Xi Jinping admits China is ‘relatively weak’ on innovation and needs more talent to dominate the tech ‘battlefield’

• China's leader, Xi Jinping, is urging his country's scientists to innovate in the tech sector.
• While praising China's progress overall, he also highlighted several pressing shortcomings in the country.
• He said China's innovation was "still relatively weak," and had a shortage of top talent.

China's leader, Xi Jinping, made several admissions of the country's shortcomings in its race to become the world's tech powerhouse, saying its innovation is "relatively weak" and that its scientists are overburdened.

To be sure, Xi's remarks on Tuesday at a national conference in Beijing lauded China's science industries overall.

But he also highlighted glaring challenges and pressed the country to focus on tech growth, which he said is now the "main battlefield of international competition."

"Although the country's science and technology development has made great progress, its original innovation capabilities are still relatively weak," Xi said.

Indeed, Xi mentioned innovation 55 times in his speech on Tuesday, emphasizing it while discussing artificial intelligence, quantum technology, biotech, and new energy.

And China's tech breakthroughs are too scattered across various companies and sectors for Xi's liking, with him saying they suffer a "low degree of organization and coordination" that needs addressing.

Core technologies are out of China's hands, Xi says

Key to his push for innovation is the idea of China becoming self-reliant — a common theme across all of his ideologies — especially as tensions with the West grow.

"The scientific and technological revolution and the wrestling between superpowers are intertwined," Xi said.

While he did not name the US, Xi said it was clear China would have to fix how "some key core technologies are controlled by others."

The comment comes as the US has threatened to expand sanctions on several Chinese chip firms linked to Huawei and blocked the sale of advanced semiconductors essential to developing artificial intelligence technology.

Last week, the US Treasury Department labeled China a "country of concern" and proposed new rules to limit international investment in "the next generation of military, intelligence, surveillance or cyber-enabled capabilities that pose national security risks to the United States."

Researchers still caught up in red tape

Xi also raised a shortage of manpower and top talent in the tech and science spaces. Researchers were still complaining of "heavy non-academic burdens" like red tape with publishing papers, busywork in official reports, and asking for resources, he said.

He added that China would have to "improve incentive systems" like better awards for science and tech and a more even wage system for employees and researchers.

While the US has been in the middle of its own technological boom, thanks in part to giants like OpenAI, Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft, Business Insider previously reported that bosses in China's tech sector are upping the pressure on workers following the loss of around $1.3 trillion in market value by the country's top five tech companies since 2021.

The Chinese government has been especially focused on developing artificial intelligence technology. BI previously reported that an April report by Microsoft indicated China-linked social media accounts plan to use AI-generated media to influence elections in the US.

With all said on Tuesday, it's clear Xi wants China to not just be a major player in the tech space but to dominate it.

"We must bolster our sense of urgency. We must go further with our efforts to innovate," Xi said. "To occupy the commanding heights of science and tech competition and future development."