Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense

For the current agency, see State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

The Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND; 国防科学技术工业委员会) was a civilian commission within the State Council of the People's Republic of China, responsible for setting policy for defense procurement. It was considered as the Chinese counterpart of DARPA of the US. The ministry was formed in 1982 to centralize Chinese defense procurement and technology whose responsibility had been distributed among several agencies. In March 2008, COSTIND was merged into a new ministry called the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and renamed as the State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND).^[1] The final-term COSTIND deputy director, Chen Qiufa, was named as the head of SASTIND.^[2]

History

In the late-1990s, there was a massive reorganization of the Chinese defense industry. The main focus of this reorganization was to separate the purchasing of weaponry which became the responsibility of the General Armaments Division of the People's Liberation Army, the production and development of weaponry which became the responsibility of several different enterprises such as China Northern Industries and China Southern Industries which were state-owned but not under direct state management, and the development of policy for these industries which became the responsibility of COSTIND. Because of the massive change in COSTIND, many analysts referred to the new COSTIND and the old COSTIND.

COSTIND played an important role in the space program of China as one of its subagencies the China National Space Administration is responsible for Chinese space policy. COSTIND administered the China Engineering and Technology Information Network (CETIN), which has been described as a "one-stop shop for foreign military technology information."^[3] French journalist Roger Faligot described COSTIND as an "intelligence vacuum cleaner" for collecting foreign scientific, technological, and industrial information.^[4]

According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the China Atomic Energy Authority was part of COSTIND.^[5]

Universities administered by COSTIND

• Beijing Institute of Technology
• Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Harbin Engineering University
• Harbin Institute of Technology
• Northwestern Polytechnical University
• Nanjing Aeronautics and Astronautics University
• Nanjing University of Science and Technology

Enterprises administered by COSTIND

• China Aviation Industry Corporation I
• China Aviation Industry Corporation II
• China North Industries Group Corporation
• China South Industries Group Corporation
• China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation
• China State Shipbuilding Corporation
• China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
• China Aerospace Machinery and Electronics Corporation
• China National Nuclear Corporation
• China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Group

List of chairmen

1. Chen Bin (陈彬)
2. Ding Henggao (丁衡高)
3. Cao Gangchuan: 1996–1998
4. Liu Jibin (刘积斌): 1998–2003
5. Zhang Yunchuan: 2003–2007
6. Zhang Qingwei: 2007–2008

See also

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian counterpart