China raises stakes in high-tech rivalry with US investments
China is adopting a new stance in the race for technological dominance, competing with the USA. It plans to invest significant sums in the development of AI, robotics, and 6G networks, increasing its science budget by 10% year over year to approximately 46 billion pounds. The South China Morning Post writes that this strategy could shift the global balance of power.
Beijing has accelerated the 'technological arms race'. They have opted for a 10% rise in scientific spending for the second consecutive year. In 2025, they plan to allocate approximately 46 billion pounds (54 billion USD), reports the "South China Morning Post" (SCMP). These figures were included in the Chinese Ministry of Finance's budget proposal on Wednesday. Under the term "science," expenditures include the development of artificial intelligence, humanoid robots, and 6G networks.
SCMP notes that the integration of these technologies has the potential to shift the global balance of power.
China heavily invests in science
The English-language newspaper based in Hong Kong highlights that this clearly indicates that Beijing is aiming for dominance in future technologies. This is part of a strategy to help China win the competition with the United States and transform the global technological power balance.
This strategy involves attracting global talent and systematically investing in future technologies. The increase in Chinese science expenditures is the highest among all categories of government spending, surpassing diplomacy, public safety, education, and even defence.
According to China's Ministry of Finance, the funds will be spent on research and strategic science and technology ventures.
The US and China participate in a new "arms race"
At the end of January, the Bank of China presented an "Action Plan to Support the Development of the Artificial Intelligence Industry Chain." Over the next five years, at least 120 billion pounds (approximately 130 billion USD) will be allocated to provide financial support to AI-related entities. This will benefit technology sector leaders, including Huawei, Tencent, Baidu, and iFlytek, as well as key government and research institutions.
Piotr Sankowski from the University of Warsaw emphasised that this is a "new arms race" between China and the USA in the AI industry. "The Chinese plan was announced just after the USA declared 500 billion USD for the Stargate Project. It sounds like a new arms race... in which the EU's contributions to AI seem negligible, considering the recently announced plan to spend 1.5 billion euros on AI factories," Sankowski wrote on the X platform.
As part of the American Stargate Project over the next four years, new artificial intelligence infrastructure will be established for the leader of this technology in the USA, OpenAI, for 500 billion USD.
