US sanctions boost China’s science-driven innovation by over 70%, study finds

Sanctioned Chinese companies are increasingly turning to open-source research to innovate and reverse-engineer restricted foreign technology, with a 72 per cent surge in scientific literature citations in their patent applications, according to a new study.

While the United States said it expanded its Entity List to safeguard national security and preserve its technological edge, an analysis of Chinese patent filings over the 12 years until 2022 showed that US restrictions on access to technology had driven Chinese firms to widely source publicly available scientific knowledge and conduct more of their own research.

“Our analysis reveals that US trade sanctions, such as the Entity List, have generated consequences that US policymakers may not have fully anticipated,” the researchers wrote in a policy article published in the peer-reviewed journal Science on Friday.

“Though hindering the targeted firms’ short-term operations, sanctions may also catalyse these firms’ development of internal capabilities and drive strategic shifts, potentially leading to the emergence of separate technological systems that compete with, rather than integrate into, the current global innovation ecosystem,” they wrote.