Support for science and technology (S&T) has long been a key priority for the Chinese leadership, and Xi Jinping has emerged as a strong proponent of innovation. Over the past decade, Xi Jinping has held a wide range of speeches and prepared articles that present policies related to science, technology and innovation, including geopolitical questions such as China’s emphasis on self-reliance in the face of US export restrictions for advanced technology.

For this colloquium, I will present the initial findings of a research project that investigates the principal elements of Xi Jinping’s thoughts on science and technology (S&T). Steve Tsang and Olivia Cheung argue in The Political Thought of Xi Jinping (2024): “Since Xi Thought is now the highest guide for policymaking, it is important to take what Xi says into account seriously.”  My research follows a similar aim to understand how the promotion of science, technology and innovation has become the key factor in Xi’s ambition to develop new, productive and quality forces and make China the world’s leading innovative country by 2050.

Although Xi Jinping’s statements on S&T epitomize official Chinese political rhetoric, they also reveal some fundamental ideas in the Chinese Communist Party about issues of S&T management and geopolitical priorities. Moreover, the research provides a critical assessment of Xi Jinping’s thoughts on S&T in a comparative context of international science policy scholarship.