Achieving self-reliance and strength in critical digital technologies is the strategic "opening move" for China to build new advantages in global competition and seize the commanding heights of international rivalry. It also constitutes the decisive "winning move" for fostering new engines of economic growth and building a modern industrial system. Taking biometric recognition as a representative case, the theories of the technology life cycle, technological trajectories, and technological transitions were integrated to elucidate the global competitive landscape, evolutionary life cycle, and transition pathways of key digital technologies. The findings indicate that, in terms of competitive dynamics, the global landscape of key digital technologies is characterized by highly complex and continuously evolving patterns among competing actors. Moreover, the dominant technological trajectories led by Europe, the United States, and other advanced economies impose a certain "cyclical technological lock-in effect" on China's latecomer catching-up efforts. From the perspective of technological trajectory evolution, the development of key digital technologies follows an S-curve pattern. It shows a clear shift from basic research dominated by Europe and the United States toward application-oriented innovation increasingly led by China. Moreover, as global technological competition intensifies, these technologies are evolving from single-modal solutions to integrated multimodal systems. From the perspective of transition pathways, the deep cross-domain integration of diverse technologies, together with the driving force of application contexts, has opened a window of opportunity for China to break through the cyclical technological lock-in in key digital technologies and to realize latecomer catch-up. Overall, it provide a new theoretical framework and practical insights for latecomer countries seeking breakthrough innovation and technological catch-up in key digital technologies.