The Development of Chinese Industries in the 4th Industrial Revolution and Korea-China Cooperation

Lately, as the U.S.-China trade war has developed into a scramble for market dominance in the fourth industrial revolution, China’s development of new industries associated with fourth industrial revolution technologies is gaining more attention. China has already reached globally-competitive levels of technological sophistication in the new technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, such as system semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, and the US-China tech war has in fact something to do with the rapid growth of these new technologies in China. China’s rapid growth in these technologies, where the complementary vertical division of labor for traditional major industries between Korea and Japan is not applicable, is a considerable threat to Korea. Therefore, the promotion strategies and present competitiveness of China’s new industries need to be investigated so that Korea’s industries can react and enhance their competitiveness against the rapid growth in China. In this report, trends and changes in the industrial policies of China -- which is quickly emerging as a major rival in new technology as the fourth industrial revolution progresses -- will be studied, and the industrial ecosystem and competitiveness level between Korea and China will be compared and analyzed. It is expected that comparisons of the growth rate and development conditions of the two countries will offer a useful frame of reference when plotting competition and cooperation strategies. The objects for analysis comprise the following: system semiconductors, robots, AI, big data, and 5G mobile telecommunications of the new industries associated with the fourth industrial revolution