In 2023, Harbin Institute of Technology shouted "Challenge the cutting-edge, instrument to serve the country!" slogan.
This shows that instruments are no less important than munitions.
The manufacture of precision instruments is monopolized by foreign countries, and once other countries get stuck in our necks, related industries will immediately come to a standstill.
China's new challenges
Some foreign countries are timed according to latitude and longitude, and if you use a Chinese analogy, there will be a time difference between the three cities of Tibet, Henan, and Shanghai.
Therefore, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, all of China, regardless of the southeast, northwest, and north, took Beijing time as the standard.
And the Beijing time shown in our news broadcast, the time of the opening of our Olympic Games, is actually measured by time measuring instruments.
The core technology of this instrument is still in the hands of foreigners, and there is still a big gap between our independent manufacturing and the international level.
Not only for time, but almost all of the tests in the continental sea and marine environment, as well as biological instruments, were monopolized by foreign countries.
Marine monitoring is related to the territorial security of the mainland, and biological instruments are related to our security of the virus.
If there is a constant dependence on foreign imports in these respects, this is an insecurity factor in national security, social security.
What does this mean? This means that mainland researchers have to "pay" to US and Japanese companies when carrying out experimental research and using sophisticated equipment.
There are 10 high-end precision instrument manufacturing companies in the United States, 6 in Japan, 4 in Germany, and 2 in the United Kingdom.
Countries all over the world have to import instruments to 22 companies in these four countries, and they have reached a worldwide monopoly.
The world's only device capable of precisely treating cancer and tumors, proton beam cancer radiotherapy equipment, is manufactured only in Japan.
The presidents of the United States, wealthy businessmen, including the aristocrats of Europe, are using this instrument to treat their own diseases.
Japan's Fujitsu scanner and independently developed optical character recognition software have helped China's National Bureau of Statistics complete the statistics and census of 1.4 billion people.
China has set the strictest blood testing requirements, and Japan's Sysmex has successfully built the world's most accurate testing equipment according to our standards.
A few years ago, not only could we not produce high-level precision instruments, but we couldn't even get a "knock-off" version.
In order to obtain these components, it is necessary to accept the technical restrictions and price constraints of American and Japanese companies.
In the face of this passive situation, we have to ask sadly: as a big country in science and technology, why can't even the most basic instruments and equipment be produced independently?
How can we have a voice on the international stage if we have been "dragged by pigtails" for a long time in this critical area?
Reasons for backwardness
The emergence of each phenomenon has its deep historical origins. The same is true of the current state of the precision instrument industry, and to solve this mystery, we must go back to recent history to find the crux of the problem.
The rise of American and Japanese precision instruments was accompanied by war and aggression.
During that turbulent era, the military's demand for precision equipment such as binoculars and night vision devices surged.
The governments of the two countries have used the plundered resources to give strong support to military science in terms of policies and funds, so that precision instrument enterprises have sprung up like mushrooms in this fertile soil.
After more than ten years of development, they have led the formulation of industry standards with their own strong technical force, and their products are all over the world.
In stark contrast, China has been suffering from war and has struggled to develop.
We first developed the atomic bomb to ensure national security, and then developed industry, agriculture, and hospitals to improve people's lives.
The precision instrument business has not been important enough, and there is not so much knowledge accumulation and resources to develop.
Restricted by the incomplete industrial chain, domestic enterprises have long relied on foreign imports of high-end optical components and materials, and their independent innovation capabilities are obviously insufficient.
It was not until the second half of the 20th century that the state attached great importance to the instrument industry, and the mainland instrument industry gradually broke away from the state of complete dependence on imports.
However, the gap between China and the developed countries is still large, and stubborn diseases such as lack of talent and insufficient capital investment still restrict the pace of our development.
It is precisely because of the deep imprint of the above historical reasons that the current backward situation of the mainland's precision optical instrument industry.
Only by profoundly understanding its origin can we better understand the situation and clarify the direction of breakthrough.
In order for the tree of independent innovation in this field to blossom and bear fruit, it is necessary to start by strengthening basic research and laying a solid theoretical foundation for the future.
Because there are still certain weak links in the mainland's research on optical theory, we should concentrate our efforts on systematically sorting out and consolidating them, and speed up the training of a number of theoretical talents.
Under the guidance of solid theory, our understanding of scientific laws is more comprehensive and deeper, and the road of independent innovation of precision instruments has also begun to make achievements.
Whether it is advanced experimental equipment, abundant financial investment, or efficient administrative support, these will help unleash their innovative vitality and make scientific research results continue to emerge.
The state gives priority to supporting enterprises that can make up for the shortcomings of the mainland's industrial chain, and guides funds to invest in basic areas such as key components and raw materials.
In this way, we can effectively alleviate the dilemma of external dependence and free up more room for local enterprises to develop.
Vigorously support a number of powerful enterprises to become the "vanguard" of the industry, and continue to keep up with international advanced enterprises in terms of product quality and brand influence.
With the rise of these outstanding enterprises, they are expected to become the backbone of the local precision instrument industry and promote the overall progress of the entire industry.
Of course, in the process of exploring the road of independent innovation, we must also learn from the developed countries with an open mind advanced technology and management experience.
Overcoming the world-class problem of precision instruments is not a day's work, but as long as we persevere, we will eventually get a take-off in our career.
Once the key core technology has been broken through, we can take advantage of the strong domestic manufacturing base, make efforts in large-scale production and brand marketing, and further enhance our competitiveness in the international market.
Information sources:
Guangming.com: Take the initiative of scientific and technological development in your own hands
The Paper: Which countries are the world's top precision instrument technology mastered?
Harbin Institute of Technology News Network: The front page headline of "China Education News" praised Harbin Institute of Technology for serving the country