China surpassing US in key innovation metric and evolving from ‘imitator’, Washington report says

[beijingwalker]

China surpassing US in key innovation metric and evolving from ‘imitator’, Washington report says​

• Global market share of American firms and its allies at risk ‘in most high-value-added, advanced industries’ vital to national prosperity and security
• Think tank study finds China’s innovation in 2020 was 139 per cent of its US equivalent, up from 78 per cent in 2010

Published: 6:50am, 24 Jan, 2023

A robot makes coffee at a hi-tech fair in Shenzhen, China. The report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation looked at 22 innovation-related indicators. Photo: Xinhua

China has often been dismissed by industrialised nations as a country that is adept at copying but weak at creating, crippled by a memorisation-based education system, excessive respect for authority and a tendency to steal intellectual property. But a study released on Monday finds that China has surpassed the US in one key measure of innovation and is making major strides in another.

The report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a non-partisan Washington-based think tank focused on US science and technology policy, found that China’s innovation in 2020 was 139 per cent of its US equivalent, up from 78 per cent in 2010.

And based on another metric accounting for the comparative size of their economies and populations, China’s innovation output was three-quarters of US levels, up from 58 per cent in 2010.

“China is evolving from an imitator to an innovator, following a path blazed by its Asian Tiger neighbours – but at a much larger scale, with far greater geopolitical consequences,” said Robert Atkinson, the foundation’s president, who co-authored the report along with research assistant Ian Clay.

China has already displayed great potential for global leadership in several key areas, including supercomputers, space exploration, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and high-speed rail.

“Its innovation capabilities now threaten the global market share of firms from the United States and allied nations in most high-value-added, advanced industries that are important to US prosperity and security,” Atkinson added.

History abounds with developing countries hitting a roadblock, sometimes dubbed the “middle-income trap”, in their bid to join the world’s wealthiest and most technologically advanced economies.
If China with its vast size and population can join that elite club, it would upend global geopolitics, supply chains and power balances for decades, according to the report, titled “Wake Up, America: China Is Overtaking the United States in Innovation Capacity”.

The cost for the US or other advanced nations that lose their hi-tech competitive edge is significantly more consequential than losing ground in low-skill industries given the loss of good-paying jobs, the national security risks and how difficult it is to regain ground after falling behind. Making a single dynamic random access memory semiconductor, for instance, entails more than 1,000 steps.

China accelerated its innovation push under President Xi Jinping, crystallised with the 2015 release of its “Made in China 2025” report. While a blueprint for national advancement is laudable, the foundation said, China’s protectionist and “filching” policies, forced technology transfers, import barriers and subsidised national champion and state-owned companies were less so.

However, the analysis focuses on the 2010-2020 period and does not reflect programmes, funding and initiatives put in place by the administration of President Joe Biden, including the Chips and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

“We have already targeted spending on boosting education and workforce, things that China has been spending on that led to these trends,” said Kellee Wicker, director of the Wilson Centre’s science and technology innovation programme. “So I wouldn’t pick up sticks and move to a different country just yet.”

“They’re saying they’re kind of eating our lunch,” Wicker added of the report. “But that’s only a current trend, and we’re in the middle of taking a brand new tack toward really boosting the stuff they’re talking about.”
Another challenge involving China, analysts said, is that its politics often drive tech policy, and Beijing can be adept at hiding weaknesses and avoiding transparency. This makes it difficult to assess how far ahead or behind the US is in various key areas relative to China. In addition, high youth unemployment rates and Covid-related disruptions have jolted Chinese companies and universities, as they have in the US.

“The US also needs to prioritise thinking through its own technology policies, both from an investment standpoint at home and making sure that we do stay ahead,” said Alexandra Seymour, a technology and national security analyst at the Centre for a New American Security and former Defence Department official.

“I don’t think we’ve suffered from complacency, but we have had an awakening that this is something we need to prioritise.”

Western leaders and technology experts have a long history of underestimating China. Kings College London professor Kerry Brown wrote in The Diplomat in 2014 that Beijing could pour all the money it wanted into R&D parks and churn out legions of engineers, but would stumble in creating globally innovative companies. “The system that China currently has still rewards conformity,” he wrote.

And former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina said: “Although the Chinese are a gifted people, innovation and entrepreneurship are not their strong suits. Their society, as well as their education system, is too homogenised and controlled to encourage imagination and risk-taking.”

Measuring innovation is an inexact science, and China – like Japan and Taiwan before it – has been accused of filing massive numbers of patents for bragging rights and to make it more difficult for foreign competitors to develop or implement their own inventions, utility models or designs.

The foundation examined 22 innovation-related indicators between 2010 and 2020, including venture capital, patents and the amount of value added in advanced industries. It concluded China was making significant gains by almost every indicator.

China’s strongest inroads came in the number and quality of science and engineering articles, the number of patents worldwide related to a particular innovation – known as an international patent family – and the fees it received for its patents and other advances.

By 2020, China tallied more international patent families than the US and published more scientific articles in all fields surveyed, other than in geology, atmospheric and oceanic sciences.

China accounted for 39.6 per cent of the 1.7 million patents granted globally in 2021, the World Economic Forum reported in December, followed by North America with 19.9 per cent and Europe with 11.8 per cent.
But the picture is mixed. China’s research was less influential than American research in every field other than mathematics and statistics, the report said. It has also been weaker than the US in translating innovation to high R&D industries and hi-tech exports.

The report further identified several social trends creating headwinds for China, such as its middle-income status, rapidly ageing population and declining economic productivity.

“I’m still not sold that we’re in these dire straits,” said Wicker, referring to the situation facing the US. “But I do think that, even if we’re not in these dire straits yet, the trends are clear. We should take it seriously.”

China beating US in key innovation metric, evolving from ‘imitator’: report

Global market share of America’s firms and its allies at risk ‘in most high-value-added, advanced industries’ vital to prosperity and security.

www.scmp.com

 

[beijingwalker]

ITIF Report: The U.S. Underestimates China as an ‘Imitator’ Rather Than an Innovator at Its Own Peril​

Published January 26, 2023 8:00am EST

“[I}nnovation output indicators show the greatest amount of progress for Chinese innovation relative to the United States… As of 2020, Chinese entities were receiving nearly five times the number of international patent families as U.S. entities.”

On January 23, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) published a report entitled Wake Up, America: China is Overtaking the United States in Innovation Output, which applies innovation and industrial performance metrics for comparing relative innovation outputs from foreign technological rivals China and the United States. The report, produced by ITIF’s Hamilton Center on Industrial Strategy, is the latest indicator that China is close to surpassing the United States in terms of innovation output per capita and calls upon U.S. policymakers to develop a national economic and technology policy to restore U.S. dominance in innovation.

Despite the country’s longstanding and well-earned reputation as a major source of piracy and IP infringement, China has made great strides in encouraging patent application filing activity in recent years by relaxing patentability standards for software inventions and increasing damages awarded for patent infringement. Annual patent reports by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) have noted stark rises in the number of worldwide patent applications being filed by Chinese entities. While the quality of those patent filings has been questioned, China has made technological advancement a key part of national strategies such as the Made in China 2025 initiative.

Chinese Innovation Inputs on the Rise, Including R&D Expenditures and College Graduates​

According to the ITIF’s recent report, China’s efforts in advancing domestic innovation is not only helping the country outpace the United States in total innovation output, but is also helping China achieve equal footing with the U.S. in innovation output by population. Between 2010 and 2020, ITIF reports that China’s innovation and advanced-industry capabilities, which includes R&D expenditures and patent outputs, increased from 78% of absolute U.S. output up to 139% of absolute U.S. output. When taking into account the larger size of China’s economy and population, China’s innovation capabilities increased from 58% of U.S. capabilities in 2010 up to 75% of U.S. capabilities in 2020, ITIF reports.

In recent years, China has made significant progress in each of the innovation indicators measured by the ITIF study, including innovation inputs, innovation outputs and innovation outcomes. Among innovation inputs, ITIF notes that China has made great strides in the number of domestic companies making the world’s greatest investments into research and development. In 2010, only 19 Chinese companies were listed in the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scorecard rankings of the top 1,400 R&D investment companies worldwide, but that number increased to 278 Chinese companies ranked in the scorecard’s top 1,400 listing in 2020. By contrast, the number of U.S. firms ranked in the top 1,400 declined from 487 in 2010 down to 449 in 2020.

While the number of graduates per capita still lags behind the United States, China is seeing a larger number of college graduates than the United States in terms of total numbers, another innovation input metric tracked by the ITIF report. In 2018, Chinese universities conferred nearly twice the number of total undergraduate degrees than did colleges in the United States, and more than double the number of science and engineering undergraduate degrees (1.81 million Chinese degrees vs. 0.81 million U.S. degrees). Also, although venture capital investment in China dropped sharply from 2018 to 2019, China’s VC investments reached nearly 90% of similar investments in the United States in 2016. ITIF reports that China remains the world’s second-largest VC market as of 2020.

Chinese Scientific Articles, International Patent Families Outpacing U.S. Counterparts​

According to ITIF, the innovation output indicators show the greatest amount of progress for Chinese innovation relative to the United States. While they are cited at a lower rate than U.S. publications, Chinese science and engineering articles totaled 742,000 publications in 2020, which was 123.7% of the total number of science and engineering articles published by U.S. sources that year. Adjusting for population shows that the United States was on much better footing in scientific article output, but China still reached more than 80% of the amount of chemistry articles published by U.S. sources on a per capita basis in 2019 and 2020. In mathematics and statistics, Chinese articles were 68% more likely to be cited than U.S. articles on the same subject during 2018, according to information cited by ITIF from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

ITIF’s report also explores international patent families held by Chinese entities in an effort to exclude patent filing totals involving domestic-only applications, which include a high number of patent applications subsidized by the Chinese government. While ITIF acknowledges that this methodology doesn’t eliminate every patent originating from China that may raise quality concerns, the report cites additional NSF data showing that Chinese entities were already receiving 9.4% more international patent families than U.S. entities by 2010. As of 2020, Chinese entities were receiving nearly five times the number of international patent families as U.S. entities. Cross-border IP licensing receipts accessed through the World Bank show that Chinese licensing revenues on those international patent families lag behind the United States, but significant strides have been made from 2016, when Chinese licensing value was about 2% of U.S. licensing value, to 2020, when Chinese licensing was closing in on 12% of U.S. licensing value.

Low Efficiency Gains Can’t Hide Fact That China is Achieving Innovation Parity with U.S.​

Assessing China’s innovation outcomes, ITIF’s report finds that China’s high R&D industries have nearly reached the same degree of specialization as similar sectors in the United States. When looking at value added to Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) by advanced industries, ITIF found that only the pharmaceuticals manufacturing and professional, scientific and technical activities sectors became more specialized relative to their U.S. counterparts. However, China also increased the lead it already had over the United States in computer, electronic and optical products manufacturing as well as electrical equipment manufacturing.

In supercomputers, China has gained a significant edge over the United States, owning 214 of the world’s top 500 high-performance computing systems as of 2020, nearly double the 113 supercomputers in the U.S. as of that year. Industrial robotics has also seen dramatic increases in China over the past decade. In 2020, Chinese entities employed industrial robots at almost the same rate per manufacturing employee as U.S. entities, a significant improvement from 2010 when China used industrial robots per employee at about one-tenth the rate of U.S. companies.

Despite advances in a number of innovation indicators, ITIF reports that China must still grapple with several issues if it is to continue its growth as a major global innovation economy. With less than half of the nation’s population younger than 40, and with a 0.1% population growth rate as of 2021, the available labor pool in China is expected to have to serve an increasingly elderly population. While Chinese labor productivity has been buoyed by a high rate of capital stock invested per unit of labor, ITIF’s report cites several sources showing that China has seen incredibly low efficiency gains in its economy over the past decade. However, ITIF concludes that China’s innovation upgrades in the past 10 years should upend the comfortable narrative within the United States that its major foreign economic rival cannot possibly achieve innovation parity in its current form of government.

ITIF Report: The U.S. Underestimates China as an ‘Imitator’ Rather Than an Innovator at Its Own Peril

On January 23, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) published a report that applies innovation and industrial performance metrics for comparing relative innovation outputs from foreign technological rivals China and the United States.

ipwatchdog.com

 

[beijingwalker]

How China Became an Innovation Powerhouse​

MATT SHEEHAN
Jan 10, 2023

Conventional wisdom often suggests that technological breakthroughs proliferate in an environment of free markets, free speech, and democracy. In short, if you want to innovate, you need to operate like the United States. But over the past twenty years, China has transformed from a technological backwater into an innovation powerhouse.

Today, China directly competes with the United States on key emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. And it has managed to accomplish this feat even as its government has tightened controls on markets, speech, and politics.

In this video, I argue that three main factors have turbocharged China’s rise as a technological powerhouse: a large, semi-protected market; ties with researchers and companies around the world; and waves of financial, human, and physical capital invested in promising fields like AI. To keep the United States competitive, Washington should explore certain elements of China’s strategy, including a willingness to experiment with pro-innovation policies and an ability to accept a certain amount of “waste” when catalyzing technological upgrading.

How China Became an Innovation Powerhouse

And what the United States must to do retain its competitiveness.

carnegieendowment.org

 

[beijingwalker]

But haters are just blind

 

[gambit]

But haters are just blind

Yah...Sure...

The Honda Goldwing is the latest victim of Chinese copy-paste syndrome | Motoroids

www.motoroids.com

 

[beijingwalker]

Yah...Sure...

The Honda Goldwing is the latest victim of Chinese copy-paste syndrome | Motoroids

www.motoroids.com

Losers always cry rivers, don't they?

 

[Menthol]

There a big different between China and USA.

China is innovating thru hardworking.

While USA greatest ability is to think out of the box, to imagine and create something never seen before.


The difference can be translated using psychology.

China is a poor country trying to get rich, trying to pursue and catch USA.

While USA with European culture, has been a developed country for a long time, with continuous unbroken innovative culture from Renaissance era to today.

Inventing the world changing innovation, from nothing to electricity, automobile, airplane, radio, TV, computer, internet, AI, and soon robot.

Up to today, despite all the news about China innovation, I never see any world changing innovation came from China.

For USA (or the West to be precise), to move forward is to create something new, never seen before.

For China, to move forward is to catching up, to learn.

And that is the big different between China and USA.

Because of different needs, it leads to different mindset.


Be innovating is not something hard.

You don't need to look far ahead, just look at the closest thing today.

Is there something that is not satisfied and needs to be improved?

Innovation can be small and big.

Small, like improving something that already exists.

Big, like changing everything, changing the system, changing the way of living.

 

[gambit]

Losers always cry rivers, don't they?

Yeah...The Chinese copy of the Gold Wing did not have a good review. Basically, it was crap.

 

[GreatHanWarrior]

There a big different between China and USA.

China is innovating thru hardworking.

While USA greatest ability is to think out of the box, to imagine and create something never seen before.


The difference can be translated using psychology.

China is a poor country trying to get rich, trying to pursue and catch USA.

While USA with European culture, has been a developed country for a long time, with continuous unbroken innovative culture from Renaissance era to today.

Inventing the world changing innovation, from nothing to electricity, automobile, airplane, radio, TV, computer, internet, AI, and soon robot.

Up to today, despite all the news about China innovation, I never see any world changing innovation came from China.

For USA (or the West to be precise), to move forward is to create something new, never seen before.

For China, to move forward is to catching up, to learn.

And that is the big different between China and USA.

Because of different needs, it leads to different mindset.


Be innovating is not something hard.

You don't need to look far ahead, just look at the closest thing today.

Is there something that is not satisfied and needs to be improved?

Innovation can be small and big.

Small, like improving something that already exists.

Big, like changing everything, changing the system, changing the way of living.

Yeah...The Chinese copy of the Gold Wing did not have a good review. Basically, it was crap.

Stop robbing Chinese technology like Canadians!

Yah...Sure...

The Honda Goldwing is the latest victim of Chinese copy-paste syndrome | Motoroids

www.motoroids.com

yah.... sure....

New US destroyer design looks a lot like China's Type 055

In a revealing possible reversal of practice, the United States may be looking to China’s Type 055 cruiser for design inspiration for its upcoming New

asiatimes.com

 

[GreatHanWarrior]

There a big different between China and USA.

China is innovating thru hardworking.

While USA greatest ability is to think out of the box, to imagine and create something never seen before.


The difference can be translated using psychology.

China is a poor country trying to get rich, trying to pursue and catch USA.

While USA with European culture, has been a developed country for a long time, with continuous unbroken innovative culture from Renaissance era to today.

Inventing the world changing innovation, from nothing to electricity, automobile, airplane, radio, TV, computer, internet, AI, and soon robot.

Up to today, despite all the news about China innovation, I never see any world changing innovation came from China.

For USA (or the West to be precise), to move forward is to create something new, never seen before.

For China, to move forward is to catching up, to learn.

And that is the big different between China and USA.

Because of different needs, it leads to different mindset.


Be innovating is not something hard.

You don't need to look far ahead, just look at the closest thing today.

Is there something that is not satisfied and needs to be improved?

Innovation can be small and big.

Small, like improving something that already exists.

Big, like changing everything, changing the system, changing the way of living.

after all. Most technology in the United States is also R&D by Chinese Americans.

Photos: US Navy’s Futuristic DDG(X) Destroyer Design Looks a Lot Like China’s Type 055 Warship

One possible design for the US Navy’s next-generation missile destroyer was unveiled at a naval conference earlier this week. While the warship promises a slew of advanced weapons systems and radars, some have noticed its design is...

sputnikglobe.com