50 years on, has China left Europe behind in the race for a hi-tech future?

Chinese frms have caught up with and in some cases overtaken their European rivals, putting the EU on the defensive. In the EU, there was a feeling that Europe had missed the boat and been left behind, said Javier Borràs Arumí, a researcher at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, a Spanish think tank. “The prevailing mood is one of pessimism and stagnation,” he said. The EU claims that China has gained some of this industrial might –and an unfair competitive advantage– by bending international trade rules. This includes using state subsidies in sectors such as EVs and solar panels, resulting in excess capacity that is exported to other countries at below cost –claims China has repeatedly rejected. It has reached the point where the EU mainly views Chinese technology with fear –fear for its economy, security and values, according to Borràs. “The EU’s attitude towards Chinese technology is now mostly defensive; it is mainly something we need to protect ourselves from,” he said. “This is also strongly infuenced by US pressure to ban certain Chinese technologies.”