us think tank: china's innovation is far more powerful than people think
2024-09-20
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hong kong's south china morning post article on september 19, titled: us study finds china's technological innovation is "far stronger" than previously thought the us conducted a 20-month investigation into the innovation performance of 44 chinese companies in key technology fields such as nuclear power, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and electric vehicles. analysts from the washington think tank information technology and innovation foundation (itif) announced the results at an event on capitol hill on the 18th.
"overall, we find that china's innovation system is not perfect, but much stronger than previously thought," said stephen ezer of itif. the evidence so far suggests that china is not yet leading overall, but "is leading in some areas, and in many other areas, chinese companies are likely to match or even surpass western companies within a decade or so." ezer believes that chinese companies are "best" in nuclear power, electric vehicles and batteries, and says that china's pace of innovation in advanced semiconductors is moderate.
itif's research report shows that china may be 10 to 15 years ahead of the united states in deploying fourth-generation nuclear reactors. by 2030, china's nuclear power generation is expected to surpass that of the united states. in the automotive field, china produced only 5,200 cars in 1985, but it is expected to produce 26.8 million cars this year, which is "amazing." ezer said: "this will account for 21% of the world's share, and it is expected to reach 30% by the end of this decade." currently, china manufactures 62% of the world's electric vehicles and 77% of electric vehicle batteries.
in the biopharmaceutical sector, the survey found that while china still lags behind the united states and western leaders, it is catching up quickly. from 2002 to 2019, china's share of the global biopharmaceutical industry's added value quadrupled to nearly 25%.
in the field of robotics, ezer said: "chinese companies themselves are not yet as innovative as their counterparts in the united states, south korea or japan." but the number of industrial robots put into use in china last year exceeded the total of the rest of the world, "which means that they will see the role of robots and automation in promoting other parts of the manufacturing economy."
as for semiconductors, china lags about 2 to 5 years behind the world leaders, and the latest advanced chips made by huawei are only 3 years behind the world leaders. huawei was hit with severe us sanctions in 2020, which cut off its access to key chip supplies. but last year, huawei surprised washington by launching a new smartphone using domestically produced advanced semiconductors. rick switzer, who was in charge of science and technology policy at the us state department, warned that china is catching up with traditional chips used to make everything from washing machines and refrigerators to defense systems.
the itif report dispels some misconceptions that chinese innovation depends on stealing technology from the west. switzer quoted executives from auto giant ford as saying that they found that chinese electric vehicles were not only cheaper but also "more innovative." china "has always been innovating. they didn't steal it. in fact, they did it the hard way." switzer pointed out that american researchers and institutions have jointly published more papers with chinese researchers and institutions than with any other country.
emily king of datanna, a data intelligence company based in the netherlands, warned that china is "rapidly advancing and even leading in multiple cutting-edge fields, converting its technological leadership into economic growth and geopolitical power." china's industrial policies and technological upgrading routes have received almost unanimous enthusiastic support (domestic), which is unmatched by the united states. (author kushbu razdani, translated by qiao heng)▲
