China is focusing on 7 pioneering technologies in its battle with America
China is looking to boost research in what it calls pioneering technology, including quantum computing and semiconductors, as it competes with the United States to excel in the latest innovations.
In its fourteenth five-year development plan, Beijing said it wanted to make science and technology self-reliance and self-improvement a strategic pillar of national development.
China is set to increase spending on research and development by more than 7 percent annually between 2021 and 2025, in order to strive for major technological breakthroughs.
China has focused on enhancing its domestic experience in areas it considers strategically important, such as semiconductors.
China has developed 7 pioneering technologies that it prioritizes in the next five years and beyond:
1) Artificial Intelligence:
China plans to focus on developing chips for AI applications and developing so-called open-source algorithms, while also focusing on machine learning in areas such as decision-making.
Artificial intelligence has been a major area of Chinese companies and the central government over the past few years, and major companies such as Alibaba and Baidu are investing in technology.
China and the United States are competing over the dominance of artificial intelligence, and a group of experts headed by former chief executive of Google, Eric Schmidt, said that China could soon replace the United States as the superpower of artificial intelligence in the world.
2) quantum information:
This class of technology includes quantum computing, which is a completely different concept from the computers in use today, and it holds the promise of being able to aid in ambitious breakthroughs in many areas, such as the innovation of new medicine.
Quantum computing is seen as another area of competition between the United States and China.
3) Semiconductors:
Semiconductors are an important area for China and it has invested a lot in the past few years, but the country is struggling to catch up with the United States, Taiwan and South Korea.
The problem is the complexity of the semiconductor supply chain. Taiwan's TSMC and South Korea's Samsung are two of the most advanced chip manufacturers but rely on tools from the United States and Europe.
Given that China does not have the companies that can design and manufacture the tools that chip manufacturers require, it is dependent on companies from other countries, and China wants to change this thing.
In its five-year plan, China says it is focusing on research and development in integrated circuit design tools, key equipment and key materials.
Chips are very important because they are included in many of the devices we use, such as smartphones, but they are also important for other industries.
4) brain science:
China plans to research areas such as how to stop brain disease, but it also says it plans to look at brain-inspired computing, as well as brain-computer fusion technology.
5) Genomics and Biotechnology:
With the outbreak of the Coronavirus last year, the importance of biotechnology has grown, and China says it is focusing on innovative vaccines and research in biosecurity.
6) Clinical medicine and health:
China's research focuses on understanding the development of cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic diseases.
The government also says it is looking into some advanced treatment techniques, such as regenerative medicine, and that includes drugs that can regrow or repair damaged cells, tissues and organs.
China says it is studying major techniques in preventing and treating major infectious diseases.
7) Deep space, the depths of the earth and the seas:
Space exploration has been a top priority for China recently, and Beijing said it focuses on research into the origin and evolution of the universe, exploring Mars, as well as deep-sea and polar research.
And in December, a Chinese spacecraft returned to Earth loaded with rocks from the moon, and this is the first time that China launched a spacecraft from an extraterrestrial object and the first time it has collected samples from the moon.