Science and technology

Main articles: Science and technology in China and Chinese space program

History of science and technology in China
Inventions Four Great Inventions Discoveries
By subject
Mathematics Astronomy Calendar Units of measurement Cartography Printing Ceramics Metallurgy Coinage Chinese Alchemy Traditional medicine herbology Agriculture Sericulture Silk industry Architecture Classic gardens Bridges Transport Navigation Military Navy
By era
Han Tang Song People's Republic Agriculture
v t e

Historical

China was a world leader in science and technology until the Ming Dynasty. Ancient Chinese discoveries and inventions, such as papermaking, printing, the compass, and gunpowder (the Four Great Inventions), later became widespread in Asia and Europe. Chinese mathematicians were the first to use negative numbers.^[333][334] However, by the 17th century, the Western world had surpassed China in scientific and technological development.^[335] The causes of this Great Divergence continue to be debated.^[336]
After repeated military defeats by Western nations in the 19th century, Chinese reformers began promoting modern science and technology as part of the Self-Strengthening Movement. After the Communists came to power in 1949, efforts were made to organize science and technology based on the model of the Soviet Union, in which scientific research was part of central planning.^[337] After Mao's death in 1976, science and technology was established as one of the Four Modernizations,^[338] and the Soviet-inspired academic system was gradually reformed.^[339]

Modern era

Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, China has made significant investments in scientific research,^[340] with $163 billion spent on scientific research and development in 2012.^[341] 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".^[342] Nonetheless, China's investment in basic and applied scientific research remains behind that of leading technological powers such as the United States and Japan.^[340][341] Chinese-born scientists have won the Nobel Prize in Physics four times, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physiology or Medicine once respectively, though most of these scientists conducted their Nobel-winning research in western nations.^[r]

The launch of a Chinese Long March 3B rocket

China is developing its education system with an emphasis on science, mathematics and engineering; in 2009, China graduated over 10,000 Ph.D. engineers, and as many as 500,000 BSc graduates, more than any other country.^[348] China is also the world's second-largest publisher of scientific papers, producing 121,500 in 2010 alone, including 5,200 in leading international scientific journals.^[349] Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and Lenovo have become world leaders in telecommunications and personal computing,^{[350][351][352]} and Chinese supercomputers are consistently ranked among the world's most powerful.^[353][354] China is also expanding its use of industrial robots; from 2008 to 2011, the installation of multi-role robots in Chinese factories rose by 136 percent.^[355]
The Chinese space program is one of the world's most active, and is a major source of national pride.^[356][357] In 1970, China launched its first satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, becoming the fifth country to do so independently.^[358] In 2003, China became the third country to independently send humans into space, with Yang Liwei's spaceflight aboard Shenzhou 5; as of 2015, ten Chinese nationals have journeyed into space, including two women. In 2011, China's first space station module, Tiangong-1, was launched, marking the first step in a project to assemble a large manned station by the early 2020s.^[359] In 2013, China successfully landed the Chang'e 3 probe and Yutu rover onto the Moon; China plans to collect lunar soil samples by 2017.^[360]