Illustration: Liu Xidan/GT

China's universities and research institutes are becoming more active in commercializing research, with 4,059 institutions transferring technologies through channels such as licensing and consulting in 2024. The total contract value rose by about 10 percent from the previous year, according to a report released by the National Center for Science and Technology Evaluation (NCSTE) at the Pujiang Innovation Forum 2025, as cited by the Science and Technology Daily. The figures point to a steady deepening of collaboration between academia and industry.

In today's global environment, some Western economies have intensified their use of export controls, unsettling established supply chains. China's technology sector, by contrast, has continued to register rapid advances. Behind this resilience lie multiple drivers, and among the most important is the commercialization of research. Acting both as an incubator and a bridge between discovery and deployment, it ensures that breakthroughs are translated into market-ready applications. In doing so, it provides the critical junction where the innovation chain links seamlessly with the industrial chain.

The push to commercialize research in China is producing visible results across multiple fronts. First, despite an increasingly complex international environment, research from China's universities and institutes is moving more quickly into industrial application. This acceleration is providing high-tech sectors with a more sustainable source of momentum. By ensuring that scientific breakthroughs do not remain confined to laboratories but are converted into tangible economic activity, China is accelerating its drive toward greater technological self-reliance.

Second, these achievements are showing stronger market relevance. By narrowing the gap between discovery and deployment, a growing number of original and frontier technologies are being translated into productive capacity. This reflects not only the readiness of China's innovation system but also the greater willingness of domestic enterprises to adopt advanced technologies. As industries seek to sharpen their global competitiveness, this ability to commercialize quickly is becoming a crucial advantage.

Third, talent has emerged as a decisive factor. China has built a professional workforce dedicated to technology transfer, which is vital to sustaining momentum. According to the NCSTE's report, as of the end of 2024 universities and research institutes employed 18,248 full-time staff focused on the commercialization of sci-tech achievements. With this pool of expertise in place, the scale and impact of technology transfers are expected to expand further, reinforcing China's capacity to translate research into innovation-driven growth.

This acceleration is likely to have global implications. Although China still faces hurdles in technology transfer and has room for improvement, its ability to move research more quickly into commercial use is expected to open new avenues for international collaboration.

China has long been not only a participant and beneficiary of international scientific cooperation, but also a contributor and advocate. There is a recognition in China that technological self-reliance and international openness are not contradictory but mutually reinforcing. This perspective has shaped the country's approach to innovation: building domestic capabilities while remaining engaged in global collaboration.

The acceleration of technology transfer in China, and the high-tech business outcomes it generates, is opening new possibilities for cooperation with other countries, including many developing economies. Technologies that have already proven their commercial value in the intense competition of China's domestic market also carry the potential to create opportunities in international partnerships.

Global technology supply chains are being disrupted by trade measures introduced by certain economies. In this context, China's technological progress can offer developing countries a wider range of affordable, market-ready options. These choices are expected to strengthen South-South cooperation in science and technology, while expanding the space for more inclusive forms of global innovation.

In recent years, China has carried out a wide range of innovative initiatives to expand and deepen scientific cooperation with developing countries. The faster pace of technology transfer at home, together with the growth of high-tech industries it supports, can further enrich these efforts.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn