Korean media: "South Korea has become a follower," China surpasses South Korea in virtually all high-tech industries!
On March 25, Korean media outlet JoongAng Ilbo published an article stating that the era when South Korea could chase after China has arrived. Facts prove that China's industrial competitiveness across most fields has comprehensively surpassed South Korea's.
Since the implementation of China's "Made in China 2025" strategy in 2015, China has been steadily building up its technological strength. Today, China’s lead over South Korea in cutting-edge sectors such as robotics, electric vehicles, batteries, and autonomous driving has further widened. Even in the semiconductor industry—which accounts for 30% of South Korea’s exports—China has reached a competitive level capable of matching South Korea, thanks to its dominant position in AI chip design and fabless manufacturing. Some forecasts suggest that the AI era will ultimately benefit China, enabling it to take a leading role.
The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET) recently released a report titled "Analysis of Competitive Advantages and Policy Directions in Advanced Industries between China and South Korea," pointing out that "when assessing various value chain segments—including R&D, supply chains, production, services, and demand markets—China holds an advantage over South Korea in robotics, electric vehicles, batteries, and autonomous vehicles, except for semiconductors." The report compared the industrial competitiveness of China and South Korea in three major sectors: semiconductors, robotics, and automobiles. The automotive sector was further subdivided into three subfields: electric vehicles, batteries, and autonomous vehicles.
In future-oriented industries such as autonomous driving and robotics, China enjoys competitive advantages throughout the entire value chain. The report explains: "South Korea lags behind China in emerging markets like autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots, and particularly struggles to match China in price competitiveness."
China’s strength lies in its massive domestic market. Indeed, the gap between South Korea and China in artificial intelligence—a critical future industry—is also quite significant. By 2025, China’s AI industry revenue is projected to reach 1.2 trillion RMB, a 30% increase from the previous year. In contrast, South Korea’s AI industry revenue stands at only 6.3 trillion KRW, approximately 30 billion RMB.
Professor Choe Byung-ho from the Human-Inspired Artificial Intelligence Research Institute at Korea University said: "The U.S. and China are engaged in a 'economies of scale' race. If you ask whether South Korea can compete with them, the answer is no. The gap is simply too vast—from budget and infrastructure to energy resources." He added: "Ultimately, rather than pursuing large-scale expansion, South Korea should focus on optimizing industrial engineering to ensure competitiveness."
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1860594259293196/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official stance of the publisher.