China’s political class counts up sci-tech feats and counts on tipping point with US

As China’s political elite gathers for the country’s annual legislative sessions, we examine the broader forces likely to influence policies and decision-making for the coming year. In the eighth part of the series, Dannie Peng looks at recent strides made in China’s scientific and tech sectors, the country’s ambitions and the challenges it faces, particularly in its tech war with the United States.

In June, when China’s Chang’e-6 spacecraft touched down on the far side of the moon and scooped lunar soil from a crater older than life itself, the world watched in awe.

But in Washington, the reaction was edged with unease. Here, suddenly, was a feat even Nasa had never achieved – a symbol of China’s vaulting ambition in a 21st-century contest where science and geopolitics collide.

That moment crystallised a year of Chinese breakthroughs: ChatGPT-level AI models emerging from a Hangzhou start-up; sixth-gen stealth fighters flying over cities; humanoid robots mastering martial arts; brain-inspired chips redefining computing.

Meanwhile, state media proclaimed China the new heavyweight in scientific research, outpacing the US in high-impact studies. To some observers, the momentum suggests an inexorable shift in the global tech hierarchy.

“The tipping point has probably come,” said robotics scientist Geng Tao, the founder of Qibo Robot Company in China’s eastern Shandong province, which created Qibbot – a teleoperated, one-armed boxing robot.