Silicon Valley-based expert lauds Asian nation's innovation efforts

China is on the right track for bolstering economic growth and competitiveness through science and technological innovation, while its commitment to self-reliance amid restrictions implemented by the United States government is accelerating domestic innovation efforts, a Silicon Valley-based expert said.

During last year's two sessions, the annual meetings of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Chinese leaders emphasized the need for self-reliance in advancing high-quality development, a concept highlighting sustainable and inclusive growth by leveraging sci-tech innovation.

This aligns with the views of experts like George Koo, a retired international business adviser who believes that science and technology are the foundation of innovation, which is key to economic expansion.

"Excellence in science and technology is the necessary building block for innovation. Innovation leads to new products and markets and, therefore, economic growth," Koo, also a US-China relations observer in California's Silicon Valley, told China Daily.

The Chinese national legislators and political advisers have since urged the country's technology companies to play a more prominent role in achieving breakthroughs in core technologies, particularly in strategic, forward-looking fields. Similar calls are made during this year's meetings.

These calls echo Koo's belief that successful companies prioritize innovation and cater to new market needs, rather than simply copying existing models. "The most successful enterprises know how to innovate and introduce products and services that the market needs. Many other enterprises rely only on copying successful companies and compete on price. They will be the first to fail and go out of business," he said.

China's efforts in sci-tech innovation are already yielding results. The World Intellectual Property Organization reported in November that in 2022 nearly half of all global patent applications originated from China, highlighting the country's significant contribution to global innovation.

According to the organization, the highest volume came from applicants based in China, who filed around 1.58 million patent applications in 2022, followed by US applicants, who filed 505,539 applications.

This rise in patent applications coincides with China's leading role in sectors such as electric vehicles, shipbuilding and high-speed rail. Koo said China's lead role in these fields is "inevitable" and a strategic response to "demands of a huge and growing domestic market".

However, many Western observers fail to realize this and occupy themselves by "belittling China's efforts, attributing progress to IP theft and being a copycat", Koo said.

China is doubling down on its commitment to self-reliance in science and technology against the backdrop of US sanctions and export restrictions on critical technologies — in particular, restrictions on China's access to semiconductor technology.

Rather than hindering China's progress, these restrictions may actually be accelerating its domestic innovation efforts, said Koo.

"When American advanced products and technology are made available to China, the natural tendency is to buy from the US rather than 'reinvent the wheel'. But when the US restricts the sale of advanced technology to China, China is forced to find ways around these restrictions," he explained.

In addition, the US should have considered that China is too big for any effective stranglehold, he added.

China's vast population and middle-class consumer market, large pool of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates and robust industrial capabilities allow it to find workarounds and develop its own alternatives, he said, adding that this was exemplified by Huawei's recent launch of a smartphone utilizing domestically produced chips.

"By producing six times more graduates in science and technology every year, China does not lack the manpower to work on closing the gap and come up with domestic versions of advanced products that China can no longer buy from the US," Koo said.

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