Yessi Bello Perez: China’s no copycat on tech and may overtake the West

What do companies such as Didi Chuxing and Bitmain Technologies have in common? They are Chinese unicorns, part of a long list of tech companies worth more than $1 billion. In fact, China’s business aptitude is such that the country was responsible for birthing 80% of Asian unicorns from 2012 to 2017.

The populous east Asian nation is making strides in its quest to become the world’s dominant player in business and technology. Under its Made in China 2025 plan, the government wants to transform the country into a high-tech manufacturing hub by leveraging state-run subsidies and acquiring intellectual property in a bid to catch up with and then surpass the West.

China is desperate to rid itself of the copycat stigma which has tarnished its reputation for years. As a result, entrepreneurship there has developed at breakneck speed over the past decade and the value of some tech companies such as Tencent or Alibaba has exceeded that of their US counterparts.

According to Xinhua, China’s official state-run press agency, the internet and technology sector grew 18% in 2017, outpacing overall economic growth. China’s strategic approach has already helped the delivery of large-scale projects. In recent years, it has made an effort to invest in its start-up culture, even going as far as incentivising Chinese students abroad to return home and set up a business.

Money is widely available, too. China’s policy for mass entrepreneurship has set aside a hefty $320 billion, a move which will probably take it from an industrial economy to one underpinned by innovation.

The country’s advantages lie around implementation, its structured government approach and the population’s seeming compliance with state edicts. China’s sheer scale is also of benefit for fast-growing businesses and with that scale comes the abundance of relevant data, which is the fuel machine-learning systems feed off. It’s long been accepted that Chinese consumers and tech companies, which operate with the government’s implicit approval, are less concerned with privacy than their Western counterparts.

Although this is quickly changing, there’s an underlying sentiment that Chinese users are more willing to trade their personal data in exchange for greater convenience and safety, although perhaps the more interesting question is whether the notion of privacy is different in China. Regardless, with its easy access to data and potential funding, China will be able to gain better predictions, efficiency and profits with less labour and costs. More importantly, advancements in technology will confer advantages in every sector, from business and healthcare to the military.

While China aggressively rolls out its innovation strategy, the US government suffers further ridicule at the hands of its President, whose only interaction with technology comes in the form of his notorious Twitter rants. Throughout his tenure, it’s become obvious that Donald Trump resents big tech, mostly because he doesn’t understand it, a mistake the leader of the Free World can’t afford to make, especially with China’s ambitions.

Headlines about the Trump administration’s trade war with China typically focus around raw materials such as aluminium and steel, but don’t be fooled: the President’s resurgence of protectionism is most likely driven by anxiety about China’s growing technology prowess.

There are many areas where countries such as the US still excel. For example, China is still second to the US across a range of AI drivers, including hardware and talent. For Chinese innovation to really take off, the country needs to attract and retain its home-grown talent. But, with the government’s full backing, it’s undeniable that China is in the age of implementation.

To keep up, the West must change how it perceives Chinese technology businesses as being mere copycats of Western products. It must also acknowledge that, in some instances, China is ahead by leaps and bounds.

The biggest danger facing western governments and the tech behemoths in Silicon Valley is their widespread complacency and self-confessed supremacy.