# Modern era

By [iesha168](https://paragraph.com/@iesha168) · 2021-10-29

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Since the end of the Cultural Revolution,\[[_citation needed_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)\] China has made significant investments in scientific research[\[408\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-CWRD-426) and is quickly catching up with the US in R&D spending.[\[409\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-427)[\[410\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-428) In 2017, China spent $279 billion on scientific research and development.[\[411\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-429) According to the [OECD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OECD), China spent 2.11% of its GDP on research and development (R&D) in 2016.[\[412\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-430) Science and technology are seen as vital for achieving China's economic and political goals, and are held as a source of national pride to a degree sometimes described as "techno-nationalism".[\[413\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-TeNat-431) According to the [World Intellectual Property Indicators](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Intellectual_Property_Indicators), China received 1.54 million patent applications in 2018, representing nearly half of patent applications worldwide, more than double the US.[\[414\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-432) In 2019, China was No. 1 in international patents application.[\[415\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-433) China was ranked 12th, 3rd in Asia & Oceania region and 2nd for countries with a population of over 100 million in the [Global Innovation Index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Innovation_Index) in 2021, it has increased its ranking considerably since 2013, where it was ranked 35th.[\[416\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-:10-434)[\[417\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-435)[\[418\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-436)[\[419\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-437) China ranks first globally in the important indicators, including patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs, and creative goods exports and it also has 2 ([Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangdong-Hong_Kong-Macau_Greater_Bay_Area) and [Beijing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing) in the 2nd and 3rd spots respectively) of the global top 5 science and technology clusters, which is more than any other country.[\[416\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-:10-434) Chinese tech companies [Huawei](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huawei) and [ZTE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZTE) were the top 2 filers of international patents in 2017.[\[420\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-438)[\[421\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-439) Chinese-born academicians have won the [Nobel Prize in Physics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Physics) four times, the [Nobel Prize in Chemistry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Chemistry), [Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine) and [Fields Medal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fields_Medal) once respectively, though most of them conducted their prize-winning research in western nations.[\[s\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-446)\[[_improper synthesis?_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research#Synthesis_of_published_material)\]

[Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiuquan_Satellite_Launch_Center), one of the first Chinese spaceports

China is developing [its education system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_China) with an emphasis on [science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STEM_fields); in 2009, China graduated over 10,000 PhD engineers, and as many as 500,000 [BSc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSc) graduates, more than any other country.[\[428\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-447) China also became the world's largest publisher of [scientific papers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_publishing_in_China) in 2016.[\[429\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-448) Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and [Lenovo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenovo) have become world leaders in telecommunications and personal computing,[\[430\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-449)[\[431\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-450)[\[432\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-451) and Chinese [supercomputers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercomputer) are consistently ranked among the [world's most powerful](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOP500).[\[433\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-452)[\[434\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-453) China has been the world's largest market for industrial robots since 2013 and will account for 45% of newly installed robots from 2019 to 2021.[\[435\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-454)

The [Chinese space program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_space_program) is one of the world's most active. In 1970, China launched its first satellite, [Dong Fang Hong I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dong_Fang_Hong_I), becoming the fifth country to do so independently.[\[436\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-455) In 2003, China became the third country to independently send humans into space, with [Yang Liwei](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Liwei)'s spaceflight aboard [Shenzhou 5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_5); as of 2021, [thirteen Chinese nationals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_astronauts) have journeyed into space, including two women. In 2011, China's first space station module, [Tiangong-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong-1), was launched, marking the first step in a project to assemble [a large crewed station](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_space_station) by the early 2020s.[\[437\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-456) In 2013, China successfully landed the [Chang'e 3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e_3) lander and [Yutu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yutu_\(rover\)) rover onto the lunar surface.[\[438\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-457) In 2016, the first [quantum science satellite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Experiments_at_Space_Scale) was launched in partnership with [Austria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria) dedicated to testing the fundamentals of quantum communication in space.[\[439\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-458)[\[440\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-459) In 2019, China became the first country to land a probe—[Chang'e 4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e_4)—on the [far side of the moon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_side_of_the_Moon).[\[441\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-460) In 2020, the first experimental [6G](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6G_\(network\)) test satellite was launched[\[442\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-461)[\[443\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-462) and [Chang'e 5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e_5) successfully returned moon samples to the Earth, making China the third country to do so independently after the United States and the Soviet Union.[\[444\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-463) In 2021, China became the second nation in history to independently land a [rover (Zhurong)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhurong_\(rover\)) on Mars, joining the United States.

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*Originally published on [iesha168](https://paragraph.com/@iesha168/modern-era)*