China has surpassed the US to become the world’s leader in high-tech competitiveness, according to a study at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the South China Morning Post reported. The study, which has been funded by the US National Science Foundation since the mid-1980s, gave China a rating of 82.8 for 2007, while the US scored 76.1, down from its peak score in 1999 of 95.4. The ratings measure four factors: orientation towards technological competitiveness, socioeconomic infrastructure, technological infrastructure and productive capacity. In 2007, China trailed the US by only US$100 million in the value of technological exports.
Categories