In December 2023, An Outline History of Science and Technology in the People’s Republic of China, edited by Bai Chunli, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was jointly published by China Science Publishing & Media Ltd. and Longmen Book Company.

The book is the principal outcome of “Research on the History of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China,” a major breakthrough project undertaken by the Institute for the History of Natural Sciences (IHNS), CAS, during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. It was jointly written by more than twenty experts from the IHNS in collaboration with scholars from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Science and Technology of China, Tsinghua University, Beihang University, Nanjing Agricultural University, and other institutions. Guan Xiaowu, Guo Jinhai, Fang Yibing, Wang Dazhou, and Zhang Jiuchen served as deputy editors-in-chief.

The two volumes are devoted, respectively, to the course of China’s scientific and technological development and to thematic studies of major scientific and technological achievements. Together, they provide a comprehensive account of the trajectory of science and technology in the People’s Republic of China; analyze the history of science and technology policies, institutions, and mechanisms; review the making and significance of major achievements over more than seventy years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China; examine, in an international context, the interactions among science and technology, education, the economy, society, and culture; trace the evolution of the national science and technology system and strategic planning; and identify the underlying patterns of scientific and technological development.

The book presents readers with a grand historical panorama of China’s scientific and technological development since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Over more than seventy years, in some fields, China has progressed from tracking global advances to keeping pace with and increasingly joining the world’s leaders, as it moves toward high-level self-reliance and strength in science and technology. It offers incisive perspectives on this development and distills valuable experience and insights for future scientific and technological innovation.

In May 2024, the book was included in the first group of major achievements selected by China’s historical research community in studying and interpreting the development of modern Chinese civilization.