Abstract:In the 21st century, a new round of world scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation has accelerated. Especially after the international financial crisis, countries have strengthened their scientific and technological strategic layout and R&D investment. The international scientific and technological competition has become increasingly fierce, and science and technology policy has become a key factor determining the success or failure of technological competition. This study analyzes the historical evolution of policy documents such as science and technology planning, strategic guidelines and research reports issued by the U.S. government and the long-term R&D input data of the federal government in the past two decades, with a view to revealing the development and evolution characteristics of the U.S. science and technology policy, and thus providing a certain explanation for the relative decline of the U. S. science and technology leading position. It shows that the relative decline of the United States’ global leadership in science and technology is closely related to the relatively stable development of science and technology policies, the weakening of strategic leadership of major science and technology plans, the year-on-year decline of government R&D investment intensity and the decline of emphasis on frontier basic research. This has important implications for China’s scientific and technological development: scientific and technological development is not only a long-term strategic undertaking, but also a highly competitive undertaking. The improvement of scientific and technological competitiveness is the result of the national long-term scientific and technological strategy-oriented layout, the steady increase in R&D investment intensity and the accumulation of major scientific and technological innovation breakthroughs.