(EST Pub Date) Science and Technology in Communist CHINA Through 1970

Approved for Release: 2018/01/30 C00659420
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By 1970, with the ex-
pected assets of competent scientists and facilities,
China could produce limited quantities of BW-
agent material and also develop a munition with a
suitable delivery system.
43. China has engaged in limited research and
development on original military electronics, though
much developmental work is involved where for-
eign designs are adapted to domestic production."
Through 1970, only a few components and systems
will be of native Chinese design. Almost all of
the more complicated and sophisticated military
electronics equipment will be copies, modifications,
or adaptations of foreign products namel We t-
ern, Soviet Bloc. and Taoanese.
_ l By 1970, new
Chinese designs of EW/CCI, fire control, ship-
board, and airborne radars may be expected to
appear. In its military communications, China re-
lies heavily on importations,
_ _ VVholly Chinese
work on such advanced equipment as burst trans-
mission por scatter will not be realized by 1970.
China depends largely on passive electronic coun-
termeasures, such as chafi. Although the Chinese
will continue to use chaff, little or no information
is available on which to base a confident assess-
ment of other modes.
44. Although there are sharp differences among
sectors, the general level of industrial technology
in China can be characterized as being far behind
that of the United States, the USSR, Western
Europe, and Iapan. China has mastered the tech-
nology of some basic industries, such as steel, coal,
electric power, and aluminum, but even in these
industries technical assistance from abroad is re-
quired to keep up with advances in products,
equipment, and production techniques. In more
complex fields—for example, the priority fields of
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precision instrumentation, petro-chemicals, chemi-
cal fibers, and chemical fertilizers—China is heav-
ily dependent on imported knowledge and equip-
ment for development. The general bacl<wardnes:(b)('l )
of technology is not a great hindrance in some
sectors, such as construction and transportation,
because simple techniques can fill most needs.
45. Technological progress in most industrial
fields has been extremely slow since 1960. Ma-
chinery and equipment have been imported at only
a small fraction of the peak levels in 1959-60, for
example, about $125 million worth in 1963 com-
pared to $845 million in 1960. Equally important
has been the small number of foreign industrial
technicians in China compared with the formerly
large number of Soviet and Satellite technical per-
sonnel helping China’s indust1'y.*
46. China is well endowed with most of the raw
materials required for industrial development.
Raw materials for iron and steel, power, nonferrous
metals, chemicals, and construction materials gen-
erally are abundant. The major resource deficiency
is the lack of arable land in relation to population;
thus, major technical improvements in farming are
required to increase agricultural production. China
has only small forest resources, but these resources
will be adequate through 1970. Some of the steel
alloying metals, such as nickel, are available only
in very small quantities and must be imported.
47. Automation in the Western sense is very
limited in China’s industry, and no major Chinese
advances in automation are expected by 1970. A
few industrial processes employ highly automated
equipment. For example, such equipment is used
in the production -of electronic tubes and other
electronic components that are of standard design
and are required in volume. In most industries,
however, automation does not exist.
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pproved for Release: 2018/01/30 C00659420_
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