China has overtaken the US as the world's largest R&D spender in 2024 (615 billion USD vs 613 billion USD), driven by 13% growth in corporate tech investment—particularly semiconductors, electronics, and optics. China also leads in research citation impact. This shift reflects intensifying tech competition, with US export restrictions on advanced chips (2022) accelerating China's push for indigenous semiconductor independence. For Thai SMEs, this signals accelerating global tech innovation competition and potential supply chain realignments.