China is leading but not monopolizing cutting-edge technology
Over the past few decades, China has made great strides in scientific and technological innovation, especially in some cutting-edge technology fields. Although China is leading in these areas, it does not mean that it has a complete monopoly on these technologies. Other countries are still following suit and may catch up with China in the future.
China is a leader in a number of cutting-edge technology fields
According to the latest research report, China is ahead of the United States and other Western countries in 37 cutting-edge scientific and technological research areas, including defense, space, robotics, energy, environment, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, advanced materials, and quantum technology. This achievement is the result of China's long-term emphasis on scientific and technological innovation and its vigorous investment in scientific research.
China is particularly prominent in the field of supercomputers and 5G communication technology. In the field of supercomputers, China's supercomputers "Tianhe-2" and "Sunway Taihu Light" have topped the list of the world's top 500 supercomputers for five consecutive years. The new generation of exascale supercomputer "Tianhe-3" is expected to be successfully developed in 2020, which will further consolidate China's leading position in this field.
In terms of 5G communication technology, Chinese company Huawei is the world's largest communications equipment manufacturer and the global leader in 5G technology. According to reports, Huawei holds the most patents in the field of 5G technology. This gives Huawei an important advantage in 5G infrastructure construction and 5G terminal products.
Technological leadership does not mean monopoly
Although China is a leader in some of the cutting-edge technologies mentioned above, this does not mean that it has a complete monopoly on these technologies. Technological leadership and technology monopoly are two completely different concepts. Just because a country or company is leading in a certain field does not mean that other countries or companies cannot catch up.
Historically, it is not uncommon for China to start out in a number of technological areas, only to be overtaken by other countries. For example, in the 80s of the 20th century, China once led in some consumer electronics fields, but was later overtaken by Japan, South Korea and other countries. Another example is the field of solar cells, China started early, but it has been quickly caught up by other countries. These examples illustrate that even if a country starts out in a technological field, it will eventually struggle to maintain a monopoly without innovation.
Other countries are in hot pursuit
At present, although China is leading the way in the above-mentioned cutting-edge technology fields, other countries have not given up on catching up. Instead, they are ramping up their investment in research in an effort to close the gap with China.
In the United States, for example, the Trump administration has repeatedly stated that it will increase investment in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and 5G to catch up with China. After the Biden administration took office, it also promised to increase investment in scientific and technological innovation, and regarded technological competition as a "new Cold War" with China.
The European Union is also stepping up efforts in scientific and technological innovation. The European Commission proposes that by 2027, the EU's annual investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, blockchain and other fields will increase to 20 billion euros. Germany, France and other major EU economies are also formulating their own scientific and technological development strategies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Although China is currently leading in some cutting-edge technology areas, other countries are not giving up on catching up. On the contrary, they are increasing their investment, and it is likely that in the future China's advantages in these areas will be reduced or even surpassed.