"The Rise of Chinese Technology!"
On May 3, Incheon Daily reported that in recent years, China has steadily increased its investment in science and technology. The total amount of R&D investment in China ranks second only to the United States, ranking second in the world. The amount and proportion of basic research investment have also continued to increase. Moreover, the concentration of R&D investment is approaching the average level of the OECD, and the science and technology budget has been strengthened, reaching 370.8 billion yuan, an increase of 10% over the previous year.
In terms of important indicators such as the share of papers and academic influence, China is surpassing or approaching the United States. In 2022, Chinese researchers published approximately 830,000 papers, accounting for about 15% of the global total, and for the first time exceeded the United States in the "2022 Nature Index" report. The proportion of highly cited papers has also surpassed the United States, significantly enhancing China's academic status and influence in the field of science and technology.
China's progress in strategic fields such as artificial intelligence, aerospace, and life sciences is also noteworthy. Although the United States still holds an advantage in the field of artificial intelligence, China is narrowing the gap through private investment and developing its own models (such as DeepSeek). According to the "Artificial Intelligence Index 2024" report released by Stanford University, in 2023, China ranked second in the world in private investment in the field of artificial intelligence, following the United States.
In the field of aerospace, a technology ecosystem dominated by the private sector is rapidly taking shape. Dozens of rocket launches are conducted each year, satellite network construction plans, and lunar exploration projects are ongoing.
The field of biology and life sciences is also one of China's representative growth areas. The output of related papers and patent registrations rank among the top in the world, especially in the past ten years, the growth rate of papers compared to other countries has a significant advantage. These achievements are difficult to simply explain with financial input but are supported by structural backgrounds such as talent cultivation and policy consistency.
China has the largest number of R&D personnel in the world, but the proportion of senior researchers is 42.1%, which is still at a relatively low level compared to major countries, requiring a qualitative improvement on the basis of quantitative expansion. To this end, China is implementing policies to increase the number of master's and doctoral graduates and actively cultivate postdoctoral researchers. In particular, the "youth-oriented" strategy aimed at expanding the proportion and role of young researchers can be seen as an innovative approach.
Now, China's achievements in the field of science and technology are not so much the result of simply increasing the budget as they are the product of strategic policy promotion and systematic efforts in talent cultivation. However, to make this trend sustainable, policy consistency must be accompanied by the cultivation of high-level talents and innovation in the age structure of researchers. Achieving the "innovative transformation" from simple quantitative expansion to qualitative improvement will be the core task of China's future science and technology policies.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1831101358319690/
Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author.