Commentary: China-phobia to hamstring global sci-tech progress

Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-22 21:57:54|Editor: zh
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GUANGZHOU, May 22 (Xinhua) -- A China-phobia mindset based on groundless security concerns will hamstring global sci-tech progress.

Apple's case illustrates why.

When Apple tried to produce its Mac Pro computers in Texas, it found it was hard to find enough screws it needed. However, in China, factories can produce vast quantities of custom screws for Apple on a short notice, according to a New York Times report in January.

Apple CEO Tim Cook felt very conscious of this. He disputed that cheap labor was the reason Apple was still in China when he was attending the 2017 Fortune Global Forum in China. In his eyes, skills, rather than low labor costs, are what lure foreign companies to China.

Obviously, with the development of science and technology and the improvement of the precision and digitalization of industrial products, it is more challenging to transform the scientific research results into efficient and high-quality industrial production capacity.

Only with a large team of engineers, a complete industrial chain and a highly mature market-oriented business environment, can a country gain a strong ability to apply the high-tech. Lacking any element will have a negative impact on such expertise.

Today, the way of global innovation has changed from a closed, exclusive mode to an open and collaborative network. Integrated innovation in different regions and different technical fields has become the primary mode of global industrial production and innovation.

Therefore, any attempts to maintain one country's high-tech supremacy by suppressing technological progress of others are destined to fail. Such phobic actions will severely obstruct global sci-tech progress and the development of mankind.

As a leading manufacturer in the world, China represents a globally integrated innovation model. The innovation of many Chinese companies is closely intertwined with that of other companies across the globe.

China's research and manufacturing capacity have experienced the transformation from "Made in China" to "Created in China." Chinese high-end manufacturing companies are increasingly featuring overseas R&D centers, top-notch researchers and engineers as well as patents conforming to international standards.

In 2018, the total number of R&D personnel in China is estimated to have reached 4.18 million, ranking first in the world; the number of international scientific papers ranked the second globally; the number of patent applications and grants ranked first in the world. The above figures and rankings have demonstrated China's strength as a world factory and a world-class innovation platform.

Thus, ignoring China and Chinese companies' efforts in advancing innovation, and simply smearing the achievements as a so-called "scientific and technological threat" that infringes other countries' intellectual property rights and threats their security, will only affect the fair competition in the global market and inhibit the development of global industrial application and innovation.

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