The General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China ("CPCCC") and the General Office of the State Council have recently issued the Opinions on Further Promoting Scientist Spirit and Improving the Conduct and Ethics of the Science Community (the "Opinions").
The Opinions state that it is expected to fully implement various measures aimed at improving conduct and ethics of the science community within one year, to see substantial improvement in the conduct and ethics of the science community within three years, and to create an atmosphere of "respect for knowledge, pursuit of innovation, esteem for talent and enthusiasm for science" among the general public. To this end, the Opinions outline tasks in four aspects, including "improving conduct and ethics in science field to create a clean and honest environment for scientific research" and "transforming government functions at a faster pace to form a sound ecology for scientific research". Specifically, the Opinions state that actions will be taken to operate the assessment system that focuses on the middle- and long-term performance of scientific research institutes, show stronger stable support for eminent science and technology (S&T) workers and innovation groups, and oppose the aimless pursuit of institution or subject rankings. Moreover, the number of titles of honor, appraisal and awards will be cut dramatically, and the tendency of granting awards or titles merely based on academic papers, professional titles, academic backgrounds and previously-won awards will be broken and eliminated; and it is disallowed to simply refer to the levels of professional titles, the number of projects undertaken and the levels of previously-won awards as the preconditions or the basis for assessment, or to have proposed projects, awards or talent titles packaged in the name of an institute.