CHINA-US: THE TECHNOLOGY ECONOMY
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A report released by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China in March 2017 said that China is marshaling massive resources to march into high-tech industries, from robotics to medical devices. In the case of semiconductors alone, the Chinese state has amassed US$ 150 billion to build a homegrown industry. It said China is employing a wide range of tools to pursue these ambitions, from lavishing subsidies on favored sectors to squeezing technology out of foreign firms. It added that Trump's restrictive immigration policies will deny the US of talent such as PhDs in science which will be aggravated by his decision to slash US$ 20 billion from the Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services to accommodate his plans for defence. In contrast, China is expanding access to education on a huge scale. Premier Li Keqiang, in his report to the National People’s Congress,which concluded on March 12, 2017, highlighted that the number of youngsters from poor rural areas enrolled in major universities rose by 21 percent in 2016, while almost 8 million students will graduate from college this year, an all-time high. Robin Li, CEO of the internet giant Baidu Inc., recently advocated that China ease its visa requirements to attract talented workers to help develop new technologies for Chinese industry. |