Science and technology are the primary productive forces, and everyone believes that a consensus has been reached on this estimate.
The reason why the United States is so strong, the United States once bragged, is because in the past 100 years, almost all scientific and technological innovation has been led by the United States, so the United States can attract the world's top talents and create the world's most wealth.
Attracted by wealth, there is a continuous stream of talents from all over the world coming to the United States to provide strength for American scientific and technological innovation.
However, in recent years, global science and technology have been advancing, and the technology industries of China, the European Union, Japan, and South Korea have also been rising, narrowing the gap with the United States, and even surpassing the United States in some fields.
For example, China's new energy vehicle industry, 5G communication technology, high-speed rail, screens, etc., have surpassed the United States in an all-round way. The European Union's lithography machine technology, Japan's semiconductor material technology, South Korea's memory chip technology, and so on.
However, it is undeniable that if we look at the comprehensive level of science and technology, the United States is still the best in the world.
Recently, the ROK Ministry of Science and Technology released a report on how many years the gap between the five major economies of the United States, the European Union, Japan, China, and the Republic of Korea is in terms of science and technology.
As shown in the chart below, this is the score and ranking of 136 key technologies in 11 science and technology fields by the Ministry of Science and Technology of South Korea, as well as the comparison between 2020 and 2022.
It can be seen that if the technical level of the United States is set at 100 points, then in 2022, the European Union will have 94.7 points, Japan will have 86.4 points, China will have 82.6 points, and South Korea will have 81.5 points.
In terms of lagging behind, South Korea believes that if the United States is used as the baseline, then the EU is 0.9 years behind, Japan is 2.2 years behind, China is 3 years behind, and South Korea is 3.2 years behind.
Compared with 2020, the gap between the EU and Japan is widening, and the gap between China, South Korea and the United States is narrowing, especially China, which is 3.3 years behind in 2020 to 3 years behind in 2022.
South Korea, which has always been narcissistic and thinks it is invincible in the world, already thinks that China has surpassed itself in science and technology and is still the fastest growing, which shows that China's science and technology industry has indeed risen strongly.
Of course, whether we are 3 years behind the United States, it's hard to say, it's a matter of opinion, but compared with the United States, there must still be a gap, but this gap is constantly narrowing, which is also recognized globally, what do you think?