Striking a balance between science and politics: understanding the risk-based policy-making process during the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic in China

Abstract The outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in China is, essentially, a public health emergency. Therefore, it becomes a critical issue to make policies by using scientific knowledge in a highly uncertain and unpredictable context. The key issue of risk-based decision-making (RBDM) is how to strike a balance between science and politics. After reviewing existing literature and practice, three main approaches to risk-based decision-making (RBDM) can be summarized: politics-based, science-led, and the integration and negotiation of science and politics. On the basis of public reports from current mass media, this article focuses on the time period from the releasing of the first COVID-19 case in Wuhan to the lockdown policy made by Wuhan municipal government, and we divide important stakeholders in early stage into two groups：scientist group and politician group. It finds that the RBDM process of Wuhan municipal government against COVID-19 demonstrated that politics intertwined tightly with science. Its RBDM process could be categorized into three phases: politics-based, science-involved, and science-led. We conclude six main characteristics of RBDM mechanisms in contemporary China. Finally, we argue that Chinese governments should establish institutionalized mechanisms for the negotiation and cooperation of science and politics in its RBDM process like COVID-19 epidemic. Five policy recommendations have been discussed to improve its RBDM quality in China’s context.