Beijing: In a recent report by an Australian think tank, China is the global leader in 37 out of 44 crucial technologies, while Western democracies are lagging behind in the race for scientific and research breakthroughs.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute, China is poised to overtake the United States as the world's leading technology superpower, with its dominance already spanning defence, space, robotics, energy, the environment, biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced materials, and key quantum technology (ASPI).

Drones, artificial intelligence, electric batteries, nuclear energy, photovoltaics, quantum sensors, and the extraction of critical minerals are among the key industries that China dominates.

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According to ASPI, China is so entrenched in its dominance of some industries that all 10 of the world's top research institutions for specific technologies are based there.

According to ASPI, which is funded by the governments of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the US as well as private sector sources like the defence and tech industries, the US only leads in seven critical technologies, including quantum computing and space launch systems.

In the published report, South Korea and Germany rank among the top top five five nations in 20 and 17 technologies, respectively, while the UK and India rank among the top five nations in 29 of the 44 technologies.

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According to ASPI, democratic countries need to "wake up" to China's growing technological prowess, which the think tank attributes to long-term policy planning.

"In the long run, China's leading research position means that it has set itself up to excel not just in current technological development in nearly all sectors but in future technologies that do not yet exist," ASPI said in a commentary that accompanied the report.

"Unhindered, this might transition not just to technological advancement and regulate but also global power and influence to an authoritarian state where the development, testing, and application of emerging, critical, and military technologies are not open and transparent and cannot be inspected by independent civil society and media."

The think tank offered 23 suggestions for Western nations, as well as their allies and partners. The creation of R&D-funding sovereign wealth funds, the facilitation of technology visas, "friend-shoring" and international R&D grants, and the pursuit of fresh public-private partnerships are a few examples.

Moves to decouple their economies have been prompted by the fierce power struggle between the US and China. The administration of US President Joe Biden has implemented a slew of export restrictions and tax breaks intended to hamper China's tech sector and revive domestic manufacturing.

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