‘Wake-up call’: China takes stunning lead in race for tech domination
China is pulling ahead in the race for global technological dominance far quicker than previously thought, positioning the authoritarian state to become the world’s undisputed science and technology superpower and gain a stranglehold over crucial supply chains.
A first-of-its-kind report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute finds China has established a sometimes “stunning” lead over the United States in high-impact research across domains including defence, space, robotics, energy, the environment, biotechnology and artificial intelligence.
China is the global leader in 37 of the 44 technologies tracked by the think tank, including advanced explosives, biological manufacturing, drone technology and critical minerals processing.
It is home to the world’s top-10 research institutions for some technologies and often produces five times as much high-impact research as its closest competitor.
The report’s authors argue their findings should be a “wake-up call” for democratic nations to dramatically increase their investment in research and development if they want to have any hope of catching up to China.
The report finds there is a “high risk” of China developing a monopoly over eight crucial technologies including electric batteries, synthetic biology and advanced radiofrequency communications, including 5G and 6G networks.
The report challenges the claim, often made by US politicians, that China’s technological advances are driven mostly by the theft of American intellectual property.
For example, China generated 49 per cent of high-impact research papers into advanced aircraft engines – including hypersonics – over the past five years and is home to seven of the world’s top-10 research institutions in this topic.
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