cageymaru
Fully [H]
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2003
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As the trade war between the USA and China heats up, many have feared that China will seek to displace the Western countries in technological innovations. Certainly China has made this a focus with their Made in China 2025 initiative. But one lesson that we all know is that throwing money at an issue doesn't fix it. Professor Zhang Jun debunks the myth that China is ready to become ground zero for innovation in technology as he reiterates that it takes research done at universities over the course of decades to breed innovations in technology.
Having said that, what are China's actual technological prospects? The Chinese are certainly fast learners. Over the last 30 years, Chinese manufacturers have proved adept at seizing opportunities to emulate, adapt and diffuse new technologies. But technological advances in the Chinese business sector occur at the bottom of the smile curve, and core-technology owners have extracted most of the added value from Chinese manufacturing. For example, in Danyang, a county of Jiangsu province that is a production hub of optical lenses for global markets, manufacturers can produce the most sophisticated models. Yet they lack the core software to produce, say, progressive lenses, so they must pay a fixed royalty to a US company for each progressive lens they make.
Having said that, what are China's actual technological prospects? The Chinese are certainly fast learners. Over the last 30 years, Chinese manufacturers have proved adept at seizing opportunities to emulate, adapt and diffuse new technologies. But technological advances in the Chinese business sector occur at the bottom of the smile curve, and core-technology owners have extracted most of the added value from Chinese manufacturing. For example, in Danyang, a county of Jiangsu province that is a production hub of optical lenses for global markets, manufacturers can produce the most sophisticated models. Yet they lack the core software to produce, say, progressive lenses, so they must pay a fixed royalty to a US company for each progressive lens they make.