China has a solid presence in emerging technologies

China is setting a strong presence in the emerging technologies sector. The country currently boasts of a “stunning lead” in the sector, holding the 37^th out of 44 positions. Western countries have been losing their ranking in the global race for research output.

China leads the US in the global competition for emerging technologies

A statement issued by a security think talk on Thursday provided its analysis of the global race for critical and emerging technologies after assessing defense, energy, biotechnology, and energy.

According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, this study showed that in some sectors, all of the top ten largest research organizations are in China. The United States Department funded this study.

The study also found that the US ranked second despite leading global research in high-performance computing, small satellites, vaccines, and quantum computing. The report has also called upon governments to conduct more in-depth research investments.

“Western democracies are losing the global technological competition, including the race for scientific and research breakthroughs,” the statement said. It added that China had secured a “stunning lead in high-impact research” through government programs.

This report has called upon democratic countries to work together and collaborate to develop secure supply chain systems. The report also wants these countries to focus on developing strategic and critical technologies.

According to the ASPI, which tracked some of the most-cited scientific papers, the breakthrough of China in the technology sector could be attributed to its focus on hypersonic missiles in 2021. It added that China’s rising dominance in critical technology might have been detected earlier if this research as identified.

It added that in the last five years, China has been behind 48.49% of some of the high-impact research papers globally. The country has also been involved in advanced technology advancements such as aircraft engines and hypersonics. The country also hosts seven of the top ten largest research institutions globally.

China is making advancements in quantum computing and photonic sensors, which could enable this country to block surveillance by the West.

Risks of monopoly

The study also looked into the flow of researchers and the risks of a monopoly. It identified that China would likely become a monopoly in 10 sectors, such as synthetic biology. The country produces a third of all the global research in synthetic biology, and it is also involved in 5G, electric batteries, and nanomanufacturing.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences took the first and second positions in most of the 44 technologies that were tracked, including space, defense, energy, robotics, artificial intelligence, advanced materials, etc.

China has been growing its research sector using knowledge acquired from other countries, with the data indicating that a fifth of the leading Chinese researchers trained in Western democracies. The study has called for visa screening programs to tame illegal technology transfers.

Universities in Australia have been complying with foreign laws created to halt the illegal transfer of technology o China. However, it has also urged for global collaboration.