250409 중국 기술력 세미나 정리 보고(요약).hwp

250409 중국 기술력 세미나 정리 보고(원문).hwp

Topic: Is China Already a Technological Superpower?

Date: April 8, 2025

Venue: Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung

Speaker: Matthias Sander (Former China Correspondent, Neue Zürcher Zeitung)

○ China's pursuit of technological dominance is systematically driven as a national strategy.

• The "Made in China 2025" initiative aims for self-reliance in core technologies and leadership in cutting-edge fields.
• Goals include setting global standards in artificial intelligence by 2035 and achieving comprehensive military and economic modernization by 2049.
• Semiconductor self-sufficiency was targeted at 70%, but currently remains around 18%.

○ While China has reached global leadership in certain technologies, it is not yet a comprehensive technological superpower.

• It has achieved world-class status in fields like electric vehicles (BYD), solar power, and battery technology.
• However, it still lags behind Western nations in fundamental science, creative innovation, and advanced semiconductor technology.
• Most technologies—including smartphones, electric cars, and high-speed rail—are improvements on existing Western-developed technologies rather than original innovations.

○ In new technologies like generative AI, China is rapidly catching up but faces clear systemic limitations.

• Models such as "DeepSeek" have surpassed ChatGPT in some performance metrics.
• Nevertheless, quality issues related to censored or propagandistic data and a heavily regulated environment pose significant limitations.
• There is potential for developing AI models exclusively for international markets, as domestic regulations apply only to AI for Chinese users.

○ Isolation, ideology, and control within China act as constraints on technological advancement.

• According to research by Professor Yongnian Zheng*, the absence of research freedom leads directly to technological decline.