don't believe the hype, China is behind in these 30 technologies

context: State media have hyped China's scientific achievements for years, often forgetting to mention that major components of domestically developed aircraft, high-speed rail or computer chips are imported or developed through international partnerships. Especially after trade friction with the US intensified, many called for stepping up R&D to quickly close the gap. Now the editor-in-chief of Science and Technology Daily is calling for a more level-headed approach and argues China still has a long way to go in many areas, provoking fierce debate between patriots and rationalists.

The PRC's science and technology is much further behind other countries than propaganda suggests, says Liu Yadong 刘亚东 Science and Technology Daily editor-in-chief. Liu questions superficial celebrations of technical achievements, arguing it impedes the quest for underlying scientific principles. China lacks craftsmanship, academic persistence and patience, says Liu. Liu backs his argument with a series of articles in Science and Technology Daily that identified 30 critical technologies in which China will rely on imports for the foreseeable future, including

  • information and communication technology
    • algorithms for motion planning and control of robotics
    • operation systems
    • mobile phone radio frequency (RF) circuits
    • resistor–capacitor circuits (for mobile phones)
  • electronics
  • engineering equipment
    • aircraft engines (for domestically developed COMAC C919)
    • heavy gas turbines
    • ITO (Indium-Tin Oxide) sputtering targets
    • tunnel boring machine main bearings
    • underwater connectors
    • underwater robot welding technology
  • new materials
  • biotechnology
    • pharmaceuticals, especially
      • individual-nucleotide resolution UV cross-linking
      • immunoprecipitation (iCLIP) to identify RNA duplexes
    • transmission electron microscope (TEM)
    • imaging sensor technologies for CT applications