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The Struggle for Technological Sovereignty: China’s Experience and Lessons for Russia

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Studies on Russian Economic Development Aims and scope

Abstract—

The article analyzes China’s experience in establishing a national innovation system of its own. An overview of the main ways for managing the development of science and technology is given. The structure of investments in the economy is considered. It is shown that China has managed to create an innovative environment, in which market mechanisms play the main role while maintaining the leading position of the state. Some promising elements of managing the development of science and technology that can be used by Russia are highlighted.

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Notes

  1. Meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping 15.10.2022, Presidential Administration of Russia. http://www.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/by-date/15.09.2022.

  2. Full text of Vladimir Putin’s address on September 30, 2022: Transcript of the speech, 30.09.22. Komsomolskaya Pravda online edition. https://www.kp.ru/daily/27452.5/4655517/.

  3. Stephen S. Roach, the Sino-American Tech Trap. 24.01.2023. Project Syndicate. https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/america-china-tech-war-no-us-strategy-by-stephen-s-roach-2023-01.

  4. Joint Statement of the President of the Russian Federation and the President of the People’s Republic of China on the Development Plan for Key Areas of Sino-Russian Economic Cooperation until 2030, March 21, 2023. http://kremlin.ru/supplement/5919.

  5. M. V. Mishustin, “The Cabinet of Ministers will soon approve a new concept of technological development until 2030,” Rossiyskaya Gazeta, no. 98(9043), May 4, 2023. https://rg.ru/2023/05/04/mishustin-kabmin-v-blizhajshee-vremia-utverdit-novuiu-koncepciiu-tehnologicheskogo-razvitiia-do-2030-goda.html.

  6. Nanoscale materials and manufacturing; High-tech coatings; Smart materials; Advanced composite materials; New metamaterials; High-performance machining processes; Advanced explosives and energy materials; Mining and processing of essential minerals; Advanced magnets and superconductors; Advanced protection; Continuous chemical synthesis; Additive manufacturing (including 3D printing); Advanced radio frequency communication (including 5G and 6G); Advanced optical communication; Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and hardware accelerators; Distributed registries; Advanced data analytics; Machine learning (including neural networks and deep learning); Cybersecurity technologies; High-performance computing; Advanced design and production of integrated circuits; Natural language processing (including speech and text recognition and analysis); Hydrogen and ammonia for energy; Supercapacitors; electric batteries; Photovoltaics; Nuclear waste management and recycling; Directed energy technologies; Biofuels; Nuclear energy; Quantum computing; Post-quantum cryptography; Quantum communications (including quantum key distribution); Quantum sensors; Synthetic Biology; Biological Production; Vaccines and medical countermeasures; Photonic sensors; Advanced aircraft engines (including hypersonic); Drones, swarming and collaborative robots; Small satellites; Autonomous Systems operation technology; Advanced robotics; Space launch systems.

  7. Jamie Gaida. ASPI’s Critical Technology Tracker, The Australian Strategic Policy Institute. February 2023. ISSN 2209-9689. https://www.aspi.org.au/report/critical-technology-tracker.

  8. J. Tangorra, “Which countries are granted the most new patents?,” Visual Capitalist, April 23, 2023.

  9. In January 2023, Japan and the Netherlands joined the U.S. restrictions on supplies of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China.

  10. P. Khimshiashvili and V. Vishnyakova, “Convergence up to closer ties,” RBC, March 21, 2021. https://www.rbc.ru/newspaper/2023/03/22/641968429a794764a55efa3c.

  11. The delta of the Zhujiang River (Guangdong), Fujian, the Delta of the Changjiang River (Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang), the Zone of the Bohai Bay (Beijing, Tianjin, Liaoning) and Shandong.

  12. As is known, on May 7, 1999, during the armed conflict between NATO and Yugoslavia, an American bomber “by mistake” bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, killing three people.

  13. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China.

  14. In particular, in recent years, leading AI specialists Zhu Songchun and Ma Yi have returned to China from the US.

  15. According to Glassdoor and Salary Explorer websites.

  16. 关于做好2022年度博士后创新人才支持计划实施工作的通知,, Office of Postdoctoral Management at Central South University, 26.01.2022. http//bsh.csu.edu.cn/info/1229/5240.htm.

  17. About a third of the total number of KNLs is included in commercial enterprises.

  18. “The US national laboratory system concentrates more than 40% of total national funding for the physical and engineering sciences, with federal funding accounting for up to 70% of all R&D spending” [18].

  19. 国务院关于印发《中国制造2025》的通知, State Council of the People’s Republic of China, May 8, 2015. http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2015-05/19/content_9784.htm.

  20. As is the case with many large companies in China, nominally private business is actually quasi-public.

  21. S. Kennedy, “Made in China 2025,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, June 1, 2015. https://www.csis.org/analysis/made-china-2025.

  22. C. Feng. China’s top science and technology advisory commission emerges from the dark as Beijing charts future economic course. November 19, 2021 https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3156723/chinas-top-science-and-technology-advisory-commission-emerges-dark.

  23. China to restructure ministry in sci-tech self-reliance drive. March 7, 2023. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202303/07/WS-6406f988a31057c47ebb2d b2.html.

  24. V. Kulagin. China presented a government reform plan on 03/09/2023. https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/articles/2023/03/09/965722-v-kitae-predstavili-plan-reformi-pravitelstva.

  25. The knowledge economy typically includes R&D, education, information and communication technologies, biotechnology and healthcare.

  26. National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China.

  27. J. Gao and J. Jiang, “Scientific, technical and innovative cooperation between China and Russia in a new era: Reshaping the model and choosing an approach from the point of view of Chinese experts.” Probl. Prognozirovaniya, No. 6, 109 (2022). doi 10.47711/0868-6351-195-109-119.

  28. Putin announced a colossal breakthrough in China’s development in recent years. March 20, 2023. TASS. https://tass.ru/politika/17319405.

  29. A. A. Shabanova, S. V. Terebova, and G. V. Leonidova, "Dynamics of modernization development of Russian regions: Scientific and technological imbalances against the background of general progress,” Probl. Prognozirovaniya, No. 1, 53 (2023). doi 10.47711/0868-6351-196-53-64.

  30. Total Health Care Costs, % of GDP, World Health Organization. https://gateway.euro.who.int/ru/indicators/hfa_566-6711-total-health-expenditure-as-of-gdp/visualizations/.

  31. S. V. Lavrov, “The share of trade between the Russian Federation and China in national currencies has reached almost half,” Kommersant, January 18, 2023. https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5773953.

  32. Russia and China held the first Forum of Russian-Chinese Associations of Specialized Universities, Russian Union of Rectors, December 9, 2022. https://rsr-online.ru/news/2022/12/9/rossiya-i-knr-proveli-pervyj-forum-rossijsko-kitajskih-associacij-profilnyh-universitetov/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Economic Forecasting, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117418, Moscow, Russia

    V. A. Yasinskii & M. Yu. Kozhevnikov

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  1. V. A. Yasinskii
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Correspondence to V. A. Yasinskii.

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Translated by I. Pertsovskaya

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Yasinskii, V.A., Kozhevnikov, M.Y. The Struggle for Technological Sovereignty: China’s Experience and Lessons for Russia. Stud. Russ. Econ. Dev. 34, 704–712 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1075700723050167

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