German institutions have analyzed China's 14th Five-Year Plan, drawing a conclusion that China has begun to fully challenge American advantages in all fields, and Europe has completely fallen behind.
Recently, the German patent institution econsight analyzed China's 14th Five-Year Plan. Its approach was the number of patent applications. According to statistics, the patent situation among China, the United States, and Europe presents an interesting pattern.
We know that patents are divided into invention patents, utility model patents, and design patents. The most technologically advanced is certainly the invention patent. To obtain an invention patent in cutting-edge areas, sufficient scientific research capabilities and genuine scientific achievements are required. The 23 major areas discussed by Europe are basically all cutting-edge sciences. China's leading position on this list is quite persuasive.
【China and the United States have their own strengths in different fields, and overall, they are evenly matched】
Let's look at the areas where the difference in patents is the greatest.
The area where China leads the most is not high-speed rail or new energy vehicles, but controlled nuclear fusion, followed by artificial intelligence and big data. Finally, numerical control machine tools and smart factories. This fully reflects China's focus as a manufacturing power.
Today's thermal power plants, hydroelectric power stations, and other new clean energy sources are developing rapidly, but from the perspective of energy density, only controlled nuclear fusion can meet the massive electricity consumption needed for a fully modernized life for 1.4 billion people. The remaining four areas are almost entirely for manufacturing and modern social governance, with broader short-term application prospects. This economic model is not strong in the United States, so it is relatively backward, and Europe is completely left behind.
In the field of space navigation and satellite technology, an interesting situation has emerged, with the number of patents between China and the United States being almost the same, side by side. Europe cannot catch up. This reflects the equal emphasis and investment of China and the United States on commercial space exploration.
The areas where the United States leads the most are gene editing, which leaves China and Europe far behind. Followed by biotechnology and brain interaction, as well as digital medical technology, cloud technology, and quantum computing, which also lead far ahead. This reflects the high-end and specialized characteristics of American scientific development.
These fields involve great risks, and the paths need to be explored, requiring large-scale investment of human and material resources to seek breakthroughs. China had a weak foundation early on, and only became relatively wealthy in recent years. The science and technology industry has not yet entered a phase dominated by exploration, so being behind is reasonable. This is entirely determined by different national conditions.
（Who would have thought that five years ago, the United States was still far ahead and alone in the world）
However, it should be noted that leading in patents does not necessarily mean leading in industries. For example, in the electric vehicle field, the number of patents between China and the United States is not very different, but the scale and competitive situation of the two countries' industries are quite different.
In the United States, there is currently only one electric vehicle brand with competitiveness, which is Tesla. As for Chinese electric vehicle brands and production, there is no need to elaborate; we can see them on the streets. In the field of solid-state batteries, China's patents are only slightly ahead of the United States, but the overall industrial scale has a crushing advantage.
In the field of hydrogen production and storage, China's patent count is significantly higher than that of the United States, but the scale of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles has been relatively limited. This is directly related to the competition among various new energy technologies and the demand for infrastructure investment. Such technologies currently have limited impact on China's strength improvement, and are considered paper data.
In the areas where the United States has the largest lead, science and technology have not yet been fully converted into productivity. For example, in the field of biotechnology, the United States has several times more patents than China, but such patent leadership has not translated into real leadership in agriculture, medicine, or environmental protection. The GDP is now lower than China's.
（China's AI technology is close to that of the United States）
The reason why the United States has an advantage in these fields is mainly because it started earlier, has a deeper foundation, and invested more. In addition, a considerable portion of the researchers engaged in scientific research in these fields are Chinese. A significant number of scholars from mainland China have gone to the United States for study and settled there.
If China carries out long-term and active investment, it is not impossible to catch up with the United States or even gain an advantage. After all, we have such a large population base, and our current investment in scientific research is already approaching that of the United States.
Among the statistics, the most disappointed should be Europe. No matter which field, Europe is far behind China and the United States. Only in biotechnology, it is slightly ahead of China. This sad situation is due to multiple factors.
After World War II, a large number of European scientists left their homes, which were hard to live in, and went to the United States to make a living, taking the smartest brains and best research traditions of Europe to the other side of the Atlantic.
After the end of World War II, European countries tried many times to unite and launch "big science" (large-scale basic scientific research projects involving multiple disciplines, which require huge investments to start), but due to cultural, linguistic, policy, and interest reasons, such cooperation has achieved little.
Modern "big science" research often requires very strong financial investment and government support. Many scientific facilities construction is beyond the capacity of small countries. Therefore, under the structure of small countries and small governments, Europe can only watch its brightest talents go to China and the United States, while its own country remains inactive in frontier science fields.
（The technological competition between China and the United States will shape the future of humanity）
The era continues to move forward, and the technological competition between China and the United States is ongoing.
If China can maintain its current momentum, then by the time the 14th Five-Year Plan ends, it is believed that China will not only expand its existing advantages, but also catch up with the United States in more areas, becoming a first-rate scientific power in the world in all aspects.
The modernization of science and technology in the Four Modernizations will also be truly realized.
Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7566504193356317184/
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