Chinese President Calls For Strengthening Basic Research To Overcome Advanced Technology Export Control From US

JAKARTA - Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China must solve problems in key technology areas from the ground up. This was reported by the country's state media, as China faces an increasing number of controls on exports of advanced technology, which mainly come from the United States.

Xi said on Tuesday, February 21, during a study session of the 24-person Politburo, one of the ruling Chinese Communist Party's highest decision-making bodies, that China needs to strengthen basic research in science and technology if it is to achieve independence and become a global technological power, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

"In order to face international science and technology competition, achieve a high degree of autonomy and self-improvement... we urgently need to strengthen basic research and solve key technology problems at the source," Xi was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

The call comes as China faces a tailwind in a years-long effort to catch up with the United States and its allies in advanced semiconductor technology. In January, Japan and the Netherlands agreed to comply with export restrictions on the Chinese chip sector announced by the US government in October 2022.

Initial US sanctions were aimed at China's purchase of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) computing chips, as well as equipment that chip manufacturers can use to produce leading computing chips.

Xi also said last Tuesday that it is necessary to cultivate China's top technological talent, repeating a speech in 2021 in which he said that by 2035, China "should become one of the world's leading countries in terms of strategic technological strength and power and an army of high-quality talent."