European monitor of industrial ecosystems : international report on China with a deep-dive on biotechnology

Based on the analysis, this report finds that China has boosted its competitiveness in terms of technology generation across several green and digital technology fields. In particular, in 2021, China outperformed both the EU and the US in terms of patent applications in energy saving technologies, clean production technologies, robotics, and blockchain. China is also a key global exporter of several of these technologies, especially of renewable energy technologies, energy saving technologies, and biotechnology. However, it still registers sharp trade deficits in the fields of micro- and nanoelectronics, artificial intelligence, and big data. Artificial intelligence and blockchain were the two technology fields where the country's competitiveness in terms of innovation witnessed a particularly sharp increase from 2011 to 2021. At the same time, in the fields of quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, renewable energy and recycling technologies, China has been gradually narrowing the gap with the EU. Zooming in on biotechnology, this report finds that China's biopharmaceutical and biomedicine sectors are developing especially fast, also linked to targeted state policies. The country's latest key policy to develop and diffuse biotechnology is the 14th Five-Year Plan for Bioeconomy (2021-2025), building upon other policy initiatives and funding instruments implemented in the past. So far, these policies have included as objectives, among, others, increasing R&D expenditures and reducing tax burdens for industrial R&D, creating specialised biotech centres and high-tech parks, creating biotechnology clusters (through incentives such as funding, tax exemptions, and government procurement), attracting foreign capital into the Chinese biotech industry and boosting international collaboration with foreign companies and research institutions, and attracting and recruiting talent from abroad.