Management Regulations of (Civilian) National S&T Megaprojects

On 27 June 2020, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance, jointly released the Management Regulations of (Civilian) National S&T Megaprojects (Guo Ke Fa Zhuan [2017] No. 145). The Regulations constitute the main legal framework of National S&T Megaprojects, i.e. the second pillar of the Chinese national STI funding system. They outline:

• General Provisions:
  • The management of Megaprojects follows the below principles:
    • Coordination of resources, particularly:
      • Enhancement of the role of enterprises as main actors;
      • Active participation of government agencies, local governments, research structures and universities;
      • Strengthening the link between Megaprojects and other national STI projects.
    • Clear division of responsibilities;
    • Periodic evaluation, increased performance;
    • Focus on talents and innovation ecosystem.
  • These regulations apply to ten civilian Megaprojects.

• Organisation and division of responsibilities:
  • The inter-ministerial joint council is responsible for:
    • Reviewing the Megaprojects’ overall development plan, implementation schemes, and management regulations; as well as proposals for adding new Megaprojects;
    • Selecting project management agencies.
  • Under the leadership of the inter-ministerial joint council, MOST, NDRC and MOF (“three ministries”) are responsible for:
    • Researching and formulating the Megaprojects’ overall development and implementation plan, management regulations and supporting measures;
    • Guiding each Megaproject’s line government agency (see below) in the formulation of annual tender guidelines;
    • Monitoring and evaluating Megaprojects, reporting their implementation status to the CPC’s Central Committee and the State Council;
    • Coordinating and strengthening the link among different Megaprojects, as well as with other national STI projects.
  • The Megaprojects’ line government agencies * are responsible for:
    • Establishing a management and implementation office for their Megaproject, and coordinating daily operations;
    • Establishing an experts’ committee (see below);
    • Formulating annual tender guidelines, managing confidentiality and archives;
    • Formulating annual implementation status reports for their Megaproject.
  • The Megaprojects’ experts’ committees are responsible for:
    • Launching research on the Megaprojects’ implementation strategy, providing technical advises on specific priorities, directions and technological paths;
    • Providing advises to the Megaprojects’ line government agencies in terms of technology, management and results commercialization;
    • Each experts’ committee shall select a working group chief technologist.
  • Project management agencies are responsible for:
    • Participating in the formulation of tender guidelines;
    • Organising and collecting applications to specific project activities, and evaluations;
    • Signing legal contracts with the consortium leaders implementing activities under Megaprojects;
    • Organising funds allocation; adjusting projects’ budget in line with de facto needs.
  • Consortium leaders are responsible for:
    • Conducting research, fund management, commercialisation of results and all the other activities planned under Megaprojects;
    • Ensuring the smooth delivery of the project deliverables and expected outputs.
  • Local governments are responsible for:
    • Assisting and supporting the implementation of Megaprojects;
    • Ensuring a constant and open dialogue with central government authorities and the Megaprojects’ line government agencies.

• Annual tender guidelines:
  • The Megaproject line agency, the experts’ committees and the project management agency draft the annual tender guidelines;
  • Topics under Megaproject feature one of the following three modalities of application:
    • “Directionally-entrusted” applications (定向委托): consortium leaders are already decided and specified in the tender. Usually being state-owned actors, they are entrusted by line agencies to identify and recruit consortium members. The final composition of the consortium and of the specific R&D tasks to be implemented must be approved by the Megaproject’s expert committee after different rounds of evaluation. This category of application aims to strengthen top-down design and coordination. Units interested in this category of projects should contact and coordinate with the “directionally-entrusted” unit;
    • “Directionally-selected” applications (定向择优): applicants interested in this category of topics can apply independently. After a first evaluation of all applications, the Megaproject’s evaluation committee appoints different consortia, selecting a consortium leader and putting together different and complementary consortium members according to their strengths and weaknesses. The selected consortium leader will then coordinate with the other members and draft a detailed project implementation proposal, which must be approved by the expert committee after different rounds of evaluation. This category of application aims to strengthen top-down design and coordination.
    • “Openly-selected” applications (公开择优): already-formed consortia apply as a whole to particular tender topics. Detailed technical and financial proposals must be submitted. After two rounds of evaluation, the most competitive proposals are approved.
  • The deadline for submitting applications to “Openly-selected” projects is, in principle, no less than 50 days from the day the tender guidelines are published;
  • Experts sitting in evaluation committees are extracted from the national S&T experts’ pool, and published online;
  • A preliminary list of selected projects is submitted to MOST, NDRC and MOF for final approval. The final lists of projects assigned should be published online.

• Management of the project implementation process:
  • Project management agencies will sign a legal contract with consortium leaders;
  • Project management agencies are responsible for the daily management of ongoing projects;
  • Each Megaproject’s project management agency every year in December shall submit an implementation status report to the corresponding line government agency, which will in turn submit it to MOST, NDRC and MOF, and the State Council.

• Project evaluation and supervision:
  • MOST, NDRC and MOF conduct evaluations and inspections of the implementation status of Megaprojects, independently or through third-party agencies. This is done by:
    • Conducting selective examinations of single projects;
    • Inspecting the work of project management agencies;
    • Performance evaluation results are reported to the State Council.
  • Establishment of a Credit Management System for Scientific Research, collecting information and implementing a category-based management model according to:
    • Credit rating (practices) of applicants during the project application processes;
    • Credit rating of consortium leaders during the implementation phase;
    • Rating of evaluators during project evaluation and inspection stages;
    • Project leaders or members with negative credit ratings will temporarily or permanently lose the right to apply to or take part in any phases of Megaprojects.

• Project conclusion:
  • Project conclusion procedures should be completed within six months after the expiration of the contract (maximum extendable period for contracts is one year);
  • Project management agencies are responsible for conducting project conclusion procedures;
  • Project conclusion results must be submitted to the Megaproject’s line government agencies, and in turn submitted to MOST, NDRC and MOF.

• Project results, IP and asset management:
  • Each Megaproject should establish a long-term mechanism for IPR protection and management, focusing on:
    • Formulation of clear IPR-related deliverables;
    • Keeping track of national and international IPR-related actions;
    • Formulation of an IPR analysis report.
  • Project management agencies are responsible for IPR management under the guidance of line government agencies;
  • IP ownership and utilisation rights of Megaprojects must abide by the Technology Progress Law, the Promotion of Technology Transfer Law, and the National Intellectual Property Strategy Outline. In case of IPR not commercialised, consortium leaders have the obligation to provide to other domestic actors paid-up or royalty-free licenses for IPR utilisation;
  • Project management agencies and consortium leaders should agree in advance on IPR ownership, utilisation and licensing rights, in order to promote technology transfer and commercialisation;
  • Intangible assets generated during the implementation of Megaprojects are managed and utilised by consortium leaders. Economic benefits generated from technology transfer and the utilisation of intangible assets must abide by the Promotion of Technology Transfer Law and relevant national regulations;
  • Solid assets generated with central budget should abide by relevant national regulations.

• International cooperation:
  • Megaprojects are encouraged to launch equal and mutually-beneficial international cooperation activities, in order to make full use of international resources;
  • In line with the Megaprojects’ objectives, emphasis will be put on secondary innovation (i.e. introducing, digesting, absorbing and re-innovating). Systematic secondary innovation schemes and measures will be formulated and strictly enforced;
  • Project management agencies are responsible for Megaprojects’ international cooperation-related work, under the guidance and subject to the approval of line government agencies;
  • International cooperation activities should strictly abide by relevant foreign affairs and confidentiality provisions.

• Supplementary provisions:
  • The Regulations are effective from the date of publishing. The previous Interim Measures on the Management of National S&T Megaprojects (Guo ke Fa Ji [2008] No. 453) are no longer effective.

* Note: Namely government agencies responsible for a specific Megaproject in line with their area of competence, for instance the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development are the line agencies of the “Water Pollution Control and Treatment Technologies” Megaproject (“Water Megaproject”).

External link:

http://www.most.gov.cn/mostinfo/xinxifenlei/fgzc/gfxwj/gfxwj2017/201706/t20170627_133757.htm

See also:

Fund Management Measures for (Civilian) National S&T Megaprojects

Interim Management Measures for the “Water Pollution Control and Treatment” National S&T Megaproject