by Burreee Sultan 15 September 2023
Yuval Noah Hariri in his famous book, Home Deus, delved into the importance of the growth of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) biotechnological advancement, and other tech-based evolutionary improvements that could alter the future of humanity altogether. Similarly, Hariri described in,21 Lessons for the 21st Century. He described that the future is associated with technology. John Bateman, the USA author says, “Decoupling of USA and Chinese technology ecosystem is well underway. Without a clear strategy, Washington is at risk of doing too little or more likely much to curb technological independence. Chinese industries are not only getting closer to the technological frontiers ends such as electronics, machinery, automobiles, high-speed railways, and aviation, but also driving technological innovations in emerging areas such as new and renewable energy resources, advanced nuclear energy, next-generation telecommunication, big data and supercomputers, robotics, space, e-commerce, and Artificial Intelligence. According to the statistical data in the 2000s China was second only to the USA in research and development (R&D) by many measures Later this data revealed a different picture like that of surpassing in 2016 China stood first in this contest.
It was 2007 when the iPhone began its production company in China. China was known as a country for cheap labor rather than for technological sophistication. At the time, there was not a single component of Chinese production that was being imported from Japan, Germany, and the USA. China’s overall contributions were mainly the assembling and that of the major company was Foxconn’s factories in Shenzhen which amounted to less than the value-added costs. But by the timeframe of 2008, the situation dramatically changed and the Chinese who were only assembling the parts of the iPhones started producing new components inside them including the acoustics parts, Charing modules, and battery packs. This not only enhances the production of the iPhone production while a more sophisticated form of new energy in comparison to the other production plants in Europe and Asia. Today, Chinese firms count for 25% of value addition costs effectively.
iPhone is one of the exceptions in this case in point while the story of Artificial Intelligence is another special. China is also getting high footprints in form of the Quantum computing and renewable power equipment. These are the emerging and new challenging fields for the world where China is getting stronger footprints. Despite modest contributions to pathbreaking research and scientific innovations, China has the leverage of its process of knowledge and the capacity to scale up new industries. that also outcompete the US in a widening array of strategic technologies.
The growing competition and kind of rivalry modes between the USA and China while the USA is lodging to limit the access of China to critical Western technologies. Thus, at the end of 2022, the Biden administration imposed broad and new restrictions on the selling of advanced Western chip technology to different Chinese firms while on the contrary, it went for bolstering the USA technology through the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act. There is also the inclusion of new acts like the Inflation Reduction Act which is assumed to be very meaningful in the reduction of inflations and well production of new semiconductors and renewable power resources.
There is no denying the fact that China is not solely getting stronger due to stealing technological backup from the West or all together in different modes of conductions while there are high prospects of increasing situations in the self-improvised market of China and the bolsters of the Chinese market which made phenomenal challenges for the USA. It is also very essential to make a clear note that, China keeps one of the most sophisticated workforces. Previously, China intended to buy more and more of the best Chips which are USA-based while now the USA more wanted from them to be self-sufficient production in this field.
For the US and its alliance, there is an intense lesson as in the rise of China in technological enhancement and configurations. On the side of the West, China has not only grounded the technological research while at the same time working on the glamourous of manufacturing enhancements. If Washington wanted to not make any compromises on this, there must be a proper focus on trailblazing science. It must learn the facilitations and the prospects of increasing the workforce like that of the Chinese productions while on the other hand, there is an entire need for the USA in this regard to build its muscles in the forms of manufacturing and high levels of quality productions.
Many thinkers are skeptical about the rise of China in tech leadership. One of the important things is that the country has an enormously representative position in multinational firms and globally recognized brands. Unlike Japan and South Korea which have high consumerism in different categories of electronics such as digital cameras, and games which are keeping the eyes high on the different markets like that of Europe and Asia and Middle East. Chinese companies are marking the different labels of the products with cheap prices but at the same time, they are very gaging down the overall market of the Chinese market even in the developing states.
There is also the truth that China remains behind in all the critical technologies in the world against China. But at the same time, there are a few exceptionally better positions in the China in Chip industry including its designs and manufacturing. While the Chinese firms are literally behind the famous TSMC, the Taiwanese company has the global peak valued addition in the making of semiconductors. For this purpose, the use of lithography machines, the use of printing patterns on silicon wafers, and metrology equipment are used for quality controls in the production of Chips where there are enormous differences in the quality production of the Chinese firms and TSMC. While the Chinese also rely upon stuff from the Japan and the USA.
A similar kind of dynamic change and differences remained in the aviation industry. Consider the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), China’s answer to Airbus and Boeing, state-owned ventures that are backed by $71 billion Despite this funding the core components of the aviation industry still depend upon the West. Still, China is taking vulnerable differences, making a lot of progress in other technologies like that of the Chinese inevitable progress against that of the Japanese and European counterparts in this regard. In the production of advanced machines like that of the robotics industry, hydraulic pumps, and other equipment the iPhone represents the value of the Chinese advanced machine systems in this way. China now rivals Japan, South Korea, and Twain in its mastery of the electronic supply chains and the digital economy despite President Xi tightening the controls over internet companies.
Still, Chinese companies are giving a tough time to Silicon Valley’s tech giants as TikTok and Byte Dance have been doing to Facebook in this regard. Similarly, China leads the world in building, modern infrastructure including that of ultrahigh-voltage transmission lines, high-speed rail, and 5G networks. In 2019, China became the first country to lead a rover on the far side of the moon, a year later, Chinese scientists achieved quantum-encrypted communication by satellite, pushing the country closer to unbreachable quantum communication. These achievements are the main emblematic of the Chinese efforts to master more and more difficult tasks.
Making that the Chinese technological advancement is considerably high in the prospects of its image-making. One of the Chinese high achievements is renewable power equipment especially when solar power became a commercial most of the innovations came from the USA while the stories of the arts are changing day by day. Now that the Chinese are falling behind in this sector as well. In short, there are different sectors that the Chinese are emerging as leaders in this context. The USA must have the consciousness in this regard to remain on the top of the roof. This is the age of technology which means those who empower the tech-based superiority have the leadership of the global reach.