Abstract: As an essential instrument of China’s endeavor to build itself into a science and technology powerhouse, the construction and development of national laboratories hold profound strategic significance for achieving high-level technological self-reliance and self-sufficiency. This paper is grounded in an analysis of the trajectory for achieving science and technology power. It articulates a holistic framework of four dimensions for the establishment of national laboratories, spanning top-level design, research management, talent governance, and cooperative innovation. Applying this analytical framework, the study conducts a comparative analysis of national research institutions in the USA and Germany, delineating shared structural features and empirical trajectories in their development. Key findings reveal that the USA and Germany share four core commonalities: a dual-support framework integrating government strategic guidance with legal institutional safeguards, efficient market-driven technology transfer and commercialization mechanisms, adaptable diversified talent incentive schemes, and open innovation ecosystems enabled by effective industry-university-research collaboration. Based on China’s practical needs in national laboratory development, this paper proposes to strengthen integrated top-level design and policy coordination, optimize the technology commercialization pipeline, establish a stratified talent management framework, and deepen synergies across government, industry, academia, research entities, end-users, and regional networks.

Key words: National Laboratory; National Research Institution; Strategy for Building a Science and Technology Powerhouse; Top-level Design; Research Management; Talent Governance; Cooperative Innovation