Reference News Network, September 29 report: The Hong Kong South China Morning Post website published an article titled "After 50 Years, Is China Leaving Europe Behind in the Competition for the Future of High Technology?" below is a compilation of the content:

China has now successfully rid itself of dependence on Western technology in many fields, moved upstream in the global value chain, and become an innovative power.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the European Union. Europe is currently on the defensive. Sino-European relations have also been overshadowed by trade frictions.

Observers say that competition in the technology sector will intensify, but it is not necessarily a zero-sum game. Some European companies are planning to maintain their competitiveness by learning from China's technology transfer tactics.

For decades, the relationship between China and Europe has been straightforward: China granted European companies access to the Chinese market in exchange for Western technology.

Initially, most technology transfers were one-way from Europe to China. Ding Chun, Director of the Center for European Studies at Fudan University, said that later, technology transfers began to flow back.

Ding Chun said, "In the past, Europe was the teacher, and China was the student. But now, in many areas, the students have surpassed the teachers, and this shift has caused anxiety in Europe."

In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization, accelerated its opening up to foreign investment, and forced Chinese companies to keep pace. Since then, the situation between China and Europe has begun to change.

Tim Lülling, Senior Analyst at the EU Security Institute, said that European companies seem to have underestimated the innovation capabilities of Chinese companies.

He said, "For a long time, European companies believed that China could only catch up by imitating Western technology. However, today, no one would question China's innovation capabilities. China and Europe now have less complementarity and instead compete in niche markets. This is one of the reasons why Sino-European relations have become more complex."

Lülling said that the technological and innovation ecosystems of Chinese and European companies are deeply intertwined in supply chains, forming complex interdependencies.

Ding Chun said that Europe still leads in many areas, and China has a lot to learn. He said, "China has developed rapidly through learning, digestion, and innovation, while Europe's first-mover advantage in traditional industries has turned into a relative disadvantage."

China is making rapid progress in areas such as artificial intelligence, digital economy, telecommunications, renewable energy, photovoltaics, lithium batteries, electric vehicles, drones, quantum computing, and supercomputers.

Javier Borras Arumi, a researcher at the Barcelona International Research Center, said, "The EU's current attitude toward Chinese technology is mainly defensive; we need to protect ourselves from its impact. This is largely because Europe is under pressure from the United States, which has asked to ban certain Chinese technology products."

Analysts say that to some extent, the problem lies in the failure of European companies and policymakers to realize that China has become an innovative industrial power and to recognize the need to address the challenges it brings.

While Europe has been dragging its feet, China has narrowed the gap between the two sides.

Ding Chun said that future competition will only intensify, and criticizing China's industrial policies will not help Europe progress.

Borras said that there are opportunities for cooperation between China and Europe in green technology, and Europe can learn from Chinese technology companies investing in Europe.

Some European countries have already tried to leverage China's technological expertise. For example, Spain is attracting Chinese investment and wants to learn from leading Chinese companies in the fields of electric vehicles, batteries, and green hydrogen.

Alexander Brown, Senior Analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Germany, said that large European companies in the fields of medical technology, advanced machinery, and pharmaceuticals still have confidence, and they can maintain their advantages by pursuing local strategies and the "running faster" approach—investing in China and using China as a source of innovation.

He said, "But I am not sure whether this strategy will be effective in the medium to long term... When European companies do this, there is inevitably a spillover effect, contributing to China's industrial ecosystem and helping China build its own capabilities. Overall, the EU is open to investment from China, and if this promotes technology transfer beneficial to Europe, it is exactly what the EU hopes to see."

Lülling said that Europe must improve its domestic innovation environment. "The key is not to determine whether (Sino-European) both sides are partners or competitors, but to explore the possibilities of cooperation."

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7555407703229710890/

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