Lunar New Year 2022: China’s 5 Biggest Tech Breakthroughs of 2021

Published on
03/02/2022 11:53 AM

This Lunar New Year 2022 marks the year of the tiger, and given how ferociously and swiftly China's tech sector accelerated in the last year, its economy seems to have matched the determination of our feline friends. In the usual fashion of the CCP, China initiated yet another 5 year plan in 2021, focusing on reducing fossil-fuel energy, increasing China's scientific and technological breakthroughs and also developing new quantum technology. 

China is known for its rapid industrial development and its thriving tech sector, so 2021 shaped up to be quite the year for our friends across the globe. The start of The 14th Five-Year Plan proved to come in with a , so let's look at our five picks for China's new era. 

TikTok beats YouTube

The social networking giant TikTok might have been at the root of a lot of controversy in 2021, particularly in countries such as the USA and India, however it gained more momentum than ever before. TikTok’s annual screen time surpassed that of YouTube in both the UK and USA last year, which is a new record for the emerging social network. This is certainly a huge achievement to celebrate this Lunar New Year 2022!

Chinese Digital Currency Gains Momentum

China has been ahead of the curve for a number of years when it comes to fintech, particularly when you take into account that digital banking apps such as AliPay and WeChat are used nationwide. Last year, however, China set the stage for a new era of digital currency - the eCNY. Local and central governments alike set out rollout programs last year for China’s central bank orientated digital currency. It is said that the People's Bank of China will soft-launch its digital currency globally this year during Beijing's Winter Olympics.

Chinese Startups Reach Record Breaking VC Funding

Despite extensive crackdowns by the CCP on China’s tech sector last year, China’s venture capital funding reached a new record. Standing at over $130 billion, China’s startups saw a sharp 50% increase in funding in 2021. China has found the best ways to corner the market, gaining funding particularly from chip technology and biotechnology.

While America still holds the record for VC funding, standing at a record breaking $296.6 billion last year, China has found the best ways to corner the market and excel at its niches. In fact, President Joe Biden will reportedly need more than $52 Billion to counter China in chips. 

Chinese AI Expands Into Healthcare Services

One advantage that China has managed to keep above many other countries is that many of their healthcare facilities are government owned, meaning that research is shared across different areas. For a country the size and population of China, this is especially effective in using data to empower their AI capabilities. For example, many hospitals in rural areas do not have ophthalmologists, but they do have AI powered retina scanners, thus providing treatment to those who need it.

Using AI in healthcare is by no means a new venture in China; in 2012, China overtook the United States in the number of papers it published by researchers who were attempting to combine computer science, biomedical engineering and AI. Still, 2021 proved to be a landmark year as new startups, including one that uses AI to assist cardiovascular disease diagnosis, joined China's ever-growing team of companies. 

 

China Is Preparing to Lead the Metaverse

When Mark Zuckerberg initially announced the move from Meta to Facebook, many of us were excited, confused and even skeptical about this new technology. What you might not know is that China has been preparing for the metaverse throughout all of 2021, and even before. Tencent, for example, is looking to expand into the metaverse via video games, using its portfolio companies such as Epic or Roblox to its advantage. 

Morgan Stanley recently observed that China's market stands to reach $8 trillion in the future, noting that it excluded NFTs from this equation, which could result in this figure being even higher.