The times are changing fast and countries need to change faster for their survival. The future battlegrounds would be fields like Artificial Intelligence and other branches of Science that’d be deciding, more than ever, a countries’ political future and economic prowess. China, realizing this has already started to act: increasing the size of spending on R&D and providing official support to the ambitious and dynamic entrepreneurs. In 2018, China’s total spending on R&D increased by 12.3 percent, at 1.76 trillion Yuan ($254 billion), second to U.S. only.
A recent Bloomberg documentary, “Hello World” by Ashlee Vance, explores themes like China’s Future Factory, High-Stake Robot Wars and High-Tech Dystopia. The three-part documentary not only shows the amount of time, money and effort being spent by China to become the next world superpower but also depicts a mindset and an approach that is incumbent in this ever-changing contemporary world. Take for example Shenzhen, a global hub of manufacturing and technology, where life is so fast that there is a word for it: Shenzhen speed. Companies from all around the world have setups in the city due to its cost-effectiveness: the mind-boggling variety and availability of different parts and components. According to one of the entrepreneurs in the video, the speed of availability of parts is 7 times faster than anywhere in the world.
It is not only the amenities that attract foreigners. Take Robo-Masters for example, an intense robotics competition where engineering students from around the world come to compete. Held inside a huge metal stadium the event catches much media blitz. But once again there is more than just meets the eye, the sponsors of the event are DJI, one of the world’s largest drone makers, and the winners land a job in the company—a dream for many!
What is important here is to note that DJI is spending millions of dollars not only to amuse the masses and create a few jobs but also to attract and harness the best intellectual resources from around the world. This competition is one of the many examples through which countries like China, conscious of the significance of human development, are investing to become future technology leaders; to have their own Silicon Valley. Speaking of the Silicon Valley, China is building one, the Greater Bay Area is set to rival U.S.’ Silicon Valley.
China’s emphasis on R&D riding on the back of an entrepreneurial wave that will gain more momentum in posterity and its vast spending on logistics, trade infrastructure, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, is expected to give the country a launching pad to make further leaps
China is leading from the front in AI, EV and 5G, many will be surprised to know that by 2025 there will be 1.2 billion users of 5G and a third i.e. 400 million are expected to be from China alone. Similarly, in the EV market a 70 percent market share will be controlled by China. Tech-savvy labor force is the key for future progress along with huge investments in AI-something China is doing and in the coming 3-4 years, China will become one of the most tech-savvy countries in the world” says Shan Saeed, Chief Economist at IQI Global Malaysia.
Connect the dots and you’ll see a bigger picture emerging, that of a country which is set to stand amongst the future tech-leaders. China’s emphasis on R&D riding on the back of an entrepreneurial wave that will gain more momentum in posterity and its vast spending on logistics, trade infrastructure, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, is expected to give the country a launching pad to make further leaps. Though there are issues such as the government’s strict control of the economy and certain other restrictions; however,this does not seem to hinder its progress.
In conclusion, there are lessons here for our own country. What Pakistan needs the most, besides loans, foreign investment and political stability, is a shift in its narrative; to divert all effort to convert the human resource into human capital and hence setting our own house in order, a prerequisite for any country to make progress in future.
The writer is a freelance columnist