(Bloomberg) — President Xi Jinping has called on China to step up innovation as other countries dominate certain key technologies, comments that underscore his country’s growing semiconductor showdown with the United States.
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Although China has “made great progress” in science, he said “the original innovation capacity is still relatively weak; some essential technologies are controlled by others; and there is a shortage of top scientific and technological talent.”
Speaking at a national scientific conference on Monday, Xi pointed out “bottlenecks and constraints in areas such as integrated circuits, industrial machine tools, basic software, advanced materials” and more.
Last week, the US Treasury Department said the new rules it proposes would restrict foreign investment in critical technology to “next-generation military, intelligence, surveillance, or cyber capabilities that pose national security risks to the United States.” .
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said nearly a year ago that the planned investment controls would be narrowly focused and supplement existing export rules. These restrictions, announced in October 2022, marked an escalation in Washington’s technological battle with Beijing, blocking the sale of advanced semiconductors, as well as the technology and knowledge to manufacture them.
On Monday, China’s Ministry of Commerce urged the US to respect fair competition and abandon proposed investment restrictions. He added that Beijing had the right to take action in response.
In his speech, Xi said that his nation would maintain its goal of “building a country strong in science and technology by 2035”.
That goal “would support the global leap in economic strength, national defense strength and overall national strength,” he added.
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