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In the context of globalization and the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), the development of robotics and AI has become one of the most important factors of economic and technological growth. A leadership race has already unfolded between the developed countries. Today, China is the undisputed leader in this industry and the largest consumer of industrial robots, but this was not always the case. To achieve leadership in this sphere, the Chinese government supports robotics startups in automotive, electronics, and logistics. The support is provided in the form of tax incentives and subsidies for R&D. The purpose of the research was to forecast the industrial robots' market in China and answer whether it will keep its position in the future. The carried study showed that the market of industrial robots in China is increasing, significantly outpacing the dynamics of global indicators. The decline in the growth of the Chinese robotics market indicators can be explained by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and trade tensions between the market leaders: China and the United States.

Today, many countries understand the need to develop innovative ecosystems, come to the fore and become drivers of the global economy. For example, China and South Korea have identified the development of artificial intelligence (AI) as one of the main driving forces of the national economy at the present stage. The article considers the current position of countries in the world rankings of innovative development and the main directions of the development of artificial intelligence in these countries. Special attention is paid to the latest developments of South Korea and China in AI. The authors concluded that the development and commercialization of AI should become one of the most critical aspects of the future. With the right incentives and government support, South Korea and China can become leading countries in AI outpacing current leaders.

Over the past few years, biotechnology has become one of the most promising sectors of the economy. The biotech industry has been a vital instrument in developing and supplying COVID-19 vaccines in record time. The article discusses global trends in technology development in this area. The major players in the global biotechnology market have been identified, and the positions of Germany have been determined. The authors defined a crucial role of the biotech sector in German innovation and discuss the main trends in the growth of the German biotechnology market with a volume forecast of biotechnology output in Germany for 2020–2023.

Research background: In recent decades, a global trend towards the introduction of IoT technologies, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and many others into the field of urban management to create a single digital ecosystem has become increasingly noticeable. The urgency of this problem also manifested itself during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many components of the smart city made it possible to control and contain the spread of the infection. All these factors testify that in current conditions, the digitalization of cities is simply inevitable. In this regard, the number of smart cities continues to increase worldwide, and their development models are constantly improving under the influence of a considerable number of innovative solutions Purpose of the article: Of particular interest are the Chinese successes in the rapid digitalization of the economy and society and the increase in the number of smart cities. The study aims to analyze and identify trends in the development of smart cities in China. Methods: Since the concept of "smart city" is relatively modern and is in constant development, the authors have studied various articles and reports on this topic to identify different opinions about this topical problem. As part of the study, the authors carried out a visual clustering analysis of smart cities distribution in China. Findings & Value added: The authors were able to identify that the Chinese smart cities market has its own characteristic features, which allowed it to achieve such success. In more detail in this article, the authors focused on cluster development and highlighted the geographical pattern of smart cities distribution in China and their strengths and weaknesses in each area.