By: Contribution for Syrializm
Perhaps the question should be… Why does the World intimidated by China?
To answer the question, we must study China by numbers, and away from the historical narrative of how China reached this economic and military status, and how it came to possess so many soft and hard powers, which is enough to achieve Beijing’s interests in almost all areas.
This is being done without moving a single soldier or imposing sanctions, at least as we are accustomed to seeing countries such as the United States do repeatedly.
China ranks first globally in many sectors, and since we are talking about technology, we must say: since human civilization began in areas such as agriculture, China excels in this field, as well as in the technical field.
In the agricultural and food sector, China ranks first globally in producing a variety of vegetables and fruits, such as apples, carrots, broccoli, eggplant, tomatoes, walnuts and pistachios, garlic and onions, honey, mushrooms, rice, wheat, as well as silk, tea, and many other agricultural products.
It is also the world leader in terms of fishery and livestock, such as sheep, horses, and donkeys.
These are just a brief overview and some useful information before we delve into the topic of China’s technological advancement.
China initially seeks to succeed in technological superiority over the West, which is a strategic priority for China and is not subject to compromise under any circumstances.
In 2016, China formulated a special strategy aimed at leading in technology, which it called “Innovation-driven development”.
This ambitious plan aims to make China one of the world’s leading countries in technology and modern technologies by 2035, and to become a great scientific power by 2050.
Therefore, China is striving towards continuous work to achieve this goal.
Currently, China ranks first globally in the number of patents, which had reached 700K registered patents by 2023.
This step is in line with its strategy based on “Innovation-driven development”, which will contribute 13.6% of China’s total GDP.
In the Global Innovation Index ranking for 2022, China ranked tenth.
A study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) found that China currently leads in 37 out of 44 technology fields, with a sharp decline in Western countries’ technological superiority, especially in modern technologies.
Additionally, Western countries have fallen behind in the rankings of research competitiveness.
The ASPI report states that China is rapidly becoming the world’s largest technological power, with almost complete dominance in most of the key sectors in this field, including defense and space technologies, robots, traditional and renewable energy technologies, environment, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, advanced materials, and quantum technology.
The study included China’s dominance in battery and hypersonic technology, communications and communication services, and full dominance in the development and management of fifth and sixth-generation networks.
According to the study, the top 10 institutions and companies are mostly located in China.
Additionally, China regularly publishes very important and highly impactful research, exceeding what published in the United States by nine times.
With China’s superiority in the field of electronic chips and semiconductors, it has put itself in a position that allows it to be almost entirely self-sufficient in the technological manufacturing sectors.
Huawei, the most important Chinese technology and telecommunications company, amidst the war that the United States waged against it in the past few years, has been able to find local Chinese alternatives for more than 13,000 technicians and electronics that it deprived of due to the US sanctions imposed on it.
It has also redesigned more than 4,000 of its products’ electronic boards and circuits completely abandon components that China used to obtain from other countries.
In conclusion, China will surpass the United States and the West technologically because research and development are the basis of technological superiority.
Therefore, China is spending around $500 billion on research and development and currently ranks second after the United States.
It is worth noting that only ten countries in the world account for 80% of total spending on technological research and development.
The United States comes in first place, followed by China, Japan, Germany, South Korea, France, India, Britain, Russia, and Brazil.
The fear of the United States regarding China’s rise is justified and supported by data, as announced by the administration of US President Joe Biden, stating that China is currently in fierce competition with the United States and is coming with great strength and China’s advance to the top global super power is only a matter of time.
