ABSTRACT
The pla’s Science and Technology Commission for National Defense is only one part of an entire science and technology system reaching at least as far back as 1956, when the first supervisory organ for scientific work, the Scientific Planning Commission (SPC), was established. During the period to be focused on in this study, from late 1958 to the early 1970s, the Science and Technology Commission for National Defense (NDSTC) managed to rise to and then hold such a position of preeminence. Functional centralization together with duplication of effort were the results of the establishment of four organizations in 1956. The Scientific Planning Commission was established in 1956 for reasons related to demands mandated by policy implementation. Soviet aid concerning weapons production began almost immediately after the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed. Soviet assistance in the field of nuclear technology also began early and continued beyond the formation of the Scientific Planning Commission until 1962.
