China is making rapid advancements in many technologies thus narrowing its gap with western world. One of the strategy adopted by China to fuel its innovation engine is to have international research collaborations. During the period of the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” (2011-2015), China’s international research collaboration partners grew to span 188 countries and regions around the world, enabling the country to assimilate into the global scientific community.The accelerated pace of China’s international scientific research collaboration papers from 2006 until 2015 was accompanied by a substantial increase in output of its research papers. China quadrupled its international collaboration research output to 71,000 papers in 2015 (4.4 times) from its 2006 output of 16,000 papers, becoming the world’s third most prolific academic research collaborating country.
One Belt, One Road Originally announced in fall 2013 refers to the New Silk Road Economic Belt, which will link China with Europe through Central and Western Asia, and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which will connect China with Southeast Asian countries, Africa and Europe.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pet project, it is heavy on infrastructure—calling for new roads, railways, bridges, and ports—to recreate the overland and maritime trade routes that once led to China. Nearly 70 nations have agreed to cooperate in the plan, which aims to foster industrial development not only in the developing nations of Asia and Africa, but also in China’s western provinces, which have yet to share in the economic prosperity of the country’s coastal regions.The ambition is immense. China is spending roughly $150bn a year in the 68 countries that have signed up to the scheme.
The 2-day Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was organised in Beijing in May 2016. “Innovation is an important force powering development,” Xi said in a speech to the opening session of the forum. And so the initiative will include technical cooperation in fields including artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, quantum computing, and smart cities. He also mentioned the need to pursue economic growth that is in line with sustainable development goals, and that rests on environmentally friendly approaches.
The second Belt-Road Forum (BRF) was held in Beijing from 25-27 April 2019. The three-day event was organized to promote the ‘Belt-Road Initiative’ (BRI) – President Xi Jinping’s multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure development and investment venture. The Summit was attended by 40 global leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, China’s two closest allies. The gathering was larger than the first Summit held in 2017, which had just 29 participants. Among the new entrants were Austria, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Thailand. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte became the first G7 leader to join the BRI.
It blends political, economic, technological and strategic dimensions. Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is revitalizing China’s economic and political ties with countries across the region. But, it is also redefining its research connections with those nations, including in Europe. During the Innovation Road, a sub-forum of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which was held in Beijing on April 2019, Science and Technology Daily reporter noticed that the subject was how best to cooperate with international partners and create the future together with innovation.
Alongside the physical infrastructure, another ambitious project on the anvil is the ‘digital silk road’ aimed at enhancing digital connectivity. This will enable Chinese dominance of 5G technology and networks, arousing concerns amongst Western nations. By 2018, China’s Beidou navigation satellite system had been widely used in transportation, land planning, precision agriculture, and other civil areas in over 30 countries and regions along the “Belt and Road” route, and it is the information and communication technology that supports the construction of land and sea cables and backbone networks in 12 countries.
China’s desire to become a world technology and science powerhouse by 2049. China is forming strong worldwide international collaborations to boost its indigenous innovation. These technologies then shall also boost military innovation, through China’s “military-civilian integration” military development strategy that the Chinese leader Xi has repeatedly stressed upon.
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