In this article we look at the place that China has carved out for itself in the world. Rather than repeating the American mainstream press narratives, we just present the charts, facts and figures and let them do all the talking. China is more than a growing nation. Today it is a predominant nation that is in the process of successfully eclipsing the United States as a global leader.
What I want to do is just present the facts, and let the reader come to their own conclusions.
Reichert and Bognar are clearly on the side of the workers, both American and Chinese, yet their film is no Michael Moore polemic. It's an old-school observational documentary in the very best sense of the term. They don't approach the Fuyao story with a thesis, don't dehumanize the Chinese, don't tell us what to think. Working with 1,200 hours of footage — heroically edited by Lindsay Utz — they have amazing access to a complex economic reality that is touchingly hard on workers. - Work Cultures Clash When A Chinese Company Reopens An 'American Factory'
I am posting this on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Communist Chinese nation. It’s a really, really big event out here. To quote one of my favorite presidents; “It’s bigly great!“.
Introduction
A vast majority of Americans have absolutely no clue how advanced China has become.
You don’t need to take my word for it. All you need to do is take a gander at the comments on social media. It’s a recycled bunch of “off the cuff”, dismissive nonsense that has been spewing forth from the mainstream media outlets for the last thirty years.
Many of the comments are all “boiler plate” smug nonsense. A quick word here, a phrase there, a snide comment. No serious discussion aside from “I have an engineering friend that visited China a few years ago and he reported it was a dump.“
If you hop on to any of the American social media platforms, especially (for some reason) the conservative platforms, you will discover such comments as…
- “China is 100 years behind”
- “All Chinese products are crap”
- “China can’t innovate”
- “It’s a communist, poor, polluted country”
- “It’s infrastructure is collapsing”
…not to forget the specific “issues” that are all boilerplate responses…
- “…cross removal on churches…”
- “…eating dogs and cats…”
- “…Tiananmen square massacre…”
- “…ghost cities…”
- “…One child policy…”
- “…Uyghur Muslims in concentration camps!”
- “…Chinese people long for democracy…”
… and, of course, the most popular theme is…
- “China’s economy is about to collapse.”
It’s hard to change these opinions, since those people reinforce their biases by gleefully consuming and sharing only anti-China articles.
Anything even remotely positive about China is attacked as “Chinese propaganda.”
The truth is that America media has created an echo chamber that boxes Americans in. It holds them in a state of near constant fear, so that others (often powerful multinational corporations) can manipulate them for profit and personal gain. This is not good. This is quite awful. The reason that this is dangerous, and awful is because…
The American government requires an alert and well-informed citizenry to function properly.
Do a picture / image search for “dogs in china”. One is a United States search engine; Bing. The other is a Chinese search engine; Baidu. Now look at the difference in the photos found. Big difference indeed. If you search using American search engines, and American web sites you will get the idea that the Chinese hates dogs. You would get the idea that they eat them and treat them brutally.
When the real truth is that the Chinese love dogs like their very own children. They dress them up in clothes, including socks and shoes. (Even my dog Shao Pi has sock, shoes, a coat, underwear, sunglasses, a cap and his very own backpack.) They have hairstyles and perms that they give the dogs. They groom them in pet salons, and offer them high-end doggie hotel accommodations, complete with dog-friendly television shows. It is a completely stark mind-blowing difference.
Yet, you know you would think that the US media would WANT to show this bizarre behavior to the American public. It is, after all, newsworthy. But they don’t. Anything that shows China in a positive light is suppressed.
This ignorance is dangerous
This potent mix of ignorance and hubris is also precisely why western corporations acted like they have towards China. They gladly and voluntarily shared their intellectual property (IP) with their Chinese joint-venture partners. They had nothing to fear from a “back-woods”, “third-rate”, “third world”, “shit hole” country.
So they just gave away their intellectual secrets. The Chinese were “too backward”, “not progressive enough”, a “third world shithole” and would never grow to be competitive.
It's like a 12 year old boy being "edged on" to wrestle with a grizzly bear. He doesn't know any better, and all his "friends" are telling him to "go ahead, you can do it". But, you know, the grizzly bear won't play. And the boy, in his ignorance, will be literally eaten alive. And the friends, the very ones that edged him on, will scurry for the hills in fear and terror.
Ah. American industry was so strong, so powerful, so invincible. There was nothing that they couldn’t do, and nothing that they were afraid of.
So they gleefully shared American technology and “know how” with their Chinese counterparts.
The American government requires an alert and well-informed citizenry to function properly.
It’s silly in hindsight. The term “forced technology transfer” was invented retroactively, and only after Chinese corporations started threatening western profits.
- Huawei has overtaken Apple, Nokia and Ericsson in smartphones, 5G and telecom infrastructure.
- BYD manufactures more electric vehicles than Tesla.
- Alibaba and Tencent process 50x more mobile payments than the US.
- The most valuable (ByteDance) and the most innovative (Meituan) startups are Chinese.
But all this is disguised, camouflaged, hidden or obfuscated by ignorance and a lack of useful comparative measurements. For instance, if you judge the usefulness of a automobile steering wheel by the same characteristics as a buggy-whip, you will end up being misinformed as towards utility, usefulness, and quality.
We are often deceived by our ignorance.
Let’s look at where China is today, where it is heading, and what it means. For ease of convenience, I have grouped the charts by utility and usefulness.
Group [A] Economic Advantage
Here we try to gauge a measure of economic advantage a normal and typical person might have in a given nation. Can people live, eat have babies and families in the nation without undue hardship? This can (potentially) be measured by a nation’s GDP.
In general, the greater the GDP, the greater the advantage the family might have relative to the rest of the world. It’s a reasonably fine general gauge.
It is not, nor should it ever be, a comprehensive indicator of how successful a given nation might be in providing “opportunity” for it’s citizenry. Rather it is a general indicator for predicting relative average familial prosperity geographically on a national basis.
I argue that it is easy to misinterpret the values that the GDP represents. Therefore, it should be considered not as an absolute, but rather as a guideline as to the success of any given nation. In this regard, it is clear that China is near equals with the United States in GDP ratios with some "wiggle room" in allowances for methodology considerations.
[A1] GDP per capita
We start with the GDP per capita. The good news here for Americans is that the American GDP per capita is untouchable. America has the largest GDP per capita in the world.
Per capita GDP is a measure of the total output of a country that takes gross domestic product (GDP) and divides it by the number of people in the country. The per capita GDP is especially useful when comparing one country to another, because it shows the relative performance of the countries. With the income approach, the GDP of a country is calculated as its national income plus its indirect business taxes and depreciation, as well as its net foreign factor income. -Investipedia
It’s a measure of the NET AVERAGE success of the net average citizen in a specific nation.
It is computed using United States dollars. The rating is based on the amount of United States dollars a nation uses.
Thus, the United States, being the world’s largest user of United States dollars, would of course, have the highest GDP per capita in the world.
Of course, this is a general indicator. Some people will be rich and some people will be poor. But the net average person in the target nation would be adequately described by this measurable.
- Nations that have very rich individuals and very poor individuals might have a GDP-per-capita somewhere in the middle.
- Nations that have an overall good standard of living for everyone (rich and poor) might have a GDP-per-capita somewhere at the top.
- Nations that have a generally poor standard of living for the vast bulk of the population would have a GDP-per capita somewhere at the bottom.
The bad news about this indicator is that can be deceiving.
A nation can have a top GDP-per capita rating and still have most of it’s people living in poverty. This can happen when a handful of the ultra-rich controls the vast bulk of the wealth.
In itself, it’s not really useful simply because no nation (aside from the tiniest nations) are truly homogeneous. What is useful, however, is to use it in conjunction with other measurables. Then it becomes a useful tool to help predict future economics of nations.
However, as has been the case for a good few years now, China is gaining on the U.S., with some even claiming that China has already overtaken the U.S. as the world’s Number 1 economy.
Some things to watch out for in an over-reliance on the GDP-per-capita charts and tracking…
- Calculations on GDP/capita are only valid for nations trading solely in US dollars.
- Nations that trade in other currencies (either fully or partially) will pull their GDP-per-capita rating lower than their actual value calculated.
- In 2012, nearly eight years ago, China conducted trade with 20% being in the Yuan, and 80% in the USD.
- Presently we can expect that the percentage of international trade in the yuan / USD to be much higher in 2019. Thus, this fact alone will render any GDP-per-capita calculation meaningless for a nation such as China that trades in other currencies and commodities.
The GDP-per-capita value assigned for China is deceptively low. It assumes that 100% of national trade is conducted in United States Dollars. When in actuality, China trades in USD, yuan, petrol-dollars, and commodities.
[A2] PPP GDP
China is #1 in PPP GDP. It is been so since 2014 when it surpassed the US). PPP GDP is another indicator that is useful in measuring geographical “advantage” for families.
PPP recalculates a country's GDP as if it were being priced in the United States. The CIA World Factbook calculates PPP to compare output between countries. It estimated that China's 2017 GDP was $23.1 trillion. It's much more than the U.S. GDP of $19.4 trillion. Aug 29 2019 -The Balance
[A3] Nominal GDP
America is #1 in nominal GDP.
China is #2 in nominal GDP ($13.5 trillion in 2018). And it’s as big as the next 4 countries combined! This nominal GDP, as long as it is associated with people who manufacture goods within a nation, can also be a useful indicator.
GDP is the total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year. In Nominal method, market exchange rates are used for conversion. United States is largest economy of world at nominal (exchange rate) basis. With economy of around $17.4 trillion, United States holds a 22.53 percent share of global GDP in nominal terms. GDP of United states is $7039 billion more than second ranked China. China contributes 13.43% of total world economic output. Despite loosing $303 billion in 2014, Japan is still at number 3. Japan is now ahead of Germany by $757 billion. Top ten countries are : United States, China, Japan, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Brazil, Italy, Russia and India. -Statistic Times
However, this can be deceiving. The rebranding of imported products can artificially inflate this value. Which, is exactly what has happened in the United States.
According to this indicator, every iPhone in the United States is manufactured in the United States simply because it is listed as a final good. But, this is not true. Every iPhone is actually manufactured in China. It is then shipped to the USA, stored in warehouses, and sold. The American company profits from this. But no American worker does. The Chinese worker does.
Remember…
GDP is the total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year. I argue that if you were to subtract the imported final goods from this equation, that the nominal GDP for America would be half of what it is currently listed as. Thus, making China #1 in nominal GDP actual.
Group [B] Exports & Exported Products
A nation that manufactures things is able to provide labor and purpose for it’s citizenry. When people are safe, secure and providing a meaningful role in their community, they tend to be happy and satisfied with their social-economic position.
The export of products and manufactured items is an indicator of the value of the parts so made. This value can fall under one of three characteristics. Either it is of high quality, it is cheap, or it is made quickly.
On every level, China is superior in the manufacture, export, shipping and supply chain management of parts, things and assemblies all over the globe.
[B1] Exports
China is #1 in exports (been so since 2009 when it overtook Germany). This should not be a surprise to anyone.
[B2] Container Traffic
China is #1 in container traffic (40% of global market). This should not be a surprise to anyone.
[B3] Importation of products
America is the #1 importer of products.
China is the #2 importer of products. ($2.1 trillion) It is behind the United States in this role. Most of the products that China imports originate out of the United States.
This is a measure of the relative health of the consumer market. When people are buying things, the consumer market is healthy. As many raw materials are imported, such as metals, and oil, it is also a reflection of the health of a nations industrial might.
China imports precious metals from Africa, oil and gas from the Middle East, and recyclable trash from the United States.
[B4] Manufacturing Value Added
China is #1 in manufacturing value added (been so since 2010 when China overtook it from the US, which had been #1 for the previous 110 years).
In layman’s terms, “value added” is the relative value of what you get for your money.
- High value added; Movie + fresh buttered popcorn + icy cold soda + wide comfortable reclining seats + VIP discount coupons.
- Low value added; Discount matinee movie in an non- air-conditioned theater.
When a nation starts selling things that are low value added, they will offer generic products, discount products, and reduced value items. Conversely, when a nation sells high value things, they would rely on high quality and brand names to sell the products.
Value Added In business, the difference between the sale price and the production cost of a product is the unit profit. In economics, the sum of the unit profit, the unit depreciation cost, and the unit labor cost is the unit value added. Summing value added per unit over all units sold is total value added. Total value added is equivalent to revenue less outside purchases (of materials and services). - Wikipedia
Group [C] The Health of the National Currency
A healthy currency is one that goes a long way in purchasing things. Gold is considered a healthy currency for just this reason. It tends to always go up in value. Likewise, an unhealthy currency is one that loses value over time. Such as being subject to inflation.
China's currency is healthy. The Chinese government has taken great care in the husbanding of the currency and unlike the United States, did not hand over the financial management of the nations' economy to bankers (like the United States did with the Federal Reserve).
[C1] Foreign Exchange Reserves
China is #1 in foreign exchange reserves (>$3 trillion).
The more foreign exchange reserves a nation has, the greater the stability of it’s currency and it’s banking industry is. A strong forex means it is difficult for the nation to suffer through depressions, downturns and recessions.
Maybe President Trump should of thought about this before he tried to press the tariff issue with the Chinese. Eh?
China has the healthiest forex reserves in the world. The United States has the weakest (and most dangerous levels) of forex reserves, followed by the UK.
Foreign exchange reserves (also called forex reserves or FX reserves) are cash and other reserve assets held by a central bank or other monetary authority that are primarily available to balance payments of the country, influence the foreign exchange rate of its currency, and to maintain confidence in financial markets. Reserves are held in one or more reserve currencies, nowadays mostly the United States dollar and to a lesser extent the euro. - Wikipedia
[C2] Holder of US Debt
China is the #1 holder of US debt (>$1 trillion).
When you hold the debt of the United States, the USA government must pay you the interest on that debt. It’s a source of income for you.
Holding the debit of an other nation provides numerous benefits for the person holding the debt. One [1] your economy can ride out any fluctuation in the market by the success of another nation. [2] You can control the economy of another nation by buying or selling off your debt.
One of the most common concerns of the government is to earn lots of funds to be able to make everything in the vicinity of their country in its proper order. Due to these, governments are seen typically to have their debt from other countries that they are paying either through the use of their current income as well as the issuance of new bonds. When a country will be doing their debt monetization there is a possibility that the presence of inflation would appear. It is a process wherein the issuance of the debt to be able to finance all its spending and the printing of the money by the central back are observed. Inflation is greatly connected with the so called quantitative easing in other countries to lessen the governments’ burdens when it comes to their debts. The highest scale of this particular type of condition was seen to be common in the US. They have the so called Federal balance sheet to determine the quantity of their debts from other countries. Federal Reserve will be the one in charge of handling and holding the of every US debt of the country. -Brandon Gialle
Group [D] Global Partner to other Nations
A nation that is friends and supportive to other nations is one that can be relied upon when things go wrong. While the USA has been involved in wars all over the globe, China has been trying to build bridges, assist in economic development and offering educations to the poor around the world.
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) (一带一路) is an ambitious programme to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks along six corridors with the aim of improving regional integration, increasing trade and stimulating economic growth. - Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
- The 3 Reasons Why Chinese Invest in Africa
- What Is China Doing In Africa? – forbes.com
- Figures of the week: Chinese investment in Africa
- China is investing 10x more in Africa than the U.S.
There are various measures of being a good “global neighbor”. Here are some of them…
Rather than fight an endless stream of wars, China has decided that it would be a far better friend than an enemy to other nations. As such they are openly conducting relationships, trade and establishing trade routes so that the world within their sphere can prosper together.
[D1] Primary trading partner with most of the world.
China is the #1 trade partner for 130 countries (trade = exports + imports). And for 37 countries, China is also their #1 export destination (meaning, they sell the most goods to China).
[D2] Contribution to Global Growth
China is the #1 leader in contribution to global GDP growth for the past decade (25-35%, which is twice that of the US). That is, if the world GDP grows by $100, then $25-$35 comes from China.
[D3] Production of Construction Materials
China is by far, #1 in steel, cement, aluminum production (link, link, link). In three years (2012 – 2015), China used more cement than the US did in the entire 20th century (link)!
Check out these graphs that shows just how dominant China is in all these fields…
[D4] China leads the world in the manufacture of automobiles.
China is #1 in manufacture of conventional cars (>26 million per year). In manufacturing, it is always the “large players” that will dominate the industry. They will set the trends, the styles, and the regulations.
How has China become such a dominant economic power? Part of the reason is its booming auto industry. To illustrate, the total number of autos sold last year in China was 24.6 million. This dwarfs total auto sales in the U.S. last year, which hit a record 17.5 million cars and trucks. In addition, SUV sales in China increased a whopping 52% in 2015. China’s auto industry is thriving and should provide stiff competition for U.S. auto manufacturers in the years ahead. - Forbes
[D5] High-Technology manufacture
China is #2 in hi-tech manufacturing (Yeah, China isn’t just making rubber duckies anymore).
The narrative from the American mainstream media has always been that China can only copy. They cannot innovate.
This should be considered a specious argument as China has fully invented and implemented 5G technology, while American industry is still struggling on developing it.
People! You cannot copy something that hasn’t been invented yet.
5G 3GPP's 5G logo Introduced Late 2018 by the Chinese Huawei, 5G is the fifth generation cellular network technology. The industry association 3GPP defines any system using "5G NR" software as "5G", a definition that came into general use by late 2018. Others may reserve the term for systems that meet the requirements of the ITU IMT-2020. 3GPP will submit their 5G NR to the ITU. It follows 2G, 3G and 4G and their respective associated technologies.
Group [E] Personal Success
It is the internal yearning of man to improve his lot. That includes his children and the lifestyle of his family. We look at ability to grow as a family in success as well as the ability for companies to grow and succeed. How does China stack up in this regard…
China is catching up fast, and has eclipsed the United States on various levels.
[E1] Billionaires
China is a close #2 in billionaires (about 400 billionaires). But that gap is closing fast.
When it is possible to go from “rags to riches” there is the ability to greatly improve one’s status in life.
[E2] Millionaires
China is #1 in millionaires.
Step aside, American millionaires. Your Asian counterparts are now wealthier than you are. Asian millionaires now control more wealth than their peers in North America, Europe and other regions, according to a new World Wealth Report from Capgemini, a consulting group.
Asian millionaires saw their wealth jump by 9.9% in 2015, while poor performance in the equity markets in the United States and Canada slowed growth in North America to a sluggish 2.3% last year.
Of course, it is useful to be deceptive in this matter.
If you consider wealth to ONLY be measured in United States Dollars, and not in other currencies, gold, bitcoin, or in property, it would be Americans that would be the wealthiest. For they have the largest piles of money in the USD currency.
It's sort of like saying that Americans eat the most delicious food in the world simply because America makes the most hamburgers. While not taking into account that there are other kinds of food. When you try to judge the world on an American scale... USD, your results will be skewed in favor of the United States.
[E3] Stock Market
China is #2 stock market, by market cap (overtook Japan in 2014). Obviously the United States stock market is a major player in stock value and worth.
[E4] Fortune 500 Companies
China is #2 in representation in Global Fortune 500 companies. (And, it is actually #1 if Taiwan is included)
The Fortune Global 500, also known as Global 500, is an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as measured by revenue. The list is compiled and published annually by Fortune magazine. Until 1989, it listed only non-US industrial corporations under the title "International 500" while the Fortune 500 contained and still contains exclusively US corporations. - Wikipedia
[E5] Agriculture
China is #1 in most agricultural products — production of rice, wheat, potato, beer(!), tea, apple, strawberry, grapes and numerous other grains, vegetables and fruits. (link)
Group [F] Poverty and Middle Class
A good indicator on the general health of a nation is the size of it’s middle class. Nations that are stratified with a rich class, and a poor class but have a very small middle class will produce raw data that on the surface looks great, but in reality does not reflect the nation as a whole.
China's middle class is growing and dwarfs that of the West. They are also affluent, tech-savvy and travel internationally.
[F1] The Middle Class Population
China is #1 in Middle Class population (350 million in 2018; and it overtook the US in 2015).
[F2] Elimination of poverty
=> #1 in poverty elimination (800 million lifted out of extreme poverty)
[F3] On-line and electronic sales
China is #1 in online/e-commerce retail sales (In 2019 it was three times (3x) that of the US).
In the retailing business, it’s fairly common knowledge that China is home to the world’s most prolific online shoppers. Last year almost 419 million mainlanders made purchases via the Web, more than any other country, and they spent more online than consumers elsewhere by a wide margin ($672 billion, nearly twice U.S. online spending in 2015). If these facts suggest to you that e-commerce in China has matured and growth is running out of steam as the country’s economy slows, think again. China retail consumption in general continues to increase briskly and online shopping in particular continues to boom. Analysts reckon this is due to a combination of potent demographic and cultural trends that show no signs of abating: the growing spending power of upper middle class and affluent households; the coming of age of a generation of college-educated consumers; rising aspirations among hundreds of millions of people in China’s less-developed cities and rural areas; a powerful shift away from shopping at brick-and-mortar stores to mobile e-commerce driven by widespread smartphone adoption. Will China still be on top at the close of the decade? A recent forecast on worldwide e-commerce sales through 2019 by independent research firm eMarketer says yes, emphatically so. -China will completely dominate e-commerce.
[F4] Retail Market
China is #1 in the retail market of the world by 2019 ($5.6 trillion)
[F5] Luxury Market
China is #1 in personal luxury goods sales (holding 35% of global market)
[F6] Luxury Automotive Market
China is #1 in the luxury car market (Example: 400,000 BMW’s manufactured and sold in China in 2017). Any one visiting China can attest to this. Bentley’s and Lamborghini’s are all pretty common in China. But, very rare in the United States.
[F7] International Tourism
China is #1 in international tourism spending (In 2010, Chinese tourists spent half as much as Americans; and by 2017, China was spending twice as much as the US)
Group [G] Technology
The future of the world belongs to the nation that can harness, control and wield new and advanced technology. Increasingly it appears that China will wear this mantle.
China is investing in technology, spending money, time and effort towards AI, robotics, space exploration, and medical research. Meanwhile the United States is pushing for diversity improvements, Muslim outreach, and social programs.
[G1] Unicorns
China is #2 in Unicorns (startup companies worth more than $1 billion). 142 in China versus 175 in US)
China’s startup market had a good year in 2018, with close to 100 technology companies garnering a valuation of more than $1 billion. Known as unicorns, the companies were led by eCommerce and video streaming services, the Financial Times reported, citing data from Hurun’s ranking of China’s top tech companies. According to the report, Hurun, which also produces the annual rich list for China, found there are 186 Chinese tech startups that have valuations of more than $1 billion. In first place is Ant Financial, the digital payments affiliate of Alibaba. Among the video streaming startups, the Financial Times said ByteDance made the list. It runs the Toutiao news video and short video streaming company Douyin. ByteDance, Tencent-backed short-video app Kuaishou, and Meicai, an online platform for farmers selling vegetables, were ranked the fastest-growing startups, with valuations that jumped 400 percent in 2018, reported the Financial Times. The report noted that internet services, medical and health companies, and education were the fastest growing sectors from a valuation perspective. -PYMNTS
[G2] Venture Capital Funding
China is #2 in venture capital funding ($100 billion of new venture capital funding for about 2,900 startups last year )
[G3] 4G mobile technology and networks
China is #1 in 4G mobile network (2 billion users)
China's 4G users touches 836 million. China has the world's largest 4G network and is aiming to add 2 million 4G base stations, mainly for townships and villages, by 2018. Also by the end of the first quarter, China had 310 million users of fixed-line broadband network, and nearly 80 per cent of them used fiber broadband products. -Economic Times
One of the main reasons China is ahead of the US is because of proactive government policies. The CTIA feels so strongly about this it even commissioned another research firm to further investigate the importance of winning at 5G.
“When countries lose global leadership in a generation of wireless, jobs are shed and technology innovation gets exported overseas... Conversely, leading the world in wireless brings significant economic benefits, as the U.S. has seen with its 4G leadership. These are the serious stakes that face American policymakers in the escalating global race to 5G.” -Roger Entner, Founder of Recon Analytics.
Well you can’t argue with that can you? Here’s the 5G readiness chart according to whatever criteria they used.
[G4] Number of internet users
China is #1 in Internet users (830 million people) and fiber-optic broadband users (320 million)
[G5] Smartphone use
China is #1 in smartphones (Chinese brands have 40% of the global market)
[G6] Use of solar, wind and hydro power.
China is #1 in solar, wind and hydroelectric power (link)
[G7] Use of electric cars
China is #1 in electric cars – manufacturing and sales (link)
- China EV production is booming while U.S. efforts stagnate
- USA vs China – Who will Win the Electric Car Wars?
- China is selling more electric vehicles than the US
- 2017 China Electric Car Sales Blow World Out Of The Water
- When it comes to making electric cars, there’s China and nothing much else…
- China’s electric car market is growing twice as fast as …
- China’s Nio takes on Tesla with a car half the price
- China Plug-in Electric Car Sales Compared To U.S. & Europe
[G8] Drones
China is #1 in consumer drones (70% of global market). This is pretty much obvious when you just scan through the names and logos of those people making the drones. Heck! They are mostly Chinese.
- 3 reasons why China is the global drones leader
- China is the world leader in drones.
- Drone-nation: Exports of China-made Drones Soar in Jan
[G9] Supercomputers
China is #1 in supercomputers (227 out of the 500 supercomputers are Chinese)
[G10] Mobile Payments
China is #1 in mobile payments (50x larger than the US)
I was talking the other day to a colleague about the phenomenon in Asia, India, Africa and South America taking place with mobile payments and the lack of take-up in the USA. Why is this, I wondered? Then got my answer, although it isn’t a singular factor but a combination of factors. First, there are many payment methods already deployed and available for most American consumers including cash, check, credit or debit card, PayPal and more. Second, it is not just the choice of payment methods but also the breadth and depth of acceptance. For most US stores, their preferred payment method is cash or card, and that’s pretty much the same in Europe; whilst China’s stores all take QR codes. Third, there has to be a reason for consumers to change their payments behavior and the US has not created any yet; China’s red letter days made the difference when Tencent and Alibaba went head-to-head, and Singles Days and other events since have created the behavioral change. Finally, there has to be scale and support for change, and the USA doesn’t have it as there are too many financial providers with too many different interests. If the USA had Facebook and Amazon offering simple payments in apps, it might have taken off far faster than it has; but the fact that Tencent (800 million users) and Alibaba (540 million) pushed mobile payments hard into the Chinese consumers hands made the transformation easy. This is why it surprises me that after all the hoo-hah razzamatazz announcements of Apple Pay that it turned out to be such a damp fizz. In fact, I claim it’s one of Apple’s failures. I don’t use it. I have no incentive to use it. I don’t like it. I don’t find it functional. In fact, I hate it. I realized how much I dislike it when the new iPhone keeps bringing up Siri and Apple Pay rather than opening my apps when I press the home button. Then, when I want Apple Pay to come up, I have no idea how to get it. Then I realized it’s in my wallet, and then I realized the wallet is now just a digital representation of my card. -Skinners Blog
Group [H] Infrastructure
A measure of how healthy a nation is can be determined by it’s infrastructure. How many new parks are made? What is the condition of bridges? How is the ease and availability of public transportation? High speed rail, the prices and extent of the lines? Here we can see that China outshines the world in these areas.
Compared to the United States, China has invested such an enormous amount of money and resources into infrastructure that simply dwarfs any efforts by the United States. They are so minuscule that they hardly seem worth mentioning in comparison with China.
[H1] Skyscraper construction
China is #1 in skyscrapers – more than half of all skyscrapers are in China (link)
- Chinese build 57-storey skyscraper in 19 days
- China built more skyscrapers in 2018 than ever before
- No Other Country Comes Close To China In Skyscrapers
- High-flyers: China is on top of the world for skyscrapers
[H2] High Speed Rail
China is #1 in high-speed railways or bullet trains (30,000 Km or 18,000 miles)
[H3] Global Infrastructure Projects
China is #1 in global infrastructure projects. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) involves 152 countries and international organizations. (link)
Globally, China has been steadily increasing its official finance investments in other countries, but these flows are less concessional than that of other large players like the US. Consistent with speculation in popular media and policy circles, China is making big bets in the infrastructure sector, as the lion’s share of its investments globally between 2000 and 2014 were in energy (US$134.1 billion), transportation and storage (US$88.8 billion), telecommunications projects (US$16.9 billion) and mining, construction and industry (US$ 30.3 billion). Seven of the top 10 recipients of Chinese “aid” (ODA) were in Africa, but its other official flows (OOF) are more geographically dispersed. Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Ghana collectively received US$23.3 billion in official development assistance from China between 2000 and 2014. Africa is less of a priority for China when it comes to its more commercial or diplomatically focused other official financing: Angola is the lone African country in the top ten recipients of Chinese OOF, receiving $13.4 billion. - China’s financial statecraft: Winning Africa one Yuan at a time?
In addition to becoming the biggest produced of steel and aluminum, among many other things, the PRC has launched a number of huge infrastructure projects—topped by $25 billion Three Gorges Dam (a project originally dreamed of since imperial days). But China still remains deeply conservative politically—it remains the only one of the ten major global economies not to be a multi-party democracy. Under Mao, China sought to export revolution. Today it looks to deploy its massive cash reserves, spreading “soft power” around the globe. Throughout, the PRC insists that it’s pursuing a “peaceful rise” in search of a “harmonious world”. -China in the 21st Century
Group [I] Science, Research & Development
Scientific development is how a nation can obtain a leadership role in the global economy. When ever a nation has technological leadership, it’s people prosper. This was true for Germany, Japan, and the Untied States. It is now true for China.
[I1] STEM field participation
China is #1 in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) college graduates (4x as many as the US)
[I2] Scientific Publications
China is #1 in scientific publications (link)
According to 2018 Science & Engineering Indicators, a report published by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), China has left the U.S. behind to become the largest producer of scientific articles. In 2016, China published more than 426,000 studies, which amounted to 18.6% of the publications indexed in Scopus (Elsevier’s database). The U.S., with 409,000 studies, is now positioned after China. Over the last few years, the volume of publications in China has increased exponentially; China had been trailing the U.S. with regard to the number of publications. In June 2017, the Chinese National Center for Science and Technology Evaluation (NCSTE) and Clarivate Analytics, announced that China ranks third in the world in publishing academic papers that are a result of international collaboration. -Editage Insights
- China declared world’s largest producer of scientific articles
- China Is Overtaking the U.S. in Scientific articles
- China beats the U.S. to become world’s largest producer of scientific articles
- China poised to overhaul US as biggest publisher of scientific articles
- China ‘to overtake US on science’ in two years
“The US continues to be the global leader in science and technology, but the world is changing,” says Maria Zuber, a geophysicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. As other nations increase their output, the United States’ relative share of global science activity is declining, says Zuber, who chairs the National Science Board, which oversees the NSF and produced the report. “We can’t be asleep at the wheel.” The shifting landscape is already evident in terms of the sheer volume of publications: China published more than 426,000 studies in 2016, or 18.6% of the total documented in Elsevier’s Scopus database. That compares with nearly 409,000 by the United States. India surpassed Japan, and the rest of the developing world continued its upward trend. -Nature
[I3] 5G Technology
China is #1 in 5G (China owns about 40% of 5G patents, and the world’s leading 5G vendor and patent holder is none other than Huawei)
The international authorities overseeing the creation of a unified standard for 5G mobile technologies are expected to release its initial phase next year and the final phase in 2019, paving the way for a broad roll-out of 5G services by mobile network operators from 2020.
China’s bid to gain a greater share of the intellectual property behind the universal 5G standard would not only increase its global influence, but improve its bargaining power with foreign patent holders and help lower costs for mainland telecoms equipment makers, chip companies and other enterprises in the supply chain.
- EY – China is poised to win the 5G race
- ZTE Wins the 2018 Global 5G Infrastructure
- Who is the leader of 5G in technology and market share now
- How Huawei Is Leading 5G Development – Forbes
- Top companies leading 5G development – Netscribes
Meanwhile, this is what the United States government statement about all this…
[I4] Artificial Intelligence
China is #1 in Artificial Intelligence (AI) funding, startups and publications (link, link)
Money is pouring in from China’s investors, big internet companies and its government, driven by a belief that the technology can remake entire sectors of the economy, as well as national security.
A similar effort is underway in the U.S., but in this new global arms race, China has three advantages: A vast pool of engineers to write the software, a massive base of 751 million internet users to test it on, and most importantly staunch government support that includes handing over gobs of citizens’ data –- something that makes Western officials squirm.
- China seeks dominance of global AI industry | Financial Times
- China Is Investing Heavily In Artificial Intelligence
- Will The Future Of Artificial Intelligence Look Chinese?
- Understanding China’s AI Strategy
- Beijing Wants A.I. to Be Made in China by 2030
- China’s massive investment in artificial intelligence
- China vs US: Who is winning the big AI battle?
“While there have been more deep learning papers published in China than the U.S. since 2016, those papers have not been as influential as those from the U.S. and U.K.” But China is gaining ground.
The country is producing more top engineers, who craft AI algorithms for U.S. companies and, increasingly, Chinese ones. Chinese universities and private firms are actively wooing AI researchers from across the globe. Juo, the University of Rochester professor, said top researchers can get offers of $500,000 or more in annual compensation from U.S. tech companies, while Chinese companies will often double that.
Meanwhile, China’s homegrown talent is starting to shine. A popular benchmark in AI research is the ImageNet competition, an annual challenge to devise a visual recognition system with the lowest error rate. Like last year, this year’s top winners were dominated by researchers from China, including a team from the Ministry of Public Security’s Third Research Institute.”
[I5] International Patents
China is #2 in international patents – according to WIPO (#1 if patents filed in China are included)
[I6] R&D Spending
China is #2 in R&D spending – according to US National Science Board (#1 if measured by purchasing power)
[I7] Satellites in Orbit / Space
China is #2 in number of satellites in orbit/space (280 satellites as of 2018). In 2018, China became the first country to land on the far side of the moon.
Conclusion
Just skimming through this article, taking note of the size of China and the sheer number of leadership spots would be enough to make the most skeptical nitwit pause and think.
China is a serious, serious nation that deserves respect.
Those that want to bury their head in the sand and pretend that China is not anything to worry about… that the “Trump Tariffs sent China back 20 years”… and that efforts to “contain” China will work… need to rethink their strategies.
I argue one very simple point. It is a point and theme that I have made time and time again, and I will conclude with it here…
The American government requires an alert and well-informed citizenry to function properly.
Otherwise, the American government (and by extension, the proud American people) will just end up as a footnote in the history books. Heed my words.
Links about China
Here are some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader, might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.
China and America Comparisons
As an American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.
The Chinese Business KTV Experience
This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.
Learning About China
Who doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in China.
Contemporaneous Chinese Music
This is a series of posts that discuss contemporaneous popular music in China. It is a wide ranging and broad spectrum of travel, and at that, all that I am able to provide is the flimsiest of overviews. However, this series of posts should serve as a great starting place for investigation and enjoyment.
Parks in China
The parks in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.
Really Strange China
Here are some posts that discuss a number of things about China that might seem odd, or strange to Westerners. Some of the things are everyday events, while others are just representative of the differences in culture.
What is China like?
The purpose of this post is to illustrate that the rest of the world, outside of America, has moved on with their lives. That while they might not be as great as America is, they are doing just fine thank you.
And while America has been squandering it’s money, decimating it’s resources, and just being cavalier with it’s military, the rest of the world has done the opposite. They have husbanded their day to day fortunes, and you can see this in their day-to-day lives.
Summer in Asia
Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…
Some Fun Videos
Here’s a collection of some fun videos taken all over Asia. While there are many videos taken in China, we also have some taken in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea and Japan as well. It’s all in fun.
Articles & Links
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
- You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
- You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
- You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
- You can find out more about the author HERE.
- If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
- If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.