Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This chapter focuses on the first question that motivates this book: how did CCP elites first become interested in S&T? The chapter begins by documenting how the intensification of imperialism in the nineteenth century exposed China to the foundational concepts of the emerging S&T policy paradigm, provoking a range of reactions within the country. The chapter then focuses on how the (CCP) participated in this historical process after the party was founded in 1921. It highlights how CCP leaders alternated between attempting to adapt the paradigm and resisting it in favor of an indigenous alternative focused on knowledge acquired through “practice.” In the end, CCP elites chose to adapt a state-led variant of the S&T policy paradigm after taking power in 1949, and with Soviet support, they applied this paradigm in constructing a national S&T system. The new party-state established an institutional framework to support S&T development, fostered the development of human capital in science and engineering fields, and invested in developing a domestic S&T system, including China’s first plan for S&T development.</jats:p>