China is nowhere near reaching the technological frontier. In fact, the distance that separates it from that border is much greater than most people believe.
They believe that the capacity of the Chinese State is allowing the country, through top-down industrial policies, to remain virtually on par with Europe and the United States. Harvard economics professor and former US Treasury secretary. Larry Summers, for example, said last March at a conference in Beijing that it is a “historic wonder” that China, where per capita income is only 22% of the United States, could be home to cutting-edge technology and giants Technological of the world. The United States Trade Representative, in a report, presented the Made in China plan 2025 – a map of actions that was drawn up in 2015 with the purpose of improving China’s manufacturing capacity – as proof that the country is attempting to displace the United States in high-tech industries that are considered strategic, such as robotics
In addition, the USTR report states that China has nonchalantly played its own game and violated the current world rules in order to achieve its objectives. In fact, many Westerners warn that China is planning to use its technology-based power to impose a completely new set of rules, which are inconsistent with those rules whose compliance has been demanding, for some time, the West.
This is a serious misrepresentation. While it is true that digital technologies are transforming China’s economy, this reflects the implementation of mobile Internet-enabled business models rather than the development of cutting-edge technologies, and affects consumption patterns rather than, for example, the making. This type of transformation is not exclusive to China, although it is happening particularly quickly there, thanks to a huge consumer market and weak financial regulation.
Furthermore, it is not so obvious that these changes have something to do with the Government’s industrial policies. On the contrary, the growth of China’s Internet economy has been largely driven by the entrepreneurial spirit of privately owned companies, such as Alibaba and Tencent.
Contrary to popular belief, these policies do little more than help reduce the cost of entering companies and improve competition. In fact, such policies encourage excessive income, and the resulting competition and lack of protection for existing companies have been constantly criticized in China. Therefore, if China depends on effective industrial policies, they would not create much injustice in terms of global rules.
That said, what are the real technological prospects of China? The Chinese undoubtedly learn fast. Over the past 30 years, Chinese manufacturers have proven to be experts in seizing opportunities to mimic, adapt and disseminate new technologies.
But technological advances in the Chinese business sector come at the bottom of the smiling value-added curve, and the owners of the fundamental technology have extracted most of the added value of Chinese manufacturing. For example, in Danyang, a county in Jiangsu Province that is an optical lens production center for global markets, manufacturers have the ability to produce the most sophisticated models. However, they lack the fundamental software to produce, for example, progressive lenses, which is why they must pay a fixed royalty to an American company for each progressive lens they manufacture. Similarly, Chinese car manufacturers still import their assembly lines from developed countries.
Clearly, there is a big difference between applying digital technologies to consumer-oriented business models and becoming a world leader in the development and production of hard technology. This latter objective will require a sustained investment of time, human capital and financial resources in sectors with long basic R&D cycles (such as pharmaceutical products).
Given this, China is probably 15 or 20 years away before it can match the R&D contribution of, say, Japan or South Korea, and when it comes to production – the most important factor – this Country is much further behind.
At this point, universities have a fundamental role to play, not only training new scientific and technological talents, but also conducting basic research. This means going beyond the focus of increasing the number of students and placing greater emphasis on the quality of education.
None of this can happen overnight. In fact, just as China learned from the failure of the Great Leap Forward in the 1950s, a true economic transformation cannot – and therefore should not – be rushed.
source https://drlinex.com/2020/01/25/the-truth-about-technology-in-china/
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