The Deputy Director of the Expert Committee of the China Association of International Trade wrote an opinion article that People’s Daily then published. The article asserted that the statement that “China steals U.S. technology” is a total lie that the U.S. made up. It stated that the lie has risen to the level of “economic aggression,” which is alarmist. “By distorting the facts, the U.S. has tried to portray the development of China’s science and technology as a ‘threat to the world.’” It further pointed out that the purpose for this U.S. allegation is obvious. It is to “demonize China and fool the world.” The article then listed a number of China’s achievements. They include the following: 1) China has the second largest number of international patent applicants in the world and is expected to surpass the U.S. in three years. 2) China has increased its research funding, which accounted for 2.12 percent of GDP in 2017, up by 11.6 percent compared to 2016. 3) The annual amount of intellectual property fees that China paid has increased year by year. It is ranked the fourth in the world. 4) China has become a technology transfer country whose technology transfer fees were 311.5 percent higher in 2017 compared to 2016. 5) Chinese companies are the advocates and leaders in the advancement of China’s technological development.
The article concluded that China’s technological progress and development momentum comes from its own innovative development system. The scientific and technological interaction between China and the rest of the world is benign and mutually reinforcing. It is pure nonsense to accuse China of stealing American technology.
Source: People’s Daily, July 18, 2018
http://world.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0718/c1002-30153589.html