Investment, talent, not theft, drive China's R&D

China has made remarkable breakthroughs in science and technology during the four decades of reform and opening-up. For example, it has achieved progress in the fields of manned spaceship, deep submarine, supercomputers, and quantum communications technology. Besides, it has also enhanced its research capability.

These achievements would not have been possible without the efforts of Chinese scientists and the people's pursuit of happiness. It is therefore absurd for the United States to accuse China of "stealing" technologies and patents from US enterprises and researchers. In fact, it is impossible to imagine that a country with more than 1.3 billion people would depend on some "stolen" technologies for development.

Since 2000, China's investment in research and development has been growing at an average rate of 20 percent a year. Data show that in 2015, China's investment in R&D was the second largest in the world, even though it is still a developing country. China's investment in R&D accounts for 2.12 percent of its GDP, higher than the average 2.08 percent of all European Union member states.