50 years on, has China left Europe behind in the race for a hi-tech future?

This year marks half a century of formal diplomatic relations between China and the European Union as well as the 25th anniversary of the founding of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. As part of a series of reports examining ties between the two powers, Meredith Chen and Nora Mankel look at how China flipped the technology script with Europe.

In 1978, as China was emerging from the ruins of the Cultural Revolution, Beijing sent a high-powered delegation on a whirlwind 36-day mission to western Europe.

They covered 25 cities in five countries – from France to West Germany – and toured dozens of factories, mines, ports, farms, universities and research institutes.

From what they saw, the officials reckoned that China was at least 20 years behind in science, technology and industry – and modernisation in general.

The country was about to embark on reform and opening up – a state policy that would usher in decades of breakneck growth – and the trip offered a clear way ahead.

The path to the next stage of economic development would be paved by science and technology, expanded trade, and an overhauled economic system.

Fast forward to today, and China has worked to free itself in many areas from its dependence on Western technology, moving up in the global value chain to become an innovation powerhouse.