The 863 program (Chinese: 863计划) or State High-Tech Development Plan (Chinese: 国家高技术研究发展计划) was a program funded and administered by the government of the People's Republic of China intended to stimulate the development of advanced technologies in a wide range of fields for the purpose of rendering China independent of financial obligations for foreign technologies. It was inspired by the Strategic Defense Initiative proposed by U.S. president Ronald Reagan in 1983, and was absorbed alongside Program 973 into the "National Key R&D Program" in 2016.
On March 3, 1986, the program was suggested by Wang Daheng, Wang Ganchang, Yang Jiachi, and Chen Fangyun in a letter to China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, who approved the program within 2 days. The program was initially led by Zhao Ziyang, who was the premier of China at the time, and received a governmental fund of 10 billion RMB in 1986, which accounts for 5% of the total government spending that year. According to the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the 863 program "provides funding and guidance for efforts to clandestinely acquire US technology and sensitive economic information."
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