The last time such an assessment was done was in 2020, when South Korea scored 80.1 percent, narrowly beating China’s 80 percent.
The rankings are assessed every two years by reviewing academic papers and patents in 11 areas, including construction and transport, space, aviation and maritime, defence, machinery manufacturing, resources, ICT and software.
Xi touts China’s new energy capabilities as President Biden slams auto policy
Xi touts China’s new energy capabilities as President Biden slams auto policy
The new study estimates that in 2022, China will be three years behind the United States in terms of technological capabilities, and South Korea will be 3.2 years behind. As of 2020, both were approximately 3.3 years behind the United States.
Zhang Huizhi, a professor of Northeast Asian studies at Jilin University, said that despite the widening gap with Japan and Europe, South Korean media’s focus on China raises concerns that the country will be overtaken by China. He said it shows that he is doing so.
“South Korea has long taken for granted that the United States, the European Union, and Japan are more developed than itself, and it doesn’t matter if they can’t catch up,” Jang said. “However, it is unacceptable and upsetting that we have been overtaken by China, which once had the upper hand in science and technology.”
Therefore, South Korea is touting plans to impose a technology blockade on China and prevent technology exchanges and the flow of cutting-edge technology to China, it added.
South Korea and China will engage in a fierce battle for market share.
Park Ki-sung, a professor at China’s Sungkyunkwan University Graduate School who specializes in the Chinese economy, said China’s relatively rapid progress in key technologies has been “This is a somewhat expected result,” he said. Currently, we are focusing on technological innovation.
Goods sales to China were worth $124.8 billion last year, down 20% from 2022, while imports from the world’s second-largest economy fell 8% to $142.8 billion.
Park pointed out that this is mainly due to the decline in the competitiveness of Korean products due to technological development in China.
Park said, “South Korea’s trade deficit with China will become fixed.” “And more broadly, it means that the world’s manufacturing powers, South Korea and China, will be in fierce competition for market share in the global market.”
China is increasing its investments and efforts in areas such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors to compete with the United States. This includes building infrastructure, establishing development plans, and training and recruiting talent.
However, China’s national spending on research and development accounted for 2.64% of gross domestic product last year, far below the levels of the United States and South Korea.
Park explained that the Chinese government is leading the development of key technologies by coordinating government research institutes, academia, large corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises, and even defense organizations, and has a vast talent pool.
“While there may be some economic inefficiency due to some failed projects along the way, we seem to have made significant progress in terms of meeting the technical challenges,” Park said.
China’s Wang Yi and Cho Tae-yul’s first phone talk reveals their intention to maintain contact with South Korea
China’s Wang Yi and Cho Tae-yul’s first phone talk reveals their intention to maintain contact with South Korea
President Park predicted that China’s technological superiority would be a “huge burden” on South Korea, and made clearer the direction South Korea should take with regard to the development of national science and technology from a future-oriented and macroscopic perspective. He added that it was necessary to do so.
“It is said that the government has a particularly important role in the field of basic technology.Specifically, we need to steadily increase the ratio of R&D expenditures to GDP and utilize R&D funds efficiently. However, it is very important from the perspective of increasing efficiency compared to expenditure,” Park said.
Kim Dae-jeong, a business professor at Sejong University in Seoul, said that South Korea is far behind China in fields such as aerospace, and that “China has invested intensive funds and human resources with the goal of scientific advancement.” ” he said.
However, Kim said, “South Korea is at the top in secondary batteries and semiconductors,” and pointed out that South Korea can maintain its competitive advantage by concentrating its funds and human resources in “areas where it can compete with China.”