What difference can 11 years make?

HAN WOO-DUK
The author is a senior reporter of the China Lab.

In 2009, both the United States and China began fostering electric vehicles. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Obama administration invested $2.5 billion in the electric vehicle sector in phases. China also announced a plan to restructure and develop the automobile industry and began pouring government funds into the development and distribution of electric vehicles (EVs).

Fifteen years later, the outcome is clear. China is ahead of the United States in technology and market share. The United States has to block Chinese EVs with 100% tariffs. Where is the difference coming from?

Former Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang deserves attention. He received a Ph.D. from the prestigious Clausthal University of Technology in Germany. He was particularly interested in automobiles. The noise reduction device he developed in 1991 was adopted by Volkswagen, and he worked for Audi after graduating.

In 2000, he left Audi and accepted the Chinese government’s offer to give him full authority to develop EVs. That was the beginning of “China’s electric vehicle process.” In 2001, China included EVs in its national science and technology project called “863 Plan” and named Wan as the head manager of the project.

In 2007, he was appointed as Minister of Science and Technology and served for 11 years until 2018. During this time, Chinese leadership changed from Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping. Xi defined his rule as “the new era” and changed all policy directions, filling high-level positions with his people, but one person he did not change was Wan Gang. Thanks to his continued service, the EV process continued without interruption.
The United States was different. The policy fostering the EV industry that began in the Obama administration was disturbed in the Trump administration. President Trump neglected the development of vehicles using renewable energy, and investments were sluggish. The focus shifted back in the Biden administration, but the industry had already fallen behind. If Trump wins the presidential election later this year, the policy may change again. The continuity of policy was the critical factor that widened the technology gap between the two countries.

How about Korea? In the 11 years that Wan served as the science minister, the post of science and technology minister in Korea changed eight times, and the name of the ministry changed four times. It is inevitable that policies change as an administration changes in a democracy. The science and technology policy needs continuity as it’s directly related to security. Moreover, Korea is competing over technologies in most industries against China, where one Chinese minister can serve as long as 11 years.

The author is a senior reporter of the China Lab.