the establishment and development of science and technology enterprises is not correct. Universities are both investors and managers, but China’s universities, as public welfare institutions, take talent training, scientific research, and social service as their basic tasks. Therefore, the pursuit of profit and scale expansion should not be regarded as the ultimate goal for the establishment of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities, or it will violate the nature and basic mission of colleges and universities. However, after the establishment of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities, the pursuit of profit and scale expansion must be regarded as the highest goal, and the development goals of the two will have a strong conflict. Obviously, it is impossible for colleges and universities to be not only technology developers but also venture investors and managers of high-tech enterprises. The confusion of their multiple roles will certainly have a negative impact on the
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development of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities, as well as a great constraint on the development of universities. From the perspective of society, there is a deviation in the understanding of scientific and technological enterprises in universities. First, there are differences on whether to develop science and technology enterprises in universities. People who hold a negative attitude to this often think that the development of science and technology industry in colleges and universities is “not professional”; Or think that the science and technology industry is risky and will have a great impact on the public welfare property of the school; Or they worry that the development of science and technology industry will affect the energy of college teachers and the learning atmosphere of the school, thereby affecting the teaching order of the school. In recent years, with the normative development of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities, the number of people holding a negative attitude is relatively reduced. However, even those who hold a positive attitude are not completely consistent in their thinking and understanding. Either they think that the development of science and technology industry in colleges and universities is only an “expediency” to solve the shortage of funds for running schools, or they overemphasize or even exaggerate the social service function of colleges and universities, putting the development of science and technology enterprises in a high position. Second, there is disagreement over what kind of technology companies to develop. Some people think that colleges and universities have the advantages of complete disciplines, strong scientific and technological force and rich achievements, and should develop science and technology enterprises with intensive knowledge and high added value. However, some people think that science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities generally develop on the basis of the school-run industry, and they are weak in technology management and innovation ability and often lack sufficient financial support, so they are only suitable for developing general science and technology enterprises. Finally, there are differences in the way to develop technology-based enterprises. For example, there is no long-term plan for the development of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities, and they only focus on immediate interests or economic returns. University science and technology enterprises should be completely separated from the university, free development, and so on (Wang and Xiao 2017; Li and Lu 2018; Zhang 2017). From the point of view of enterprises, university science and technology enterprises are not allowed to position themselves in the market. Firstly, the innovation ability of university science and technology enterprises is insufficient. Many scientific research topics in colleges and universities in China are not closely related to the key technical problems that need to be solved in national economic development. Insufficient research investment leads to a low degree of maturity of research results and difficulty in the application in production. It is difficult to guarantee the interests of scientific research personnel in universities in industrial development, which leads to their low enthusiasm for the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. It is difficult for university science and technology enterprises to improve the innovation level of their core products only by relying on universities. Secondly, the innovation mechanism of science and technology enterprises in
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universities is not perfect. Scientific and technological enterprises in colleges and universities are governed and constrained by the mechanism of public institutions, and the autonomy of legal persons is often not implemented. It is difficult to form the power restriction mechanism, scientific decision-making mechanism and incentive and restraint mechanism required by the modern enterprise system, resulting in the operation of enterprises often divorced from the basic laws and requirements of the market economy. Finally, the scientific and technological enterprises in universities are short of management talents. On the one hand, there is a shortage of scientists with market vision, entrepreneurs with a scientific mind, and marketers with a technical background and market sensitivity. A large number of management personnel in science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities are scientific and technical personnel who are not good at operation and management, lack high-level strategic decision-making and market operation ability, are not sensitive to market conditions and industry risks, and cannot fully meet the needs of the development of market economy. On the other hand, the lack of a high level of knowledge, strong ability and quality of technical brokers. At present, China’s technical brokers play a simple intermediary role, and technical brokers should play the role of technical consultants and advisers in technical trade activities, which requires a higher knowledge of science and technology, economy, law, market, and so on. 1. System defect is the fundamental problem of the development of science and technology enterprises in universities From the perspective of property rights, university science and technology enterprises are established by direct investment from universities, and the ownership of property rights in the legal sense is very clear. Due to the fact, however, improper arrangement of property rights, there is a widespread indistinct definition of property industry in colleges and universities, operational assets and non-operating assets, both as well as the rights and responsibilities, the problem such as asymmetry, there are those assets in school most does not reach the designated position, most enterprises property rights does not reach the designated position, most of the legal person governance structure does not reach the designated position, most enterprises operating specification does not reach the designated position. Scientific and technological enterprises in colleges and universities are often regarded as subordinate institutions or departments of schools. Schools directly manage enterprises in the way of institution management, and enterprise work is included in the scope of school management. Due to the problems of unsound management system, large proportion of wholly owned enterprises (more than 66%), inflexible operation system and various nonstandard behaviors of sci-tech enterprises in colleges and universities, the operational assets of colleges and universities have not yet established an effective mechanism to maintain and increase value and prevent the loss of state-owned assets. This not only prevents college enterprises from becoming the main body of market competition, but also prevents colleges and universities from avoiding the economic and legal risks caused by the direct establishment and operation of enterprises (Wang and Xiao 2017; Li and Lu 2018).
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From the perspective of enterprise management, the characteristics of scientific and technological enterprises in universities are the high concentration of property rights. The state-owned property right occupies an absolute advantage in the enterprise property right structure. The main shareholders are basically enterprises of universities or enterprise groups wholly owned by universities, and most scientific and technological enterprises of universities are wholly owned by universities. University of science and technology enterprise management has a relatively strong administrative color: first of all, university of science and technology enterprises tend to have multiple objectives, including business goals (the pursuit of profit maximization) and social (participate in personnel training, solving the surplus staff in the school and faculty students employment, etc.), social and even in some stage directly instead of business objectives, the school administrative intervention to the enterprises, leads to the formation of a standardized property restraint mechanism is difficult to; Secondly, it is difficult to transfer the state-owned property rights in university science and technology enterprises, which hinders the formation of competitive property rights market and affects the efficiency of social resources allocation and the marketization of university science and technology enterprises. Finally, it is difficult for sci-tech enterprises in colleges and universities to form a reasonable selection mechanism for management personnel. Instead of choosing operators who really bear risks in a competitive market, the competent departments or organizational departments of colleges and universities appoint business personnel, and it is impossible to ensure that talents with operational ability lead the development of sci-tech enterprises in colleges and universities. From the perspective of industrial organization, scientific and technological enterprises in colleges and universities lack the formation mechanism of professional entrepreneurs. Whether the organization has innovation vitality is the key to the efficient operation of scientific and technological enterprises in colleges and universities. Professional entrepreneurs are those talents who pursue their lifelong career of running a good enterprise and realize their social value and social status through enterprise development. The core mechanism of enterprise innovation is that professional entrepreneurs integrate themselves with the interests of enterprises and strive for the survival and development of enterprises. Many colleges and universities of science and technology enterprises operation and management personnel, not only did not change as members of the university sector, as well as the corresponding administrative level, and still enjoy the treatment of the original, their behavior orientation will show the multifaceted, both to manage enterprise, and to pursue the administrative promotion, multiple targets is difficult to the contradiction of the management of colleges and universities of science and technology enterprises as their lifelong career and career pursuit (Li and Lu 2018; Zhang 2017). From the perspective of the incentive mechanism, it is difficult for scientific and technological enterprises in universities to implement effective incentive and restraint mechanism for enterprise management. Science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities basically implement the salary + bonus compensation system, and the main incentive for business personnel is administrative income, with less economic income. There is not a big difference in economic benefits between senior
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managers and ordinary employees, but different people have different responsibilities and different control rights, which is likely to lead to distortion of incentives and loss of efficiency and competitiveness of scientific and technological enterprises in colleges and universities. 2. The shortage of funds restricts the development and expansion of science and technology enterprises in universities From scientific research results to industrialization requires a large amount of capital injection, accompanied by a large number of technical, market, and management risks. The incubation investment number of high-tech projects is large, the duration is long, and the investment results are uncertain. University science and technology enterprises are established on the basis of scientific and technological innovation, and their products have high added value and strong market monopoly power. Its development is basically not restricted by the level of traditional technology development, with the characteristics of leapfrog, large capital demand, high investment risk. Therefore, university science and technology enterprises have the characteristics of high investment, high profit and high risk. Generally speaking, scientific and technological achievements from birth to the transformation into commodities, need to go through three stages: research and development, pilot test, and production. The lack of capital investment in the pilot test and production stage of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities is an important reason for a large number of scientific and technological achievements to stay in the laboratory and cannot be transformed. The whole process can be divided into four stages: seed stage, development stage, growth stage and maturity stage. Different stages have different characteristics of capital demand and need different financing channels. The seed stage is generally dominated by government investment, the development stage by venture capital fund, the growth stage by venture capital and venture financing, and the mature stage by commercial credit and capital market. At present, colleges and universities face many financing difficulties in the transformation and incubation of scientific and technological achievements: First, the government is not investing enough. It is difficult to study science and technology projects in colleges and universities, with uncertain research time, uncertain market prospect and easy sharing of intellectual property rights. Therefore, it is difficult to attract external investment, so the government should be the main body of investment. However, China’s financial input is mainly used for basic research and key technologies in the development of national economy in colleges and universities, and less for the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities. A large number of funds for the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements have to be obtained from nongovernmental channels, but China’s social financing channels are not smooth, capital is not abundant. Second, there is a shortage of venture capital. In the process of transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities, venture capital cannot get involved in time, nor can it provide funds and management support and guidance for scientific and technological enterprises
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in incubating colleges and universities. High-level venture capital industry not only needs high-quality investment, but also needs high-level management. It needs professional managers who understand both technology and finance and enterprise management. However, China’s venture capital management industry lacks professional managers. Because science and technology is a complex commodity, our country lacks an objective and authoritative mechanism to evaluate the risk of venture capital projects, which makes our country’s venture capital face huge technical risk and market risk. China has not yet established a complete property rights trading market, and there is no perfect withdrawal mechanism of venture capital, which makes potential investors afraid of venture capital, unable to build a systematic venture capital system, and unable to form a virtuous cycle and development of venture capital. Third, capital market deficiencies. There are structural defects in the development of China’s capital market. So far, only two stock exchanges with similar market positioning, Shanghai and Shenzhen, have provided financing services for more than 1,000 listed companies, and most of them are large and medium-sized enterprises. Gem has not been able to meet a large number of financing needs. The technology property rights trading market of nonpublic equity capital market is not perfect, and the financing channels of university science and technology enterprises are not smooth. Fourth, commercial credit is difficult. At present, commercial credit in China usually only accepts physical assets or monetary assets as collateral, while colleges and universities, as technology owners, cannot use non-operating assets as collateral, which makes the transformation of scientific and technological achievements of colleges and universities unable to obtain commercial credit, and thus unable to transform existing scientific and technological achievements (Wang and Xiao 2017; Li and Lu 2018; Zhang 2017).
9.10 Development Trend and Policy Suggestions of Chinese University Science and Technology Enterprises The future trend of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities 1. Universities rely on superior disciplines to develop characteristic industries Colleges and universities are essentially academic institutions, and the ultimate goal of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements is to produce social and economic benefits. The “strengths” of colleges and universities are knowledge innovation, scientific and technological innovation, familiar with the middle and upper part of the industrial chain; “Weak” in the whole industry chain is directly linked to the market’s downstream part. It should be combined with the science and technology achievements transformation and industrialization of subject construction, rely on school discipline superiority, talent advantage, constantly promote the achievements transformation, form the characteristic industry, at the same time to
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work through the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements to promote discipline construction and personnel training, realize the talents cultivation, scientific research and social service function of mutual promotion, interactive to win more. Science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities are developing day by day, their business scope is becoming wider and wider, and it is more and more difficult to implement effective supervision, so it is particularly urgent to establish scientific and perfect supervision system and operation mechanism of industrial and business assets. At the same time, it is necessary to build a professional cadre team of industrial management. After the successful completion of the task of industrial standardization construction in colleges and universities, the relationship between schools and asset companies should gradually transition from the current administrative subordination to the equal civil subject relationship between two legal persons. As the shareholder of the asset company, the school enjoys the rights of shareholders and performs the obligations of shareholders, while the asset company must assume the obligation of maintaining and increasing the value of the assets invested by the school. 2. Enterprises focus on technological innovation and accelerate the transformation of achievements Colleges and universities to establish scientific and technological enterprises, mainly will be the formation of technological innovation patents or nonproprietary technology, and social enterprises or venture capital funds to carry out cooperation, with the way of technology valuation to become a shareholder, generally not suitable for large-scale investment funds. In the process of cooperation, colleges and universities should play an important role in the field of technology and product research and development, avoid the risk of enterprise operation, and do not deliberately pursue the leading enterprise operation and management. There are special rules in the startup and growth process of high-tech enterprises. Only a few high-tech enterprises eventually develop into mature enterprises and listed companies, and most high-tech enterprises inevitably have mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations or even liquidation, and closure at different stages of their growth. Therefore, colleges and universities of science and technology industry to establish, withdrawal, and then input, to withdraw mechanism of virtuous circle and sustainable development, strengthen the management of operational assets flow, actively seeking through equity deals of all or part of the exit has been successfully hatch enterprise, realize the appreciation value of state-owned assets, set up the mechanism of the sustainable development of colleges and universities of science and technology industry. 3. The university and the university science and technology enterprise school– enterprise management, the standard development There are still many problems in the reform of science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities. In the process of operation, enterprises bring economic and legal risks to schools. Second, school enterprises may bring moral hazard to schools.
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Due to the high moral requirements of the society on universities, the society not only criticizes the university enterprises, but also criticizes the university enterprises if the nonstandard operation behaviors occur in the operation process. Third, it may bring political risks. If the poor management of enterprises causes great economic losses to the university, especially if the moral event is big enough, it may trigger the political crisis of the university. A two-level management system should be established for the asset company and the asset company. First of all, the school sets up a management committee of operational assets, which performs the responsibilities of investors of asset companies and exercises the rights of shareholders of asset companies on behalf of the school. Second, on behalf of the school, the asset company ACTS as the investor of the invested enterprises, and carries out effective supervision over the wholly owned, controlling and joint-stock enterprises, so as to ensure the safe operation and maintenance and appreciation of the operational assets of the school, and recover the investment income on time and in full. The asset company shall establish a legal person governance structure that meets the requirements of the modern enterprise system and is scientific and standardized. The “economic and assets committee” of the school shall appoint personnel familiar with economic work and capable of enterprise management and decision-making as its members. Asset companies should also improve the financial and accounting management system, establish and improve the internal control system of the invested enterprises and establish the risk warning mechanism.
9.11 Policy Suggestions on the Development of Science and Technology Enterprises in Colleges and Universities 1. We must affirm the important role of university-run enterprises in the development of science and technology and serving the society, and unswervingly develop the science and technology industry and science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities Reviewing the development process of science and technology industry in colleges and universities in China in the past two decades, although there are some problems, remarkable achievements have been made in accelerating the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, and important contributions have been made to the development of national economy and education. The next two decades will be an important period of strategic opportunities for our country, as well as for China’s educational undertakings. Running scientific and technological enterprises well is an important channel to promote the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements and important content of scientific and technological innovation system in colleges and universities. Promoting the standardization construction of the college industry is related to the reform and long-term development of colleges and universities. In order to
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achieve the development goals of science, technology, and education in China, colleges and universities must unswervingly follow the path of combining production, learning, and research, vigorously develop the science and technology industry in colleges and universities, promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, improve the level of social services, drive the progress of teaching, scientific research and personnel training, and truly embody the functions of colleges and universities. 2. Correctly understand the significance and purpose of running university enterprises, transform scientific and technological achievements, and effectively serve the society One of the main incentives for Chinese universities to set up school-run enterprises on a large scale is to solve the problem of shortage of scientific research funds in universities. At present, the technology absorption capacity of Chinese enterprises is generally enhanced, the improvement of technology market reduces the information asymmetry between universities and enterprises in terms of technology supply and demand, the cooperation between enterprises, universities and research institutes are getting closer, and universities are contributing more and more to the local economy. In this situation, the purpose of setting up enterprises in colleges and universities should focus on promoting the transfer of technological achievements, strengthening the cooperation between enterprises, universities and research institutes, solving national and local economic and livelihood problems, and reflecting the social responsibility of colleges and universities. If this understanding cannot be changed, colleges and universities will lack the enthusiasm to reform the school-run enterprises, and the problems in the standardization of colleges and universities industry cannot be fundamentally solved. To promote the standardized reform of university–industry does not mean to ignore the function of universities to transform scientific and technological achievements and promote economic growth, nor does it mean to ignore the fundamental function of universities to serve the society. On the contrary, universities should further strengthen the cooperation with local governments and enterprises by adopting various ways such as strategic and technical alliance and co-construction, so as to give full play to the enthusiasm of industrial universities in scientific research. Colleges and universities should make use of the advantages of comprehensive disciplines, organize high-level researchers, allocate advanced research equipment, and accelerate the construction of interdisciplinary and high-level generic technology research and engineering research platform. These platforms are mainly for the purpose of product research and development and pilot test, not directly engaged in the production and management of products; Relying on continuous investment or technology transfer income, facing the market demand, research and development of high and new technologies and products. These platforms can continuously provide technical and talent support for universities and social enterprises and become the source of the development of the science and technology industry.
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3. Take the opportunity of coping with the financial crisis to accelerate the standardization construction of university industry At present, China’s economy is being adversely affected by the international financial crisis. The administrative departments of colleges and universities, colleges and universities enterprises should also take this opportunity to actively respond to the call of the state “to boost domestic demand, adjust the structure and maintain growth”, and accelerate the standardization of the industry of colleges and universities. At present, the work progress of industry standardization in colleges and universities is not satisfactory. Some of the institutions of higher learning have not improved their corporate governance structure and their operations are not standardized. The problem of enterprises bearing the name of their universities is still prominent. The specific problems existing in the industrial standardization process for the schools, the Ministry of Education work should further strengthen guidance, to establish a clear roadmap, put forward the strict time node, organize supervision and inspection of the schools industry standardization work, promote the schools industry working in the standard management on the basis of the healthy development of college industry standardization construction achieved a decisive victory. 4. Actively promote the transformation from school-run enterprises to schoolowned enterprises The school-owned enterprise model can straighten out the property right relationship between universities and enterprises, form an effective “firewall” mechanism, effectively avoid the risk of school-run enterprises to schools, strengthen the contact between universities and enterprises, promote the development of university knowledge industrialization, and promote the development of universities and their industries. School-owned enterprises are an important development direction of the science and technology industry in colleges and universities in China. It is necessary to straighten out the property right relationship between schools and enterprises according to law, gradually establish the supervision and management system and operation mechanism of schools for asset companies and asset companies for invested enterprises, give full play to the important role of asset companies in operating and managing state-owned business assets of schools, and establish a scientific and standardized industrial management system of colleges and universities. For school enterprises that are not established for the purpose of transforming new and high technology achievements and realizing industrialization, school enterprises that do not have cultural and educational characteristics and intellectual resources advantages, as well as enterprises with long-term losses, no return on investment and great economic and legal risks, they should be removed or withdrawn. University enterprises should be standardized according to the modern enterprise system. Schools and asset companies should be separated from each other in personnel, assets and finance, independent in organization and business, independent in accounting and responsibility and risk. School assets company to establish and improve the financial and accounting management system, improve the internal control system and risk warning mechanism; The enterprises invested by the university may not use the full name of the university except the university asset company, university science
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and technology park, national engineering (technology) research center, state key laboratory, press and design institute. With the help of the above measures, avoid the economic, legal, moral and political risks of the school’s direct operation of enterprises.
References He, J., Wei, J., Yang, W., Han, Z., & Jin, H. (2017, April). Practical exploration of undergraduate talents training program based on STEMA innovative model. In 2017 International Conference on Innovations in Economic Management and Social Science (IEMSS 2017). Atlantis Press. Ji, Y., Liu, Y., Sun, X., Tan, P., Fu, T., & Feng, K. (2019, July). Research on Chinese traditional handicraft education expansion model based on STEAM. In International Conference on HumanComputer Interaction (pp. 413–427). Cham: Springer. Li, X., & Lu, C. (2018, July). Research on the information management major construction under the new engineering background of China. In 2018 International Seminar on Education Research and Social Science (ISERSS 2018). Atlantis Press. Wang, L., & Xiao, W. (2017). Higher education development and regional differences in China. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(10), 6689–6698. Xu, F. H., Wang, S. H., Zeng, W. H., & Li, T. K. (2016, December). Analysis and enlightenment of teaching characteristics of the applied technology-oriented universities in the UK. In 2016 International Seminar on Education Innovation and Economic Management (SEIEM 2016). Atlantis Press. Zhang, L. (2017, May). Exploration on training mode of “applied technology-oriented” talents in private colleges. In 2017 International Conference on Culture, Education and Financial Development of Modern Society (ICCESE 2017). Atlantis Press. Zhang, S., Yang, D., Qiu, S., Bao, X., & Li, J. (2018). Open innovation and firm performance: Evidence from the Chinese mechanical manufacturing industry. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 48, 76–86.
Chapter 10
Forecasting Educational Trends for Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China
This chapter focuses on examining the trends in technology-oriented innovation education in China. Major problems in the cooperation between universities and industry in China, development trend of university–industry cooperation in China, and suggestions on university–industry cooperation in China all contribute to comprehensively exploring the whole landscape of Chinese world-class higher education institutions.
10.1 Major Problems in the Cooperation Between Universities and Industry in China Since the 1980s, the cooperation between universities and industry in China has made some progress and achieved a lot through efforts. However, the progress of the cooperation between universities and industry is still not enough to adapt to the situation of rapid economic growth and increasingly fierce international competition. From the observation of the phenomenon, we can find that: in the cooperation between Chinese universities and industry, the level is low and cannot meet the needs of independent innovation; The cooperation between universities and industry lacks motivation, efficiency, and efficiency. Further analysis shows that the reasons for the above problems are mainly as follows: there is still a gap in the understanding of university–industry cooperation between the leaders and participants of enterprises and universities; An appropriate mechanism has not been established to deal with the interest relationship between the industry and the university. And the government still has shortcomings in policy promotion and innovation environment construction. The main problems are analyzed from the following seven aspects. It is difficult to establish a scientific and reasonable profit distribution and coordination mechanism between universities and industries. University and industry cooperation can be effectively conducted, industry and the university of science and
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 E. Xue and J. Li, Innovating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2788-3_10
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the establishment of a reasonable interest distribution mechanism is the most important factor, the profit distribution mainly contains two aspects, namely the intellectual property rights and economic interests, while the actual operation highlights the “common input, benefit-sharing, risk-sharing” cooperative principle, but as a result of the parties in order to get more interests and appear difficult to coordinate the contradiction between; On the other hand, in terms of technology, different parties have different views on the value of technological innovation, which makes it difficult to determine the price of technology. Especially in cooperative research and development, it is difficult to accurately measure the contributions of all parties. In the cooperation agreements signed, the responsibilities, rights, and interests are not clearly defined, and sometimes it is difficult to clearly define. At the management level, the agreement management is not standard enough, the corresponding laws and regulations are not followed, and the social supervision of the agreement is not enough. In some cases of cooperation between universities and industries, the initial progress of cooperation is relatively smooth, but problems often occur when it is possible to achieve results, affecting the further development of cooperation, or even leading to the failure of cooperation between universities and industries due to the failure of resolving conflicts. Science and technology enterprises prefer universities to participate in R&D centers set up in enterprises, while science and technology parks and universities prefer enterprises to set up R&D centers in universities. This is because the territory of research and development is directly related to the management of intellectual property rights and interests. It is a necessary condition to realize the cooperation between universities and industries that the parties are willing to gain more control from the cooperation for the sake of protecting their own interests. The cooperation that ignores this objective fact will not be long term and sustainable. Poor coordination and improper handling of the interest relations between the university and the parties to the industrial cooperation (mainly including economic interests and intellectual property interests) will lead to the low enthusiasm and insufficient motivation of the parties to the cooperation. Of course, the lack of trust and integrity between the parties in the cooperation between universities and industries is also an important reason for the unsustainable cooperation. Problems on the corporate side As enterprises are the main body of university–industry cooperation, they should play a leading and core role, and enterprises should bear the main responsibility for the success or failure of university–industry cooperation. Under the current situation in our country, the enterprise in the university and the main problems of industry cooperation are still known issues and problems in the evaluation index system of building enterprise, the main show is: (1) part of the enterprise’s innovation consciousness is weak, is not willing to invest and develop new products and new technology, and hope to rely on the direct output to commercialize technology even products immediately. Such requirements are unrealistic for the actual situation of universities and scientific research institutions; (2) there are defects in the evaluation index system of existing enterprises, which makes enterprises have little enthusiasm for
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the development of new products or technologies; (3) some large enterprises monopolize existing technologies or product processes, making it difficult to promote and spread new technologies or product processes; and (4) enterprises lack long-term strategic thinking when leading the cooperation between universities and industries, and do not give enough consideration to the needs and interests of the other parties—universities and research institutions, which seriously affect the promotion of the cooperation between universities and industries, and is very detrimental to the improvement of innovation ability of enterprises and the country. Problems in higher education Universities and research institutions are the main forces and sources of innovation in the cooperation between universities and industries. The main problem in the cooperation between universities and industry in universities and research institutions is that their research results are far from practical use. Even for applied research topics, there is still a lot of work to be done in enterprises or departments, which need to be incubated and transformed. With the rapid development of China’s economy and society, although the relevant departments have repeatedly stressed that applied research should pay attention to meet the needs of enterprises and production departments, there will be a long process to change the long-formed concept that emphasizes theory over practice and paper over application. In addition, there are defects in the performance assessment and evaluation mechanism for teachers and researchers in colleges and universities and research institutions, and the lack of mechanism to encourage some teachers and researchers to engage in applied research to serve production and enterprises, aggravating the phenomenon that applied research results are divorced from actual production and application. Of course, there are still some problems in basic research, such as lack of innovation and improper research topics. Problems with the government The role of the government in promoting the university and industry cooperation is very obvious, particularly the current situation in our country is more outstanding, but the important role of government is not yet fully displayed, the main problems are: (1) university of our country and industry cooperation study in-depth policy problems, such as universities and industry cooperation parties lack of standardization of policies and measures in terms of profit distribution; Insufficient leading policies to encourage enterprises to increase investment in the cooperation between universities and industry; Lack of supervision on violations of university–industry cooperation projects that receive government financial aid. (2) the selection and evaluation of government-supported university–industry cooperation projects are not enough, and the guiding role of the government has not been fully played. (3) lack of promotion and supervision of the innovation research and development platform of governmentsupported enterprises or university institutions, and its achievements still fall short of the requirements of national development. (4) research and development personnel from all sides of university–industry cooperation play a key role in university–industry cooperation, and the government’s encouragement and incentive policies and
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measures for research and development personnel in the promotion of university– industry cooperation are insufficient and nonstandard, which is not conducive to fully mobilizing their enthusiasm and creativity. Information is asymmetric between universities and industrial cooperation parties, and the development of science and technology intermediaries lags behind. Science and technology intermediaries play a very important role in promoting cooperation between universities and industry abroad. In China, the development of science and technology intermediary institutions is lagging behind, and there is a lack of clear policies and measures to encourage development, regulate operation and make legitimate profits. At the same time, the development of science and technology intermediaries is not standardized and lack of self-discipline, which also affects their development to some extent. Such as the university science park, science and technology business incubator of science and technology development, the intermediary agencies positioning is not clear, the relationship has not straightened out, the high-level professional personnel engaged in the work of science and technology development, science and technology intermediary lack, although these problems make such by the state shall pay attention to the most institutions have not given full play to the role, has yet to achieve better effect. On the other hand, academic and technical exchanges between Chinese enterprises and university institutions are not enough. There is less communication between personnel, and enterprises lack the information channels to understand the latest trend, direction and innovation achievements of scientific and technological research in scientific and research institutions (generally, it will be more than a year behind due to the literature review). Meanwhile, universities also lack effective communication mechanisms and channels with enterprises, resulting in information asymmetry between the two sides and restricting the application of scientific and technological achievements of universities and research institutions in enterprises. Venture capital is insufficient, venture capital mechanism is imperfect Venture capital plays an important role in promoting the cooperation between universities and industries. It can help the scientific and technological achievements of all parties in the cooperation between universities and industries to be converted into real productivity as soon as possible. The perfect venture capital mechanism is more conducive to the marketization of scientific and technological achievements. It can not only bring funds, but more importantly, it can scientifically implement the results screening, evaluation and transformation, enterprise production and market operation, reasonably allocate funds and interests at all stages, and make the whole process of cooperation between universities and industries more scientific, reasonable, and standardized. In this regard, the main problem in China is not the lack of venture capital funds, but the lack of excellent venture capital institutions and highlevel professional venture capital talents. Innovative research results (products and technologies) with market application value (or application prospect) are insufficient, and the goals and topics of university–industry cooperation are improper. Although the number of scientific and technological papers published in China has been increasing rapidly in recent years, the number of scientific and technological
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achievements identified has been increasing, and the number of patent applications has been increasing year by year. Found in the actual test, also there are some not for development and application of scientific and technological achievements, and the main problem is more a lot of research results, even applied research basically does not have the prospect of the development and application, research results from industrial production application of the gap is too big, need a lot of investment, development, or developed by the product market prospect is unknown. Obviously, the current problem is a large number of scientific and technological achievements papers, on the other hand, these scientific and technological achievements of industrial and market application value of innovative research results (products or technologies) are seriously inadequate. The reasons for the above problems are mainly caused by the research institutions and personnel engaged in applied research, improper selection of research topics, or little consideration of the application of research results in the research work, and only focus on completing a research report or paper. There are also some problems in cooperative projects between universities and industries, such as the deviation of the set cooperative goals, insufficient demonstration of cooperative research topics, and improper selection of topics. Further analysis shows that the evaluation mechanism and evaluation index system are defective.
10.2 Development Trend of University–Industry Cooperation in China 1. Actively promote various forms of university–industry cooperation and strive to achieve greater practical results. In order to improve the efficiency and effect of the transformation and application of high-tech achievements in China, the transfer and incubation of scientific and technological achievements, the primary form of cooperation between universities and industry, is still an important way. The key is to develop high-quality science and technology intermediary service institutions (including science and technology intermediary institutions set up by enterprises, universities and research institutions and private intermediary institutions in society) as soon as possible, and to strengthen the technical and personnel exchanges between universities, scientific research institutions, and enterprises. 2. We will give full play to the leading and core role of enterprises in university–industry cooperation. Large enterprises generally set up their own research institutions. They should take the initiative to establish ties with universities and research institutions, establish formal and standardized cooperation mechanisms and institutions, and promote the cooperation between universities and industries with universities and research institutions led by enterprises. Small and medium-sized enterprise due to its own research strength is weak, the government should support the innovation and development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and take measures to guide and encourage them to take the initiative to keep in touch with the university institutions, and take project entrusted by the way, for the study and
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research institutions to support and get the necessary scientific and technological achievements, for the enterprise development, application of new technology, new product development. 3. Give full play to the role of universities as the main force and source of innovation in university–industry cooperation. At the current stage of China’s development, universities and research institutions should have more power to engage in research and development projects closely related to China’s economy and society, and have more innovative achievements to serve enterprises and production, so as to improve China’s scientific and technological strength, enhance the national innovation capacity, and serve the country’s economic and social development. University institutions should take the initiative to serve enterprises and have more innovative achievements for the development of enterprises. 4. Focus on promoting the establishment and development of university–industry cooperation alliance and enterprise strategic alliance (with appropriate involvement of university institutions). At present, the establishment of university–industry cooperation alliance is the advanced form and development direction of university–industry cooperation. There are two kinds of such alliances. One is the university–industry cooperation alliance, which is led by the industry or superlarge enterprises and formed by relevant enterprises and high-level universities and research institutions. The other is a university–industry cooperation alliance composed of peers, enterprises with similar level or complementary advantages, and universities and research institutions with similar majors. The former is usually focused on the research and development of major topics or industry common technologies, with abundant funds. If the management and operation are standardized and the leaders are competent, good results will often be achieved. The latter cooperation direction is clear, if the topic selection is appropriate will quickly achieve results. In a word, the university–industry cooperation alliance is the main development direction in the future. The government should strengthen the guidance, but not necessarily give too much economic support to the industry alliance and support the university– industry cooperation alliance which is in urgent need of support and easy to produce results.
10.3 Suggestions on University–Industry Cooperation in China When promoting university–industry cooperation, it is very important to clearly and correctly handle the following relations and take necessary measures, which will be conducive to the development of university–industry cooperation in the right direction and achieve greater results.
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1. Clarify the status and role of all the parties involved in university–industry cooperation, especially the role of government in university–industry cooperation. Unity in action is based on unity in knowledge. Therefore, the primary task of the cooperation between universities and industry in China is to clarify the orientation of all parties in the cooperation. In the cooperation between universities and industry, enterprises should be the core and play a leading role, universities should be the main force and play a role as the source of innovation, and governments should provide guidance and guidance and play a coordinating, supporting and promoting role. The main purpose and content of university–industry cooperation should be to acquire knowledge innovation and technological innovation results and improve the technological innovation ability of enterprises. At the present stage of university–industry cooperation in China, the government should play an important role, and mainly study and formulate policies, major plans and supporting measures to promote university–industry cooperation, so as to fully mobilize the initiative of both industries and universities. University of major cooperation projects and industrial generic technology and industry development, the government can directly involve in playing a role in aspects of organization, coordination, economic support, most of the general project should not be directly involved in, but the government should play an important role, the government is not to invest more human resources to the project, but coordination and support for project (project, funds, etc.) and drive can make the smooth development of the university and industry cooperation projects achieve better effect. 2. Set up an appropriate supporting mechanism for enterprises to participate in university–industry cooperation and focus on cultivating the impetus of university–industry cooperation. For large enterprises (including state-owned enterprises and private enterprises), the government can take appropriate measures to promote large and medium-sized enterprises to establish research and development cooperation with universities and research institutions, for example, the joint research fund guidance to the enterprises invested and established institutions of higher learning, scientific research institutions to establish strategic partnership, substantial university and industry cooperation, effectively improve the independent innovation ability, obtain better effect. For small and medium-sized enterprises, state or local government can be set up to promote small and medium-sized enterprises with universities and research institutions closely with innovation, to support a industrialization prospect of the further development of scientific and technological achievements, to support the transformation and industrialization of scientific research achievements, with government support or help, guide and promote enterprises with universities, scientific research institutions and universities and industrial cooperation of government, establish a number of capability of technological innovation of enterprises (industry), industry, university institutions. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the focus of promoting cooperation between universities and industry. They can better play the role of universities and research institutions in various regions and make greater contributions to improving China’s scientific and technological innovation capacity.
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3. Straighten out the cooperative relationship between universities and industries, highlight the leading role of enterprises in the cooperation, and require enterprises to fully support all parties to mobilize the enthusiasm of all parties to participate in the cooperation. The cooperation between universities and industry should have specific projects, and each project should have clear and clear innovation research and development goals and tasks. And research and development objectives and tasks should be determined by the enterprise, which is the main embodiment of the dominant position of the enterprise. According to the development status and needs of the enterprise (industry), the enterprise shall fully grasp the research and development, production status and level in this field or project at home and abroad, and propose research and development tasks based on the actual situation of the enterprise (industry). In the final stage of the R&D project, the enterprise should fully listen to the opinions and suggestions of the other two parties in the cooperation between the university and the industry, but the final decision should be exercised by the enterprise (industry) itself. If in the cooperation between universities and industries, enterprises attach more importance to the results of basic research in a certain field and are willing to choose projects from the results of basic research for technological innovation and research. In this case, enterprises should also identify the research areas and understand the research topics and research directions proposed by UACO, so as to grasp and evaluate the progress of UACO. In the case of the above or some commissioned D&F projects, enterprises do not have to interfere in the specific R&D work, but they should still guide their R&D direction and pay attention to their progress. In addition, in the cooperation between universities and industries, enterprises should fully guarantee the funds for research and development, especially for the research and development funds obtained from the state and society, all of which should be used for project development. In addition, enterprises should fully support universities and research institutions in accordance with regulations and ensure reasonable financial support. 4. Universities are encouraged to give full attention to the needs of enterprises in cooperation with industry and to link them closely with their own scientific research. In cooperation with industry in university, the university institutions should give full attention to the following aspects: (1) in strict accordance with the university and industry cooperation in research and development to the task to carry out the work, high-quality research and development achievements, in addition to some enterprises put forward the research and development mission requirements based on knowledge innovation output target (these research interests are basically identical with university institutions), the vast majority of research and development tasks are given priority to with technology innovation achievements, research and development institutions should fully respect the company request, to carry out research and development work, not too much emphasis on knowledge innovation output, more can’t be published as the main goal of the research and development work. (2) in the cooperation between universities and industries, the research and development work
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of university institutions should give more consideration to the possibility of enterprises using research and development results, and realize technological innovation with the joint efforts of enterprise personnel, and achieve the expected economic benefits. (3) in the cooperation between universities and industries, universities should take measures to promote enterprises to improve their technological innovation capabilities. (4) enterprises should support university institutions to achieve technological innovation results through cooperation between universities and industries, and at the same time make achievements in innovative knowledge and gain the increment of innovative knowledge, so as to improve the academic research level and promote the construction and development of disciplines. (5) improve the academic evaluation system of university institutions and strengthen the guiding role of university–industry cooperation. We will encourage researchers to cooperate with enterprises, and promote university–industry cooperation and the transformation and industrialization of research achievements. The work and effect of university and scientific research institution personnel participating in applied technology development, technology transfer, contract research and development, cooperative research and development with enterprises and other cooperative innovation activities are taken as important indicators of performance assessment and professional title assessment. 5. We should ensure the reasonable distribution of benefits between the university and industrial partners, properly control the research and development process, and strengthen the quality management of research and development results. By setting the corresponding laws and regulations, to standardize the cooperation innovation of enterprises, institutions, intermediaries, and financial relations (risk) investment institutions such as the interests of all parties, specialized cooperative innovation law, to cover all aspects of the cooperative innovation, forming a comprehensive policy system for easy operation, to ensure that the cooperative innovation results. The distribution of benefits of the research and development project shall be made clear when defining the tasks of the research and development project, and shall be made clear in the contract, agreement framework and contract after being determined by the parties involved in the cooperation through consultation, and shall be notarized and supervised by the specialized organization, management and coordination agency. The parties in the cooperation between universities and industries should support enterprises to acquire the core technologies of research and development results and improve the ability of innovation and talent cultivation through joint research and development. Their economic benefits should be reflected in the benefits obtained when new products and technologies enter the market or are applied in practice. The interests of technology intermediaries and financial investment institutions should also be fully guaranteed in accordance with the prior agreement. The control of research and development process should mainly develop a strict system and reasonable process and schedule and implement it carefully. The determination of R&D process, schedule, and system should be agreed upon by the industry and the university. In the implementation process, the government should play a
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coordinating and promoting role when necessary, so as to ensure the normal development of research and development work. Quality control and assurance of research and development results should also be made clear when determining research and development projects. The quality of research and development results is mainly tested in the actual production industry and application of enterprises. 6. To set up the organization, management and coordination institutions for the cooperation between universities and industries, and to establish the guarantee mechanism for the interests of all parties. In order to create favorable environment and conditions for the cooperation between universities and industries, and give full play to the organization and coordination function of the cooperation between universities and industries, the government should encourage the establishment of coordination institutions among the people, and establish the guarantee mechanism for the interests of all parties, so as to promote the healthy development of academic integration. On the one hand, universities and research institutions should be guided to face industry and enterprises. On the other hand, guide and attract enterprises and industry–university scholar to universities, research institutions, science and technology development investment, support universities, scientific research institutions of HKUST pedant, technology development and personnel training, enterprise (industry) with universities, scientific research institution close connection, ensure the interests of all parties, to promote the healthy development of the university and industry cooperation. To formulate regulations, implementing rules and corresponding policies and regulations for science and technology intermediaries. Improve the social status of science and technology intermediaries and the opportunities to legally participate in university–industry cooperation projects (for example, there is no regulation on the participation of intermediaries in certain government-supported university–industry cooperation projects). We will encourage science and technology intermediaries to operate in a standardized way and make profits legally so that they can play a bigger role in the cooperation between universities and industry and in the transformation, application, and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. Strengthen between enterprises and universities and research institutions and personnel between the academic, technical exchanges, business, science, and technology intermediary agencies shall send people often to attend academic lectures and seminars held in colleges and universities, research institutions, and to understand the research direction of colleges and universities, research institutions, dynamic, in order to further strengthen the contact and to give aid and support. Teachers, researchers, and students of universities and research institutions should go to relevant enterprises frequently (or regularly) to conduct and develop new problems and industrial development directions, so as to better serve enterprises and production. Science and technology intermediaries should play a greater role in strengthening information exchange and communication.
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7. We will actively promote the establishment and development of science and technology venture capital funds and venture capital institutions and make them play a bigger role in the cooperation between universities and industry. The government should formulate appropriate policies and take appropriate measures to encourage the establishment of standardized and high-quality science and technology venture capital funds and institutions in China; To cultivate and train high-level professionals engaged in venture capital business; To draw on the effective experience in practice abroad, to ensure the interests of all parties in university–industry cooperation and venture capital institutions in China, so as to promote the industrial application of scientific and technological achievements and the smooth development of university–industry cooperation.
Chapter 11
Concluding Educational Achievements for Creating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China
This chapter concentrates on investigating the conclusion of technology-oriented innovation education in China. Research conclusions on the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in Chinese universities are also provided.
11.1 Strengthen Basic Research in Colleges and Universities to Provide a Strong Foundation for Knowledge Innovation and Industrialization in Colleges and Universities High-level basic research and major breakthroughs in basic research are the sources of all technology transfer and achievements transformation. On the basis of correctly handling the relationship between teaching and scientific research, basic research, and applied research, give full attention to the advantages of human resources and comprehensive advantages of disciplines in universities, and take practical measures to encourage teachers and researchers to devote themselves to basic research of academic orientation at the forefront of disciplines, and actively carry out applied basic research. “Ask canal how clear so, only the source of running water to.” Only by truly attaching importance to and strengthening basic research can the quantity of scientific and technological achievements be increased, the convertibility be improved, and the distance between technologies used in production and products entering the market be shortened. Only in this way can the university truly contribute to the national economic development, national security and social construction, and better realize the function of social service.
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 E. Xue and J. Li, Innovating World-Class Technology-Oriented Higher Education in China, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2788-3_11
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11.2 Industry–University-Research Cooperation Is an Important Part of the National Innovation System and One of the Most Important Implementation Forms of the Technological Innovation System In the cooperation between universities and industry, enterprises should further strengthen their leading and core roles, colleges and universities should better play their role as the main force and source of innovation, and governments at all levels should play an important role in policy-making, project guidance and economic support. To raise the understanding of the cooperation between universities and industry, make it more targeted in terms of contents and ways of cooperation, generate better benefits and play a bigger role in building an innovative country.
11.3 Industry–University-Research Alliance Is the Advanced Form and Development Direction of Industry–University-Research Cooperation At present, there are many different ways of industry–university-research cooperation for enterprises and institutions of higher learning to choose, among which industry–university-research alliance is the advanced form and development direction of industry–university-research cooperation, and should actively promote and establish various types of industry–university-research alliance, enterprise strategic alliance and so on. The government should strengthen the guidance of the industry– university-research institute strategic alliance, make it have a strategic vision when it is built, keep a pragmatic attitude in operation, take into account the interests of all parties, and actively promote the development of the industry–university-research institute alliance.
11.4 Science and Technology Enterprises in Colleges and Universities Are an Important Channel for Colleges and Universities to Promote the Transformation and Industrialization of Scientific and Technological Achievements, and Standardized Management Is an Important Task in the Future Promoting the standardization construction of university industry is related to the sustainable development of university science and technology enterprises. We will speed up the restructuring process of school-run enterprises into school-owned enterprises and establish a scientific industrial management system in colleges and universities.
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Gradually establish the school’s supervision and management system and operation mechanism for the asset company and the asset company for the invested enterprise and give full play to the important role of the asset company in operating and managing the state-owned operational assets of the school. Science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities should regulate their operation, and colleges and universities and their management personnel and technical teams should not seek improper interests through science and technology enterprises in colleges and universities.
11.5 Support and Encourage the Development of the Listed Companies of University Science and Technology Enterprises or Those That Are Qualified to Be Listed University of science and technology listed companies need to completely according to the relevant provisions of the state and general practice operations, straighten out the relationship between colleges, manage strictly according to modern enterprise system, actively participate in market competition, the administrative leading institutions and asset management companies shall not directly interfere in the management of science and technology enterprises and listed companies.
11.6 University Science Park Can Be a University Science and Technology Service Enterprise, a High-Level Science and Technology Intermediary, or a Comprehensive Platform for University Science and Technology Service China’s university science and technology parks should seek development in the competition, absorb the experience of domestic and foreign science and technology parks, and build professional, high level, high quality science and technology intermediaries, service institutions and comprehensive platform of science and technology services, so as to form a university science and technology park with Chinese characteristics. The university science park is managed according to the modern enterprise system. The school asset management department should not be directly involved in the specific business management of the park.
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11.7 High-Quality Venture Capital Institutions Play an Important Role in Promoting University–Industry Cooperation Institutions of higher learning, university science and technology parks and university science and technology enterprises should encourage and introduce venture capital institutions to serve the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements of the university. Introduce foreign high-quality venture capital institutions, support the development of domestic venture capital institutions, establish project investment and financing and venture capital channels.
11.8 Protect University Culture in the Collision and Integration of University Culture and Enterprise Culture Universities play an important role in leading social and cultural development. There are obvious differences and conflicts between university culture and enterprise culture. Universities explore research in a liberal environment, while businesses develop research for profit. The common point between university culture and enterprise culture is the spirit of innovation and honesty. If the relationship between universities and industry is not well handled, the most affected is the cultural atmosphere of universities that is loose, free, calm and pragmatic. Cooperation between universities and industries should avoid conflicts in each other’s cultures, form a cultural atmosphere that seeks common ground while reserving differences, emphasizes tolerance and focuses on development, and create an innovation and entrepreneurship culture and social environment that encourages innovation, tolerates failure and advocates competition.
11.9 Policy Suggestions on the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements in Chinese Universities
1. Improve the Understanding of Industry–University-Research Cooperation and Promote University–Industry Cooperation To strengthen the cooperation between universities, colleges and research institutes and actively promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into real productive forces is not only the need for universities to realize the social service function, but also the objective requirement of the weak innovation ability
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of Chinese enterprises, and also the mission of building an innovative country. In industry–university-research cooperation, enterprises are the core and play a leading role; Colleges and universities are the main force and play the role of innovation source. The government provides guidance and guidance and plays a coordinating, supporting and promoting role. Improve enterprises’ and universities’ understanding of industry–university-research cooperation, formulate reasonable assessment indicators and systems that include promoting the content of industry–universityresearch cooperation, and conduct assessment of relevant institutions and their main principals. 2. Improve the Policy System of University Knowledge Innovation and Science and Technology Industry, Promote the Flow of Knowledge, and Achieve Standardized Development The government focuses on the formulation and implementation of policies and measures, standardizes the interest relations among universities, enterprises and other relevant institutions in the knowledge innovation and science and technology industrialization through institutional arrangement and policy design, promotes the flow of university knowledge to industry, and prevents the risks of industry–universityresearch cooperation. The status of universities, national university science parks and university science and technology enterprises in industry–university-research cooperation should be further clarified. We should pay attention to the implementation and evaluation of existing policies and timely solve the new problems in the cooperation between universities and industries and the development of science and technology industries in universities. 3. Promote the Establishment and Development of Science and Technology Intermediaries and Strengthen the Exchange of Information Between Universities and Industries Formulate rules for science and technology intermediary agencies, implementation rules and the corresponding policies, laws and regulations, improve the social status of science and technology intermediary agencies and legal intervention project of university–industry cooperation opportunities, encouraging science and technology intermediary specification management, legal profit, make science and technology intermediary agencies to university–industry cooperation and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, application and industrialization of play a bigger role. Strengthen between enterprises and institutions of higher learning and academic, technical exchanges, business, science and technology intermediary agencies shall send people often attend academic lectures and seminars held in colleges and universities, in a timely manner to understand the research direction, dynamic, see have the application prospect of research projects and project, in order to strengthen the contact and to give aid and support. Teachers, researchers and students of colleges and universities should often go to relevant enterprises to learn about new problems and industrial development directions in the production and development of enterprises, so as to better serve enterprises and production.
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4. Define the Ownership of Rights and Benefit Distribution Mechanism of Scientific and Technological Achievements in Colleges and Universities, Formulate and Implement Intellectual Property Strategic Planning Intellectual property system is the most significant institutional arrangement that affects the cooperative relationship between universities and industry. In the central and local government support or the national financial support of scientific research in colleges and universities intellectual property right ownership, formulate operable such as licensing and profit distribution laws and regulations and the detailed rules for the implementation, clear colleges and universities as the central and local government funding or national scientific research project financially all the rights and obligations of the patent inventions, especially for its invention patent license or transfer the rights and obligations, employee inventors, and scientific research personnel’s legitimate rights and interests to make the operational rules and practices, which should contain the invention patent transfer and utilization must be conducted at the university of requirements. For inventions that have not been patented by the university after technical evaluation, it is suggested that university teachers or inventors apply for patents freely on the condition that the ownership of the invention does not violate the relevant regulations of the state. The government, institutions of higher learning and enterprises (industries) should jointly formulate the intellectual property strategic plan and promote the implementation of the plan in the industry–university-research cooperation. 5. To Introduce and Cultivate Professional Talents in Science and Technology Industry and Build Up a Team of Science and Technology Entrepreneurs In the era of knowledge economy, scientific and technological knowledge and scientific management knowledge have become the two wings of enterprise take-off. The compound talents who master these two kinds of knowledge, namely scientific and technological entrepreneurs or scientists with modern entrepreneurial spirit, are the key to the development of high-tech industries. University science park and university science and technology industry should pay full attention to the introduction and training of high-level interdisciplinary talents, actively cultivate, boldly introduce and fully trust professional management talents, promote the agglomeration, transformation and incubation of scientific and technological achievements, promote the investment and financing of innovative science and technology projects, and improve the operation level of science and technology enterprises. 6. Establish Investment and Financing Channels for Science and Technology Enterprises in Universities by Utilizing the Financial Market Encourage the establishment of standardized and high-quality science and technology venture capital funds and institutions; To cultivate and train high-level professionals engaged in venture capital business; To learn from the effective experience of foreign countries, protect the legitimate interests of the university and industrial cooperation parties and venture capital institutions, and promote the industrial application of scientific and technological achievements. For listed companies, active use of the securities market, liven up capital management.
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7. Accelerate the Standardization Construction of University Industry and Promote the Scientific Development of University Industry All colleges and universities should unify the understanding, accelerate the pace and promote the standardization construction of the industry of colleges and universities according to the spirit of the state council and the ministry of education. Further improve the management and operation mechanism of national university science parks and university science and technology enterprises, establish and improve the modern enterprise system, and thoroughly straighten out the university–enterprise relationship; To restructure the assets of school-run industries, rectify the main business, and improve the competitiveness of enterprises; Establish a scientific and reasonable corporate governance structure, optimize the operating mechanism of the company, so that university science and technology parks and science and technology enterprises can develop healthily and rapidly.