“It’s important that we seek to fill this gap so we don’t face a future in which one or two countries dominate new and emerging industries.” the report said. Other tech powers such as the U.K., India, Germany, and Japan are trailing in the distance, with smaller pools of research and investment in their respective technology fields.

are far above any other country worldwide. It did note, however, that China and the U.S. remains the leader include vaccines and quantum computing, the study found. ASPI also said a 2021 project on critical technologies funded by Australia’s Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet helped inform its direction. “Our data challenges that assertion, and indicates that China is delivering upon its strategic vision.” The project was funded by the State Department’s Global Engagement Center and a grant from the Special Competitive Studies Project. “The west has over-relied on the assertion that innovation can only occur in free markets supported and led by venture capital funding and entrepreneurship,” Jamie Gaida, a senior analyst at ASPI and co-author of the report told Fortune. The think tank urged Western governments to invest more in research and development. “Western democracies are losing the global technological competition, including the race for scientific and research breakthroughs,” said the ASPI report, which tracked “high-impact” research based on citation numbers to measure the areas in which countries were having breakthroughs.

occupies second place in most categories, China is far ahead thanks to its stellar research, knowledge imported from overseas, and years of policy work geared toward tech talent and investments. The study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), based in Canberra, found that in 37 out of 44 areas covering crucial technology such as defense, space, artificial intelligence, and robotics, China is clearly in the lead.

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