Deep Dive: How China Built Its Industrial Power

How did a country once known for cheap toys leapfrog into EVs, solar, and AI? How far will China’s newfound assets allow it to scale before its debt and demographics start to weigh it down? Read on.

About 6 months ago, I had an eye-opening dinner with two CEOs building an American supply chain for EV battery materials and rare earths. Back then, I tweeted: “...the difficulty in beating China won’t come down to tariffs but mercantilism. The Chinese have 1-2 ‘National Champions’ for critical parts of the global economy. They then subsidize these NCs as necessary, dump product to impact spot price markets and shape profitability with loans and grants that, collectively, make these National Champions impossible to beat…” With further research, I want to expand on what China’s playbook…