Beware of extrapolation, a former British chancellor of the exchequer once remarked: it can make you go blind. The warning should be heeded by those western observers who, dazzled by China’s rise in basic manufacturing, breathlessly proclaim it is destined to become a global leader in science and technological innovation…
China has come a long way very fast and is determined to go much further. But statistics tell only part of the story and sometimes a misleading one.