US study warns China's expanding Industrial power could tilt global tech balance

New Delhi [India] November 21 : China's sweeping industrial push over the past decade has reshaped the global technology and manufacturing landscape, described as "interlocking innovation flywheels" that propel breakthroughs across multiple high-tech sectors simultaneously, noted a study by "US-China Economic and Security Review Commission."

The report submitted to the US Congress notes that China has rapidly expanded its industrial, science, and innovation policies since 2015, deploying massive state funding, strategic planning, and nationwide coordination to strengthen its capacity to design, produce and commercialise advanced technologies.

It says, "The evidence shows that comprehensive strategic planning, massive state funding, and adaptive implementation have allowed China to overcome previous industrial policy failures."

The report adds that China has built an "industrial commons", a dense ecosystem of talent, supply chains, scientific infrastructure, and manufacturing capacity, that now allows Chinese firms to innovate faster and compete aggressively in global markets.

The study notes, "Innovation follows manufacturing," highlighting how advancement in one sector, such as batteries, robotics, or artificial intelligence, are increasingly catalysing progress in adjacent industries.

China's electric vehicle (EV) revolution is cited as a cornerstone example. Built atop earlier capabilities in lithium batteries and large-scale automobile production, the EV sector has now become a platform driving innovation in Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors, industrial automation, and autonomous driving technologies.

Domestic EV giants such as BYD, XPeng and Li Auto are now moving into humanoid robotics, leveraging overlapping expertise in motors, batteries, sensors, thermal management and AI.

According to industry executives quoted in the report, these shared supply chains could allow automakers to produce humanoid robots at far lower cost than traditional robotics firms.

China's robot density has surged from just 19 units per 10,000 workers in 2015 to 470 in 2023, now the world's third-highest. This has driven steep efficiency gains across manufacturing and accelerated China's shift toward "smart factories," many of which operate with minimal human intervention.

Beyond hardware-led sectors, China is also making rapid advances in synthetic biology, an emerging field with applications in medicine, agriculture and advanced materials. The country now controls around 70 per cent of global fermentation capacity, a core input for scaling biotech innovations, and has established major research clusters such as Shanghai's Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park.

The report warns that China's dominance in bio-manufacturing could give it an enduring first-mover advantage in the global bio-economy, with implications for pharmaceuticals, food security, and national security.

However, it also acknowledged large inefficiencies, duplicated investments, and periodic overcapacity, especially in EVs, batteries and solar panels.

The study notes that China's policy approach ultimately produces globally competitive firms after weaker players are squeezed out through intense domestic competition. "The firms that survive this process... are then typically highly competitive in global markets," it observes.

Even as China faces slowing growth and mounting local debt, the report concludes that Beijing will continue to prioritise industrial policy spending, viewing technological leadership as essential to national security, economic resilience, and geopolitical influence.

The study warns that without a coordinated response, the U.S. and other countries could lose ground in critical sectors, including robotics, quantum technologies, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing.

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