BISHKEK, July 29 (Xinhua) -- China's self-reliant scientific and technological development has set an example for other developing nations, a Kyrgyz economist has said.
In a recent interview with Xinhua, Iskender Sharsheev, former head of the Secretariat of the National Alliance of Business Associations, described China's progress in science and technology as unprecedented in both pace and scale.
"Just look around: Chinese electric vehicles rank among the world's bestsellers; Chinese-made drones have secured a significant share of the global civilian drone market; and no other country can match China in terms of total operational high-speed rail mileage," the expert said.
He added that the emergence of DeepSeek, China's open-source large language model, demonstrated the ability of Chinese engineers to deliver world-class innovation at lower cost.
"This is no longer a matter of catch-up development, but of setting its own technological agenda. And I see that neighboring countries, including those in Central Asia, are increasingly looking to China's experience and solutions," Sharsheev said.
The economist believes that China's recent achievements in space exploration deserve particular attention, noting that the country has built a fully autonomous space industry.
Among China's recent space feats, Sharsheev said he was particularly impressed by the Chang'e-6 mission, which became the first in the world to collect samples from the Moon's far side and return them to Earth.
It is also significant that, having achieved remarkable success in its lunar program, China has not closed itself off, but has opened access to lunar samples for international scientific communication.
"This is a good example of how self-reliance becomes the basis not for isolation, but for new international cooperation -- this time on Chinese terms," the expert said. He expressed confidence that other countries need to engage more closely with China to gain knowledge and innovation in scientific and technological fields. ■