Chinanews, Beijing, Apr. 18 – China lags behind developed countries by at least two generations in developing core technologies. Chinese scientific researchers should have a sober mind to this fact and raise their sense of anxiety in catching up with developed countries, said Li Guojie, an academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

 

He made the statement when invited to deliver a speech at the China Science and Humanities Forum on Monday afternoon. The forum was hosted by the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (GSCAS).

 

Li, who is also head of the Computer Technology Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that as far as he knew, China lagged behind developed countries by at least two generations in the development of some core technologies, such as chips or computers. "For chips, it normally takes two years to develop one generation of chips. So in chip industry, China lags behind developed countries by at least four years," he said. He hoped that by 2020, Chinese science researchers could narrow the gap with developed countries to within one generation in chip design.

 

For thousands of years, or for at least two thousand years, China had remained as a strong nation in the world. Chinese people shouldn't lack confidence in themselves with the thinking that China can not become a strong nation in the world. On the other hand, we should also admit that China has experienced many difficulties in the past two centuries. If the young people of a nation lack ambitions and pursue material gains too much, the nation will become less cohesive. On the whole, it takes time for China to achieve resurgence in the world, Li said, adding that he has “high expectations for the Chinese young people.”