(Yicai) Jan. 11 -- Asia is catching up with Europe and the United States in the main technological fields of the new round of scientific and technical revolution, according to the secretary-general of the Boao Forum for Asia.

The quantity, quality, and industrialization level of innovation in Asian countries is accelerating, Li Baodong said yesterday. The continent's innovation position has been further strengthened and consolidated in the global innovation "triangle" of Asia, North America, and Europe, Li added.

According to the BFA Innovation Report 2023 released yesterday, the industrial application of the frontier technological innovations of the fourth scientific and technological revolution last year has entered a critical stage, including the application of big data and cloud computing, quantum computers, robotics and automation technology, and biotechnology such as gene editing.

Among the top 100 high-tech clusters in the world last year, the top five were all in East Asia, with Tokyo-Yokohama in Japan ranking first, followed by Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou in China, Seoul in South Korea, Beijing in China, and Shanghai-Suzhou in China, the report showed.

China became the economy with the largest number of high-tech clusters for the first time last year, with 24 in the top 100, according to data from the World Intellectual Property Organization of the United Nations. The country's Hefei and Qingdao were the two fastest-growing clusters.

However, global technological innovation faces challenges in research and development investment, as well as technological cooperation, technological governance, and technological talents, according to the report.

Some R&D investment has been shifted out of China and Europe, and this trend has been intensifying since last year. Regarding technological cooperation, the localization of the supply chain is a long-term trend, and industries, including artificial intelligence, new energy, quantum technology, and fifth-generation, may be forced to cut off the global supply chain.

The challenge with technological talent comes from the global expansion of talent introduction and the intensification of talent competition, which may lead to innovative talent from developing countries continuing to drain into developed countries.

China should attach importance to training students from other Asian and African countries in technology innovation, said Zafar Uddin Mahmood, policy adviser to the secretary-general of the BFA. This will help to promote the progress and development of the country's technological innovation, he added.

Editors: Shi Yi, Martin Kadiev