What slowdown? Xi Jinping says China must win the global tech race

Throughout China's annual legislative meeting, the national leader Xi Jinping made clear that he wants nothing to hold back his plans for China to march past its rivals by becoming a technological superpower. Not the economic slowdown or heavy local government debt, nor a trade war with the United States.

The meeting in Beijing, called the National People's Congress, was once a stage for Communist Party leaders to make a show of public consultation. Congress delegates, although handpicked by the party, sometimes chided officials over problems like pollution. There were even rare flashes of discord among senior officials.

Xi, though, has turned the meeting into a meticulously orchestrated, weeklong salute to himself and his vision. This time, he urged China to forge ahead in advanced technologies including artificial intelligence, biotechnology and new weapons.

"Xi has seen how decades of investment into science by the US government after World War II was a knockout success for the United States, and wants to replicate that," said Jimmy Goodrich, who studies China's science policies as a senior adviser at RAND, an organization that provides analysis to the US government and other clients.

"He believes strongly that only by being more self-sufficient and a global leader in science can China achieve success in upgrading its economy, boosting its military capabilities and achieving world-leader status," Goodrich said.

Xi's implicit message is that other efforts, such as restoring the confidence of China's private entrepreneurs, must align with that bigger national goal.

The annual congress allows Xi to give his priorities the gloss of public approval. Dissenting votes from the nearly 3,000 delegates have become exceedingly rare.

Xi's agenda told the story. On the first day of the congress, Xi met with delegates from Jiangsu province -- an industrial powerhouse -- and told them to "seize on scientific and technological innovation." The delegates were shown on state television diligently writing down his comments.

On the second day, Xi heard reports from scientists and education officials and emphasized the role of education in building China into a "science and technology great power."

On the third day, Xi put on his green military uniform to meet members of the People's Liberation Army. He demanded that China's military become more efficient in implementing modernization plans, rooting out graft, and also more nimble in applying advanced technologies to "accelerate the development of qualitatively new combat capabilities."

The public summary of his comments gave no details, but China's military has been working on next-generation jet fighters, unmanned drones, new submarines and other weapons.

Xi's priorities were also reflected in China's annual budget, which projects that government spending on science and technology will rise by 8.3 per cent this year, on education by 6.1 per cent and on the military by 7.2 per cent. The government set more modest increases of around 5 per cent in spending on health care and social welfare.

The Chinese government's science and technology budget this year is equal to about $172 billion, second to the United States. But government cuts under Trump could narrow the US lead. Including investment from businesses, the United States spent $806 billion on research and development in 2021, compared with $668 billion in China, according to an estimate last year from the US National Science Foundation.

"Over the past six or seven years of US-China strategic competition, the two most important issues have been geopolitics and technology," said Wang Hsin-hsien, a professor at National Chengchi University in Taipei who studies Chinese politics. "In China they probably see that there may be a little less pressure on them geopolitically, but there won't be any easing up from Trump on the technology front."

Some critics have argued that Xi's bet on futuristic goals comes at the cost of providing help to Chinese citizens struggling to make ends meet. The economy is still sagging under a steep fall in housing prices. The number of retirees is growing and the birthrate has slumped. Yet Xi appears insistent that China can overcome its problems by tilting spending to technological projects and upgrading industry.

Xi has not indicated a willingness to rein in China's export drive after Trump imposed additional tariffs on goods from China.

Nor does Xi seem worried about any threats to his political dominance. After more than 12 years in power, he has given no sign of choosing a successor. The retired leaders who may once have hemmed in his power have mostly passed away. He has never slackened his tight grip on the key levers of power, such as the Ministry of State Security, said Jonathan Czin, a researcher at the Brookings Institution who formerly worked in the Central Intelligence Agency and studies Chinese politics.

"So far, I see zero evidence of meaningful cracks in Xi's control. Who at this point in Xi's tenure would have the temerity to challenge Xi?" Czin said. "He wields the anti-corruption apparatus like a cudgel, ready to bludgeon any potential opponent."