China

Again and again, America has pioneered new technologies and then frittered away its leadership—in sectors ranging from semiconductors and solar panels, to televisions and medical devices. We can’t afford to squander another lead in multi-cancer early detection (MCED) because of regulatory roadblocks.

Since 2015, the number of Chinese students enrolling in U.S. PhD programs has decreased by about 3.7 percent, while the probability a Chinese student will enroll in a PhD program in another English-speaking country, such as the UK, Australia, or Canada, has increased by 2.1 percent.

It is often said that the Chinese economy cannot innovate. This is a dangerous assumption.

The best way for U.S. policymakers to think about China, at least in the realm of technology and industry, is that we are engaged in a form of war: China is seeking to defeat the United States on the techno-economic battlefield.

China accounted for 35 percent of global manufacturing as of 2023. The United States and Western allies should launch a global competition to establish competing manufacturing hubs in countries that commit to reforming restrictive regulations, reducing corruption, boosting skill development, and ensuring adequate financial incentives and infrastructure.

The European Union needs to pay a short-term price for long-term gain by standing alongside the United States in taking tough action to hold China accountable for its IP theft, dumping, and over-subsidizing.

The United States and Japan must make a concerted effort to mutually advance their economic security and counter Chinese economic coercion, while bringing other allied nations aboard the enterprise to the greatest extent possible.

Please join the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation for an expert briefing event to discuss the findings of a 20-month ITIF investigation into Chinese firms’ innovative capabilities in key advanced industries, including robotics, chemicals, nuclear power, electric vehicles, semiconductors, AI, quantum computing, and biotechnology.

Chinese companies have become leading innovators in display technologies, in addition to becoming the largest global producers. China’s display industry has grown as a result of extensive subsidies, rampant intellectual property theft, and economies of scale.

Forget the nonsense that China can’t innovate. Beijing may well come out on top in advanced industries.