The Rise of a Superpower

Over the past two decades China has successfully transformed itself into a global technology superpower. It now accounts for 20% of total world R&D spending, publishes more academic papers than any country apart from the United States, and is home to the world’s most valuable unicorn.

Amidst China’s technology boom a list of titans have emerged including Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu. China’s Titans’, although dwarfed by the US Tech Giants in terms of revenue and users, continue to post exceptional growth figures with much potential still to fulfil. In this article, we explore China’s technology ecosystem, the infrastructure and how some of China’s most promising companies compare to those in the US.

China is currently piloting a vast ranking system using big data and AI processes to monitor citizens’ behaviour. The social ‘Sesame credit’ system was first announced in June 2014 by the governing State Council of the People’s Republic of China and will be mandatory for all businesses and citizens once fully operational by 2020.

Government policies are attempting to increase investment and innovation within the technology sector. While on work experience Ava Gaule (Yr12 student) from Aylesbury High School explored what policies the UK, China and USA have implemented to drive innovation.  

Olivia Singh (Yr10 student) from the Herts and Essex High School explored the levels of technological development in Japan and China whilst on work experience, to ascertain which is the emergent superpower competing with the USA.