October 11, 2013
The Challenge of China as a Science and Technology Superpower

by Adam Segal

The United States-China science and technology relationship is shaped by a central paradox. Reducing climate change, preventing pandemics, and developing new energy sources are all challenges that require global solutions. Moreover, the science that will be the foundation of any technological fixes is increasingly collaborative, spanning different disciplines, institutions, and geographical locations. At the same time, science and technology are an essential component of national economic competitiveness and military power.

As a result, China and the US are collaborators as well as competitors for talent, new ideas, market share and prestige. Managing this paradox requires the US to maintain scientific strength at home and deepen ties to emerging science powers, while simultaneously pressuring China on its mercantilist technology policies and cyber espionage.

The US is still the world leader in science and technology, but as a new Nesta report and others have noted, Chinese capabilities are developing rapidly. China is on track to pass the US in terms of spending onresearch and development (R&D) in 10 years, and the share of scientific papers published by Chinese scientists in journals included in the prestigious Science Citation Index rose to 9.5% in 2011. China now boasts of a manned space programme and the world's fastest supercomputer, the Tian-he 2.

The Boston Consulting Group has named e-commerce firms Alibaba and Xiaomi Technology, a maker of mobile phone technology, as among the most innovative up-and-coming companies.The widely held view that Beijing is tilting the playing field to the advantage of Chinese companies has greatly compounded the unease in the US about China's rapid rise as a science power. Chinese policymakers are unhappy with the country being factory to the world and want to move from "Made in China" to "Innovated in China."

Over the past five years, China has adopted a range of policies designed to create "indigenous innovation" and reduce dependence on the west for advanced technologies and on the US in particular. These policies include government procurement, competing technology standards, and requiring technology transfer from multinational corporations in return for market access.

In a 2013 survey of American businesses operating in China, conducted by AmCham China, 37% of the respondents believed de facto requirements for technology transfer were increasing, up from 27% in 2012. In addition, China's failure to protect intellectual property rights leads to massive theft and piracy, and in turn improves the short-term competitiveness of Chinese firms.

Add cyber and industrial espionage to the picture and Chinese ambitions in science and technology become even more menacing. Since Google announced that it was attacked by China-based hackers in January 2010, there has been a steady stream of revelations of other attacks on US technology companies, defence contractors, financial institutions, law firms, media companies, think tanks and universities.

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