Economic Daily: US technological blockade against China cannot stop China's development

Source: Content from Economic Daily ",Thanks.

Since May this year, the United States has escalated trade frictions between China and the United States and increased its technological blockade on Chinese technology companies, exposing the United States' true intention to hinder China's development through technological blockades in the name of resolving the trade deficit. The United States's actions harm others, itself and the world. History will eventually prove that the US technological blockade against China cannot stop China's development.

Recently, the United States has adopted various methods to increase its suppression and blockade of Chinese high-tech. The main measures include: first, implementing the strictest export control in history; second, tightening the risk review of Chinese investment in the United States; third, restricting the exchange of scientific and technological personnel between China and the United States; and fourth, requiring allies to be consistent with it through "long-arm jurisdiction" and not to do business with Chinese high-tech companies, trying to form a trend of "encirclement and suppression" of my country's technology companies.

The U.S. technology blockade against China not only hurts others but also harms the whole world. In today's world, high-tech industries represented by the IT industry have formed a global supply chain integration development pattern in which you are in me and I am in you. The U.S. technology blockade against China will lead to the severance of the global IT industry supply chain, which will not only hurt China and the United States, but also the world. For China, on the one hand, because the overall level of high-tech industries is still far behind that of the United States, and the key products and core technologies are highly dependent on foreign countries, the United States' strengthening of high-tech export controls on China will have a certain impact on my country's industries that are highly dependent on U.S. technology imports, which may affect my country's technological progress and industrial upgrading;

On the other hand, my country's exports of high-tech products such as communication equipment and consumer electronics account for a large proportion. The US's practice of restricting Chinese high-tech products from entering the US and even allied markets will have a negative impact on the development of these industries. For the United States, its losses are self-evident. Taking 5G as an example, Huawei has many leading advantages from standard setting, patented technology, equipment manufacturing to specific solution provision. The US ban on Huawei's 5G technology will isolate the US high-tech industry based on 5G from the Chinese market, which will not only reduce the market share and profitability of US companies, but also increase the cost of US users, ultimately affecting the development of the US high-tech industry.

For the world, once the technological confrontation between China and the United States becomes a protracted war, it may prompt the two countries to develop their own independent technical standards systems, and the world is at risk of splitting into two technological camps, because Europe, North America, South America, and Australia mainly use American technology and standards, while Asia, Africa, and the Middle East mainly use Chinese technology and standards. At present, in the field of 5G, such risks are rising. This will obviously increase the global innovation cost, which is not conducive to the world's scientific and technological progress, and violates the purpose of "technology without borders" and "let technology benefit all mankind". In this sense, the US technological blockade against China will inevitably "lose support".

China has the ability to break through the US technological blockade and promote steady economic development. Although the US technological blockade will cause temporary difficulties for China's development, it will not stop the pace of China's economic progress, nor will it shake China's position in the global supply chain. There are four reasons:

First, China has a complete industrial system. China is the only country in the world that has all the industrial categories in the United Nations industrial classification, including all 41 major industrial categories, 191 medium categories, and 525 small categories. China has a relatively complete industrial chain in many industries, forming a number of highly competitive industrial clusters, providing a rich platform and carrier for China's scientific and technological innovation.

Second, China's scientific and technological innovation capabilities are constantly improving. According to a report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, China's ranking in the Global Innovation Index rose from 22nd in 2017 to 17th in 2018, approaching the first echelon of innovative countries. In some fields such as high-speed rail, nuclear power, communication equipment, and aerospace, China is already in a position to run parallel to or lead developed countries. The improvement of scientific and technological innovation capabilities has gradually shifted the competitive advantage of China's industries from relying on price advantages and scale advantages to relying on innovation advantages.

Third, China's market demand is huge. With a population of nearly 1.4 billion and a per capita GDP of nearly $10,000, and a huge consumer demand formed by more than 400 million middle-income groups, China has become the world's largest growth market, providing huge opportunities for the development of Chinese and global companies.

Fourth, a high-level, multi-level and comprehensive international scientific and technological cooperation pattern is taking shape in my country.

At present, we have established scientific and technological cooperation relations with more than 100 countries, regions and international organizations, signed hundreds of intergovernmental scientific and technological cooperation agreements, joined more than 200 intergovernmental international scientific and technological cooperation organizations, and established nearly 1,000 international innovation parks, international joint research centers, international technology transfer centers and demonstration international scientific and technological cooperation bases. In the future, my country will adopt a more open attitude, strengthen cooperation with other countries, work together to seize the major historical opportunities of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, and achieve mutual benefit, win-win results, and common prosperity and development.

History has long proved that suppression and blockade cannot stop a country's scientific and economic development. In the 1950s and 1960s, my country was subject to blockades and embargoes from all sides. Under such difficult circumstances, it still achieved the great achievements of "two bombs and one satellite", established an industrial system of initial scale, and laid the foundation for the rapid development of 40 years of reform and opening up. Today's China is completely different. The US technological blockade against China will further inspire my country's confidence in independent research and development and its determination to work together to promote the construction of an innovative country and a manufacturing power. We believe that China is fully capable of resisting the US technological blockade, and the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation cannot be "blocked" or "locked" by any force.