Editor's note: Recently, Wang Wen, Executive Dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Chinese University, was invited to attend the 2024 China Enterprise Competitiveness Annual Conference on "20 Years of Chinese Business Leap and Innovation Leading New Business Civilization". Talking about the characteristics of the fourth industrial revolution, he said, "The first three rounds of the industrial revolution were all about liberating our limbs and five senses, cars made our legs run faster, cranes made our hands stronger, and our mobile phones, telephones, and televisions liberated our eyes and ears." And this round of industrial revolution is to liberate our brains. This article is transferred from the WeChat public account of "Business School" on June 16.
On August 9, 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on technology investment, restricting U.S. investment and transactions with China in so-called sensitive high-tech sectors, including semiconductors, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence.
"This has once again aggravated the 'Cold War' color of the United States' high-tech suppression and blockade of China in recent years. The U.S. policy of 'decoupling' from China's high-tech industry reflects the white-hot level of global science and technology competition in the third decade of the 21st century. Wang Wen said.
Wang Wen said, "The sense of crisis in the US government and opposition has increased sharply, and now the United States' self-confidence in China's scientific and technological development, including the rise of soft power, has reached the eve before the collapse," and "from this point of view, it can indeed be seen that China's scientific and technological progress is real."
He believes that as far as China is concerned, there is no need to be afraid of the high-tech "cold war," and we have the confidence to move from following to running alongside, or even leading. This new high-tech cold war will certainly put pressure on our undertakings in the short term. However, in the medium and long term, it will break our illusions and look at our future more from the perspective of scientific and technological independence and national independence.
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The fourth scientific and technological revolution to liberate the "brain".
In Wang Wen's view, this global scientific and technological competition directly determines the ownership of a new wave of corporate dividends, the advent of a new batch of technological geniuses, the success or failure of a new regional development, the win or loss of a new round of great power competition, and even the direction of a new civilization evolution.
How is the Fourth Scientific and Technological Revolution different from the previous three revolutions? The difference between the fourth scientific and technological revolution and the previous three revolutions is that the first three scientific and technological revolutions were the mechanization revolution, the electrification revolution and the computer revolution, while the fourth revolution emphasizes the new quality of productive forces, that is, all economies regard the ability of scientific and technological innovation as the basic ability to maintain their own security. Therefore, from this point of view, science and technology determine national security, which is a development logic.
"At present, artificial intelligence is still weak artificial intelligence, and it has not yet reached the explosive stage of strong artificial intelligence and the fourth round of scientific and technological revolution. From the fourth round of the industrial revolution of artificial intelligence that emerged around 2015 to now can only be said to be an embryonic stage, the power of human and civilization transformation we are facing, as Schwab, the founder of the Davos Forum, said, the fourth industrial revolution we are experiencing may set off the changes of the entire human civilization. I think this round of the industrial revolution is more three-dimensional, diversified and leapfrogging. Wang Wen pointed out.
Wang Wen pointed out that the basic business forms (of the fourth scientific and technological revolution) are roughly composed of four types of technologies: the first type of technology is space and ocean technology with the goal of expanding human living space. The second category of technologies is zero-carbon, clean-oriented global energy technologies. The third category is brain-computer interface, gene editing, and life science technologies represented by synthetic medical biology. The fourth category is the manufacturing equipment technology represented by digitalization, new materials, and machine substitution. Of course, the most important thing we have to contact more is quantum information, high-end chips, metaverse, and information technology represented by artificial intelligence. Therefore, these four types of technologies support the logic of the basic scientific and technological changes of the fourth round of industrial revolution.
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The next decade is an important juncture
Wang Wen paid attention to a very interesting phenomenon, in the past decade, economic growth has been sluggish, but the investment in scientific and technological research and development has been stable at 1.5 times the economic growth, and we continue to measure the innovation process of the economy, and the innovation performance of most economies is more active than we expected.
"For example, the R&D, expenditure, and growth of the world's top companies have far exceeded those before 2020, and we have published more than 2 million scientific and technological papers worldwide for the first time, venture capital transactions are surging, and the number of PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) applications in the patent cooperation treaty is also getting stronger year by year, and even China's PCT applications have surpassed the United States." Wang Wen gave an example.
Many American strategists have pointed out that if China were to lead the fourth scientific and technological revolution, it would mean the great decline of the entire Western civilization over the past 500 years. So, can and will Western civilization decline? Wang Wen believes that the next ten years will be in this move.
The next decade will be a very important node for the layout of investment and technological innovation. In the global competition in science and technology, each country sees it as the basis for maintaining its own security.
In the past few years, the United States launched the Innovation and Competition Act in June 2021, the Chip Science Act in August 2022, and the Artificial Intelligence R&D Strategy in May 2023.
In the face of the "small courtyard and high walls" of Western countries, how will China respond to the "new high-tech Cold War"?
In this regard, Wang Wen put forward four suggestions, first, to break the situation. "We still have 49 high-tech technologies that are still stuck. More than 80% of our chips are still imported. Therefore, we need to bring in more and more high-tech talents from all over the world. Wang Wen further said that in the field of great power game and economic development, entrepreneurs should pay attention to the main position of enterprises and find a breakthrough.
Second, reconstruct the new situation. To establish a pattern system of collaborative innovation linkage of "industry-learning-people-research", it is necessary to fully release the potential of the flow of talents, capital, information and other factors.
Third, lead the change. If we want to be a leader ourselves, we can rely on the Belt and Road Multilateral Cooperation Initiative and related platforms, or set up offshore innovation centers.
Fourth, revive the overall situation. Accelerate the improvement of the digital economy, digital life, and digital national governance, and realize the digital construction of the road to building a strong socialist country with Chinese characteristics.
Wang Wen said that in the face of the prospect of the global high-tech Cold War, China should not be discouraged, and should grasp the new historical opportunity period, develop excellent technology, ambition, spirit and strength, and ultimately serve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
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Established on January 19, 2013, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Chinese University of China (Renmin University Chongyang) is the main funding project donated by Chongyang Investment to Chinese University and set up an education fund for operation.
As a new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics, Chongyang has hired dozens of former politicians, bankers, and well-known scholars from around the world as senior researchers, aiming to pay attention to reality, advise the country, and serve the people. At present, the Chongyang National People's Congress has 7 departments and 4 operation and management centers (the Center for Ecological Finance, the Center for Global Governance, the Center for China-US People-to-People Exchange, and the China-Russia Center for People-to-People Exchange). In recent years, the Chongyang National People's Congress has been highly recognized at home and abroad in the fields of financial development, global governance, major-country relations, and macroeconomic policy.