Digital Developments in Japan and China in the 21st Century

Introduction

With the popularization of the Internet and mobile electronic devices, the world has entered into the age of digitization. For commoners, a more connected world brings convenience and abundant information. For governments and businesses, on the other side, seizing the opportunities to develop a strong presence in technology can increase both their political and economic power. In 1990, Japan was the world’s second-largest economy and one of the first countries in Asia to popularize the commercial use of the Internet. At that time, China ranked 10th in the world economy but no ordinary household owned a desktop. In 2017, China now takes the place of Japan as the world’s second-largest economy with more than 50% of its population using the Internet on their mobile devices. Meanwhile, Japan steadily ranks top 3 in the world economy in the past three decades. In an increasingly digitized world, technological development has become an important measurement of a country’s comprehensive national power. Will Japan maintain its leading position in Asia and the world? Will the geopolitical dynamic be disrupted in the next decade?  

This is an ongoing project that provides a historical analysis of China and Japan’s technological development and aims to unravel the driving forces behind technological development for China and Japan, both from the public and private sectors and to synthesize the developmental patterns of the two countries.