Summary of "Opinions on Strengthening Ethical Governance of Science and Technology"

2022-03-20 19:05 Source: Xinhua News Agency

Science and technology ethics are the values and behavioral norms that need to be followed in carrying out scientific research, technological development, and other scientific and technological activities, and are important guarantees for promoting the healthy development of science and technology.

Clarify the ethical principles of technology

（1） Enhancing human well-being. Science and technology activities should adhere to the development concept of putting the people at the center, which is conducive to promoting economic development, social progress, improving people's livelihoods, and protecting the ecological environment, continuously enhancing people's sense of gain, happiness, and security, and promoting peaceful and sustainable development of human society.

（2） Respect the right to life. Science and technology activities should minimize harm or potential threats to human life safety, physical health, mental and psychological health, respect personal dignity and privacy, and safeguard the right to know and choose of participants in science and technology activities. The use of experimental animals should meet the requirements of "reduction, substitution, and optimization".

（3） Adhere to fairness and justice. Science and technology activities should respect differences in religious beliefs, cultural traditions, and other aspects, treat different social groups fairly, fairly, and inclusively, and prevent discrimination and prejudice.

（4） Reasonably control risks. Science and technology activities should objectively evaluate and prudently deal with uncertainty and the risks of technology application, strive to avoid and prevent potential risks, prevent the misuse and abuse of scientific and technological achievements, and avoid endangering social security, public safety, biological safety, and ecological safety.

（5） Maintain openness and transparency. Science and technology activities should encourage the reasonable participation of stakeholders and the public, and establish a disclosure mechanism for science and technology activities that involve significant and sensitive ethical issues. When publishing information related to scientific and technological activities, transparency should be improved to achieve objectivity and truthfulness.

Strengthen the institutional guarantee of scientific and technological ethics governance

（1） Develop and improve ethical norms and standards for science and technology. Develop ethical standards and guidelines for science and technology in key areas such as life sciences, medicine, and artificial intelligence, improve relevant standards for scientific and technological ethics, clarify ethical requirements for science and technology, and guide scientific and technological institutions and personnel to carry out scientific and technological activities in compliance.

（2） Establish a system for ethical review and supervision of technology. Clarify the responsibilities of technology ethics review and supervision, and improve the rules and procedures for technology ethics review, risk management, and violation handling. Establish and improve the establishment standards, operating mechanisms, registration systems, regulatory systems, etc. of the Science and Technology Ethics (Review) Committee, and explore the certification mechanism of the Science and Technology Ethics (Review) Committee.

（3） Improve the level of legalization of scientific and technological ethical governance. Promote clear regulations on governance work such as technology ethics supervision and violation investigation in basic legislation for technological innovation, and implement technology ethics requirements in other relevant legislation. During the 14th Five Year Plan period, we will focus on strengthening research on technological ethics legislation in fields such as life sciences, medicine, and artificial intelligence, and promptly promote the upgrading of important technological ethics norms into national laws and regulations. If there are clear provisions in the law, we must adhere to strict law enforcement and punish those who violate the law.

（4） Strengthen research on the theory of technological ethics. Support relevant institutions, think tanks, social organizations, and scientific and technological personnel in exploring scientific and technological ethics theories, strengthen forward-looking research on ethical issues in scientific and technological innovation, and actively promote and participate in major international scientific and technological ethics discussions and rulemaking.

Strengthen ethical review and supervision of technology

（1） Strict ethical review of technology. Conducting scientific and technological activities should undergo a risk assessment or review of scientific and technological ethics. Science and technology activities involving humans and experimental animals should be reviewed and approved by the Science and Technology Ethics (Review) Committee of their own unit in accordance with regulations. Units that do not meet the conditions for establishing a Science and Technology Ethics (Review) Committee should entrust other units to conduct the review. The Science and Technology Ethics (Review) Committee should adhere to the principles of science, independence, impartiality, and transparency, carry out scientific and technological ethics review, supervision, and guidance on scientific and technological activities, and effectively control scientific and technological ethics. Explore the establishment of professional and regional technology ethics review centers. Gradually establish a mechanism for mutual recognition of scientific and technological ethics review results.

Establish and improve the technology ethics emergency review mechanism in emergency situations such as public health emergencies, improve the procedures and rules of emergency review, and achieve rapid response.

（2） Strengthen ethical supervision of technology. Local and relevant industry authorities should refine and improve the regulatory framework and institutional norms for technology ethics in their respective regions and systems, strengthen the supervision and management of technology ethics (review) committees and high-risk technology activities in various units, establish an expert review mechanism for ethical review results of high-risk technology activities in technology ethics, organize investigations and handling of major technology ethics cases, and use typical cases to strengthen warning education. Units engaged in scientific and technological activities should establish and improve a comprehensive regulatory mechanism for scientific and technological ethics throughout the entire process, as well as a review, quality control, supervision and evaluation mechanism. They should strengthen the dynamic tracking, risk assessment, and emergency response of high-risk scientific and technological activities related to scientific and technological ethics. The National Science and Technology Ethics Committee has developed a list of high-risk scientific and technological activities related to science and technology ethics. High risk scientific and technological ethics activities should be registered in accordance with regulations.

The science and technology plans (special projects, funds, etc.) established with financial funds should strengthen the supervision of science and technology ethics, covering all aspects of guideline preparation, approval and project initiation, process management, final acceptance, supervision and evaluation.

Strengthen the review and supervision of scientific and technological ethics in international cooperative research activities. International cooperative research activities should comply with the scientific and technological ethics management requirements of the countries where the cooperating parties are located, and pass the scientific and technological ethics review of the countries where the cooperating parties are located. For international cooperative research activities with high risks of technological ethics, local and relevant industry regulatory departments shall organize experts to review the results of technological ethics review.

（3） Monitoring and warning of ethical risks in technology. Relevant departments should promote universities, research institutions, medical and health institutions, social organizations, enterprises, etc. to improve the monitoring and warning mechanism for scientific and technological ethical risks, track the cutting-edge developments of emerging technologies, strengthen the analysis and judgment of possible rule conflicts, social risks, and ethical challenges brought about by scientific and technological innovation, and propose countermeasures.

No unit, organization, or individual shall engage in scientific and technological activities that endanger social security, public safety, biological safety, and ecological safety, infringe upon human life safety, physical and mental health, and personal dignity, infringe upon the right to know and choose of participants in scientific and technological activities, or fund scientific and technological activities that violate ethical requirements of science and technology. The relevant industry regulatory authorities, funding institutions, or the units where the responsible persons are located should distinguish different situations, and order the responsible persons for scientific and technological ethics violations to correct according to law and regulations, stop relevant scientific and technological activities, recover funding, revoke awards and honors obtained, cancel relevant professional qualifications, and prohibit them from undertaking or participating in scientific and technological activities supported by financial funds within a certain period of time. Those responsible for violations of scientific and technological ethics who belong to public officials shall be punished in accordance with the law and regulations, while those who belong to party members shall be punished in accordance with the rules and regulations; Those suspected of committing crimes shall be punished in accordance with the law.

Deepen education and promotion of scientific and technological ethics

（1） Emphasize the education of technological ethics. Make science and technology ethics education an important part of undergraduate and graduate education in related professional disciplines, encourage higher education institutions to offer courses related to science and technology ethics education, and educate young students to establish correct awareness of science and technology ethics and comply with the requirements of science and technology ethics. Improve the mechanism for cultivating scientific and technological ethics talents, and accelerate the cultivation of a high-quality and specialized team of scientific and technological ethics talents.

（2） Promote the institutionalization of technology ethics training. Incorporate technology ethics training into activities such as onboarding training for technology personnel, undertaking scientific research tasks, and academic exchanges and discussions, guiding technology personnel to consciously comply with technology ethics requirements and carry out responsible research and innovation. Industry regulatory departments, local governments, and relevant units should regularly provide training to members of the Science and Technology Ethics (Review) Committee to enhance their ability to perform their duties and improve the quality and efficiency of science and technology ethics review.