How China Governs Open Science: Policies, Priorities, and Structural Imbalances

This article investigates the architecture and institutional distribution of policy tools supporting open science (OS) in China. Based on a corpus of 199 policy documents comprising 25,885 policy statements, we apply an AI-assisted classification to analyze how the Chinese government mobilizes different types of tools. Using Qwen-plus, a large language model developed by Alibaba Cloud and fine-tuned for OS-related content, each policy statement is categorized into one of fifteen subcategories under three main types: supply-oriented, environment-oriented, and demand-oriented tools. Our findings reveal a strong dominance of supply-oriented tools (63%), especially investments in infrastructure, education, and public services. Demand-oriented tools remain marginal (11%), with little use of economic incentives or regulatory obligations. Environment-oriented tools show more balance but still underrepresent key components like incentive systems and legal mandates for open access. To deepen the analysis, we introduce a normalized indicator of institutional focus, which captures the relative emphasis of each policy type across administrative levels. Results show that supply-oriented tools are concentrated at top-level institutions, reflecting a top-down governance model. Demand tools are localized at lower levels, highlighting limited strategic commitment. Overall, China’s OS policy mix prioritizes infrastructure over incentives, limiting systemic transformation toward a more sustainable open science ecosystem.