{
  "id": "96-889",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "96-889",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 100613,
      "date": "1997-12-03",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:57:11.024941",
      "title": "China: Commission of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND) and Defense Industries",
      "summary": "Congressional interest in the Chinese military, or People's Liberation Army (PLA), has increased\nas a result of the March 1996 tensions in the Taiwan Strait, continuing allegations of Chinese\nproliferation of technology useful in weapons of mass destruction, and reports that some Chinese\ndefense-related corporations have circumvented U.S. export controls to acquire dual-use technology. \nThe Commission of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND), an\nimportant, high-level PLA organization, plays a role in China's weapon programs, sales of civilian\ngoods, acquisition of military technology, and arms sales and export controls. The purpose of this\nCRS Report is to examine the origins and command, roles, and influence of COSTIND.\n  COSTIND was founded in July 1982 through the consolidation of multiple organizations\nconcerned with weapon programs. COSTIND answers to two superior organizations: the State\nCouncil (the highest governmental organ) and the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the\nChinese Communist Party (the highest command of the military). However, COSTIND belongs to\nthe People's Liberation Army (PLA) organizational system commanded by the CMC. COSTIND's\nnew director is Lieutenant General Cao Gangchuan, who has the bureaucratic rank of a minister.\n  Under COSTIND's centralized coordination, China's military facilities and defense industries\nwere to be made more efficient and effective. COSTIND is in charge of military research and\ndevelopment, testing, and production in the military and in the defense industries. China's defense\nindustries comprise six state-owned sectors: electronics, nuclear, aviation, space/missiles, ordnance,\nand shipbuilding. There are now large state-owned corporations in these defense-industrial sectors,\nand they engage in both military and civilian business.\n  Over time, COSTIND has acquired further -- perhaps, competing -- roles as China's interests\nevolved. In addition to overseeing weapon development and production, COSTIND has also\nfacilitated civilian commercial deals, increased weapon and technology acquisition from foreign\ncountries, promoted foreign arms sales, and taken on export control and nonproliferation roles.\n  COSTIND has exercised considerable influence. Such influence includes political influence\nthrough personal access to top leaders, foreign policy influence through some control over foreign\narms sales, military influence over weapon modernization, and economic influence through\nresponsibility for the defense industries, which are part of the debilitated state-owned sector. \nRecently, however, there has been a debate about whether CONSTIND's influence has weakened\nsince the 1980s. China's economic reforms, leadership changes in COSTIND, and continuing\nsystemic problems in the defense sector may have eroded COSTIND's influence. The future of\nCOSTIND will be tied to whether the current director can resolve the problems in equipping the PLA\nwith modern weapons and continuing to restructure China's immense defense-industrial complex.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/96-889",
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      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}