Today, let’s not talk about anything else, but rather a matter that might make your heart skip a beat. I believe it is even more precarious than the chip issue!Did you see the number? In 2022, we spent $48.7 billion on high-end instruments and equipment from abroad! With that money, we could accomplish so much. But what’s most frustrating? After spending this money, the “treasures” we bought are not even ours to use as we wish, and if they break, we can’t even touch them! Isn’t that a bit unfair? We’re essentially paying to keep a “foreign master” at our service!
You might think, hey, it’s just some instruments, why be so anxious? Just take a stroll around a hospital. CT scans, MRIs, various testing and analysis machines, don’t the labels next to them all read in foreign languages? German, English, Japanese… it’s like a United Nations meeting. This is not an isolated phenomenon; from major hospitals in Beijing and Shanghai to our local central hospitals, many critical devices rely on these “foreign gadgets” to hold the fort. The last time I took my family for a check-up, it felt like a tour of an imported goods exhibition.But what risks are hidden behind this? Are you afraid?If we get choked on chips, it’s uncomfortable, affecting our development speed, it’s a “food” issue. But if these high-end instruments get choked, that could be fatal! Medical diagnostics, scientific breakthroughs, industrial upgrades… these are the “lifelines” of national development! If one day, especially if that eagle country suddenly turns hostile and says, “Sorry, we’re not selling the equipment anymore, and we won’t repair it if it breaks,” we would be left dumbfounded, potentially going from “running” to “paralyzed”! This is truly cutting off the roots, gripping the most critical part of you!
Don’t think they are just selling equipment honestly. Those foreign manufacturers are quite shrewd! They sell you the equipment at exorbitant prices, and for subsequent maintenance, consumables, and upgrades, sorry, they are the only ones who set the prices. If it breaks? You can’t fix it yourself; if a core component fails, they send an engineer over, and it’s common to wait half a year for a repair. Some high-end equipment repairs are even sent back to their home country! They call it “factory restoration,” but who knows if the data you painstakingly gathered will also “disappear”?Who bears this loss? An important research project could be delayed for a year and a half just because the instrument is down, causing the project to fail, the technology to be snatched away, and the results handed over. This is like having worked hard for a year in the fields, just about to harvest, and then your neighbor locks your granary, saying, “I’ll eat first, you wait,” what’s the difference? Who can stand this kind of frustration!In the past, if the technology was lacking, we would accept it and buy! But now it’s different! Even the most challenging lithography machines and high-end chips, we are desperately catching up and starting to see the light. So in this equally critical field of high-end instruments, can we continue to comfortably “lie flat”? If we wait until they have a knife to our necks, it will be too late to resist!This market may not be as eye-catching as semiconductors, but its support for the country’s technological strength, medical standards, and industrial foundation is a solid “foundation.” Without precise “rulers,” how can we have advanced “vehicles”? Without high-definition “mirrors,” how can we explore the mysteries of the microscopic world? If the foundation is not solid, the earth will shake!Look at the global landscape; among the top twenty high-end instrument companies in the world, the U.S. occupies thirteen! The rest are mostly divided among Europe and Japan. And us? There are not many we can compete with. Can this situation not make people anxious? The U.S. is even imposing tariffs on washing machines; do you think they will go easy on this juicy piece of high-end instruments, this trump card? Once this becomes the next focus of sanctions, the consequences are unimaginable!Now, many of our research forces are focused on chips, which is indeed very important. But! We must not overlook these “silent foundations” —instrumentation! No matter how brilliant the scientist is, without effective “tools,” they can only look on helplessly. If high-end instruments are not domestically produced, it’s like having the key to the laboratory in someone else’s hands; if they don’t give it to you, you can’t even enter!The good news is that the country has begun to wake up, with policies and funding shifting towards this area. Many ambitious companies are also starting to take action, no longer satisfied with being “middlemen,” but rolling up their sleeves to do their own research and development. Although we still have a gap compared to the top levels abroad, at least we have taken the first step from “0” to “1”! The industrial chain is also beginning to take shape. Next, it’s about how to go from “having” to “good,” from “usable” to “well-used and durable”!If you ask me whether we can do it? I’m a stubborn person, and I believe in one thing: If others can do it, why can’t we Chinese do it?! If we dare to climb the difficult mountain of chips, what are we afraid of in this area of instruments? The key is to be determined, to have the spirit to tackle hard problems, to endure loneliness, and to sit through the cold bench!The West is certainly not pleased to see our rise, and various small actions are inevitable. But this matter cannot be avoided! If we do not take the initiative to break the deadlock, we will always be passively beaten. The sooner we act, the more we can control our own destiny!
They sell you equipment, signing a bunch of unfair terms, restricting this and that; that’s not doing business! That’s trying to keep you forever at the low end of the value chain, forever making you their “worker”! We don’t want to live like that for even a day!Rest assured, times have changed! Our engineers and scientists are no longer just “elementary school students” who can only follow. We have wisdom, resilience, and that unyielding spirit! Think of those sleepless figures in the laboratories; they carry the hopes of the entire nation!The road will not be easy, and we will certainly stumble. But as long as the direction is right, we will grit our teeth and move forward step by step! Just wait and see, it won’t be long before it’s their turn to envy our “Chinese intelligence”!Today, I just wanted to share my heartfelt thoughts with you. This “invisible battlefield” of high-end instruments, do you also think it’s quite critical? Or do you have stories related to this? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!