China's R&D is surging, and the global technology focus is shifting eastward.

The tech hegemony system once monopolized by the West is crumbling, with a comparison emerging between China's technological competition and that of the West.

Recent observations by Western think tanks show that China's R&D investment has quickly caught up from less than one-third of the U.S. gap, with the current total nearing that of the U.S., and the growth rate far exceeding that of Europe and the U.S. Meanwhile, R&D growth in Europe has nearly stagnated, marking a historic turning point in this decades-long technological game, with the global technology landscape shifting towards China.

Currently, China is leading in all core R&D indicators. On one hand, China's international patent application volume continues to rank first globally, and the efficiency of converting innovative results is constantly rising; on the other hand, China is unrivaled in the Nature Index annual ranking, with the 2024 Nature Index (Adjusted Share) showing China at 32122 and the U.S. at 21954, making China's share 146.2% of that of the U.S., with a significantly expanding lead. Among the top ten universities in the Nature Index, nine are from China, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences firmly holds the top position globally. Overall, breakthroughs in fundamental research and patent output have achieved a dual breakthrough.

Additionally, although the total R&D funding is close to that of the U.S., China has built an irreplaceable competitive advantage through the scale and breadth of its R&D. In terms of R&D talent, the scale of Chinese research teams has exploded, with engineers and other STEM talents being more than three times that of the U.S. The number of AI researchers alone has reached 52,000, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 28%. Universities and enterprises have formed a massive R&D team, with talent reserves far surpassing the U.S., which tends to focus on single areas. Over 60% of global AI patents come from China. In terms of research coverage, China's scientific layout spans across fundamental sciences, engineering technologies, and cutting-edge emerging fields, including a comprehensive upgrade from traditional manufacturing to cutting-edge technology breakthroughs. This systematic advantage of covering all fields is difficult for the U.S., which emphasizes localized high-precision sectors, to compare with.

Notably, the absolute lead in emerging fields further solidifies China's global technological leadership position. A report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute indicates that in an assessment of 74 key technologies, China has achieved high-impact research globally in 66 of them, with a leading ratio close to 90%. Fields such as cloud and edge computing, generative AI, and small satellites, which were once dominated by the U.S., have now seen a change in hegemony, with only 8 technologies currently led by the U.S. This Australian institute is known for its anti-China stance, yet through articles in the Nature Index, they still confirm that China has fully overtaken the competition in emerging technology tracks from following to leading, with the technological generational advantage continuing to expand.

In the future, as China's R&D investment continues to increase and the innovation ecosystem improves, the trend of the global technology landscape shifting eastward will become irreversible. The technology world led by China is transitioning from being a vision to reality. Perhaps by then, China will be the new technological myth.