China's Big Science Bet

Summary:

This presentation explores China’s Big Science Bet—Beijing’s ambitious investments in large-scale scientific infrastructure, basic research funding, and frontier initiatives spanning materials science, astrophysics, and nuclear fusion. These long-term efforts aim to build a national scientific enterprise that parallels, yet diverges in critical ways, from the U.S. model. The talk will also examine the strategic and security implications of China’s approach to science and innovation.

Bio: 

James Goodrich is a leading expert on technology, geopolitics, and national security with a focus on China and East Asia. He is a senior advisor for technology analysis to the RAND Corporation and a senior fellow for the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, where he works in various capacities on research regarding China, technology, and national competitiveness. Jimmy was previously the vice president for global policy at the Semiconductor Industry Association, where he led the industry’s supply chain, international trade, export control, global market research, and China efforts. His work at the association included research on Chinese industrial policy and chip industry economics, efforts to secure $52 billion in funding for the CHIPS and Science Act, and navigating complex multinational export control and other national security issues. Jimmy was also the director for China policy at the Information Technology Industry Council in Washington, D.C., and before that, spent seven years in the tech sector in China. Jimmy holds a bachelor’s degree in comparative politics and East Asian studies from Ohio University. He is professionally fluent in Mandarin and is a board member of the American Mandarin Society, which seeks to promote Mandarin language study in the United States.