Does China care about AGI?
Chinese tech leaders and researchers talk openly about AGI. But Chinese policymakers don't seem focused on the "race to AGI" like in the US.
Economics
High Capacity.
China's tech and industrial policy: manufacturing, global supply chains, and economic competition.
Recent essays
22 of 22Podcast: China's autonomous vehicles and robotaxis
A deep dive into China's smart driving and AV industry, including government policies, key players, differing strategies, and shifting geopolitics
Podcast: China's top AI players and their differing AI strategies
A deep dive into the key players in China's AI industry
The Great Tech Reversal: My Financial Times op-ed
"The diffusion of technology between China and the West is increasingly a two-way street."
Podcast: Chinese EVs are transforming the auto industry
An hour-long conversation with Chinese EV expert Tu Le
NEW podcast: China's robotics and industrial automation with Georg Stieler
The first episode of the new High Capacity podcast
US-China recoupling in an age of decoupling
Love will find a way? Powerful forces keep pulling the US and China together even as geopolitics tries to pull them apart.
AI agents and the 90% problem
Useful AI agents are still limited by their reliability on real-world tasks. But Chinese AI agents are pushing the limit.
China's emerging export control regime
China is trying to build a "unified export control system" that's about much more than just leverage in the latest negotiations with the US
A smarter strategy for AI chip export controls to China
In a new Foreign Policy piece, Ray Wang and I argue that Chinese tech firms don't want to use Huawei's AI chips. But export controls on Nvidia's chips could force them to finally switch.
China's AI industrial policy
China wants to be the global leader in AI and is deploying industrial policy tools across the entire AI tech stack, from chips and data centers to foundation models and applications
Chinese industrial maximalism: Lu Feng
Renowned Chinese scholar Lu Feng makes the case for why China needs more--not less--industrial development, particularly in its showdown with the US.
My New York Times piece on China and the US
My op-ed is an urgent wake-up call for the US. China is forging ahead on AI, robotics, high-tech manufacturing, etc. Meanwhile, Trump is destroying the pillars of American power.
Huawei the Hydra
A closer look at the crown jewel of China's industrial policy through Eva Dou's new book House of Huawei
Double-edged swords in the US-China Cold War
The US and China are in a cold war, not a trade war. And they are fighting with double-edged swords that end up harming both sides.
The China Shock revisited
The famous "China Shock" paper got blown out of proportion for reasons that are more sociological than economic.
Chinese semiconductors and alternative paths to innovation
Faced with tech restrictions, China is searching for new ways to push ahead on semiconductors. Finding such alternative routes could help China "overtake on the curve," like in other industries.
China is trying to reshape global supply chains
China is using "industrial diplomacy" and technology controls to create new China-friendly global production networks centered around China.
China's Faustian bargain for foreign firms
Why do foreign companies agree to work with China and build up their future Chinese competitors?
China's overlapping tech-industrial ecosystems
EVs, batteries, lidar, drones, robotics, smartphones, AI. China's progress across a range of overlapping industries creates a mutually reinforcing feedback loop.
Beijing braces for impact: What Trump 2.0 might mean for US-China relations
Both sides have learned lessons from the first US-China trade war. For Trump, it's that tariffs and sanctions are powerful tools. For Beijing, it's that a bad situation can get even worse.
A warped hall of mirrors: US-China competition and industrial policy
China doubled down on industrial policy and advanced manufacturing in its latest Third Plenum. As US-China competition heats up, both countries are drawing policy inspiration from each other.