By YONG Li & LIANG Yilian

According to a newly released report, sci-tech evaluation institutions in China have achieved rapid growth since 2016. The number of institutions carrying out science and technology evaluation related business had exceeded 120,000 by 2021. Thirty-one provincial regions have established sci-tech evaluation institutions, of which enterprise institutions account for 93 percent of the total, with an average registered capital of 5.4 million RMB.

Regionally, the provinces with the largest number of assessment agencies are Guangdong, Shanghai and Hunan. The report showcases the diverse business landscape of sci-tech evaluation institutions, with primary activities revolving around science and technology information consultation, project evaluation, and achievement appraisal.

The report, compiled by more than ten units led by the National Center for Science & Technology Evaluation (NCSTE) and China Society of Technology Evaluation and Result Management (CSTERM), was released at the 7th National Collaborative Development Seminar of Science and Technology Evaluation Institutions in Chongqing on November 30.

"As a modern governance tool and method, sci-tech evaluation is playing an increasingly important role in promoting science and technology innovation in the whole society, improving the level of science and technology management, optimizing resource allocation, supervision and accountability," said Guo Xiangyuan, chairman of the CSTERM.

He pointed out that after years of development, various activities of sci-tech evaluation in China are making continuous progress in the direction of specialization and standardization, while evaluation ability and quality are constantly improving.

Nie Biao, director of the NCSTE, proposed several suggestions to promote sci-tech evaluation, including strengthening the evaluation of major national scientific and technological tasks to promote the guiding and exemplary role of the evaluation; enhancing the assessment of cutting-edge technologies to correctly judge the opportunities and challenges that emerging technologies may bring; and making full use of modern information technology to provide efficient support for science and technology evaluation.

The report, themed "China Science and Technology Evaluation Development Report 2022," summarized the development process of science and technology evaluation in China, and analysed the development of establishing structures such as science and technology evaluation systems, theoretical methods, standardization, information, organization and team building, along with deep diving into the development trend of science and technology evaluation.