In the late-1990s, there was a massive reorganization of the Chinese defense industry. The main focus of this reorganization was to separate the purchasing of weaponry which became the responsibility of the General Armaments Division of the People's Liberation Army, the production and development of weaponry which became the responsibility of several different enterprises such as China Northern Industries and China Southern Industries which were state-owned but not under direct state management, and the development of policy for these industries which became the responsibility of COSTIND. Because of the massive change in COSTIND, many analysts referred to the new COSTIND and the old COSTIND.
COSTIND played an important role in the space program of China as one of its subagencies the China National Space Administration is responsible for Chinese space policy. COSTIND administered the China Engineering and Technology Information Network (CETIN), which has been described as a "one-stop shop for foreign military technology information."[4] French journalist Roger Faligot described COSTIND as an "intelligence vacuum cleaner" for collecting foreign scientific, technological, and industrial information.[5]
^"China's National Defense in 2008". State Council of the People's Republic of China. Archived from the original on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012. According to the Plan for Restructuring the State Council passed by the First Session of the Eleventh National People's Congress in 2008, the Science, Technology and Industry Commission for National Defense of the People's Republic of China has been superseded by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.
^陈求发任辽宁省代省长 [Chen Qiufa appointed acting governor of Liaoning]. People's Daily (in Chinese). 8 May 2015.
