n the first half of 2026, a new generation of high-tech products has emerged as China's new export engines: artificial intelligence, humanoid robots, and innovative biotechnology. These are China's new "new three".

Physical AI is the new white good. It will redistribute physical labor the way those machines redistributed domestic work. And this time, the factories capturing that value are mostly in China.

The May 2026 summit was a big hit for China because it gave China time. It was a big hit for the US because it gave the US money. Xi needs time for the Chinese people to make money, allowing China to win the long game. Trump needs the US to make money now, to buy himself the time to stay in the race at home.

The semiconductor sector seems to be one of the last areas where China is still lagging far behind. The question today is whether China can close that gap or whether it will widen due to global export restrictions on chips. The answer isn’t as binary and linear as Washington will have us believe. The problem with this rather straightforward reasoning is that it ignores the regenerative nature of the chip sector. If you listen to mainstream Western media, the battle lines are

The new buzzword for the structural reform is "New Quality Productive Forces"

China quietly and decisively ended years of US dominance in three interconnected areas that will define the next decade: humanoid robots, industrial AI, and energy.

We urgently need to treat China’s innovation model the way we now treat Artificial Intelligence: as a reality that can no longer be reversed. Understanding this is not about copying China. It is about recognizing that the rulebook has been rewritten. It is about having the courage to question our own assumptions and, perhaps, to design our own Fosbury Flop.

How China will create a knowledge society from industrial innovation

And believing there is may be the biggest distraction of our time — blinding us to the true forces shaping the future. Why the illusion of an AI race persists In my keynote, I began with a simple question: “Who here uses ChatGPT weekly?” Almost all hands go up. Then: “Who here uses a Chinese AI model weekly?” Just a handful. So the conclusion seems obvious: the US must be winning. But when you look at the reality on the other side of the world, the picture changes instantly.

China’s Next Leap - New Quality Productive Forces explained

A picture may be worth a thousand words — but without context the image of Xi, Putin and Kim at Beijing’s military parade commemorating the Second World War victory sends a chill through many people in the West. To them it radiates the camaraderie of three authoritarian strongmen bent on rewriting the rules of global power: smiles that read as contempt, handshakes like pacts of defiance, and gazes fixed on a world they believe must be reshaped. So, let’s write the thousand wo

My first book China’s New Normal (2019) was intended as a wake-up call on how China was starting to set the standard for innovation. We kept sleepwalking until it hit us five years later in the automotive industry. My second book Can We Trust China? (2022) offered a different view on China’s transformation from within into a global superpower. But the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, China’s economic crisis, Xi Jinping’s ideology, and Biden’s tech war gave many the impression th

In July 2025, the world got a glimpse of how differently China thinks about artificial intelligence. At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC 2025) in Shanghai, Premier Li Qiang took the stage to propose a new global platform for AI governance: inclusive, cooperative, and open to the Global South. He didn’t talk about security threats or competitive advantage. He talked about sharing. AI, he said, should not be the privilege of a few nations or a handful of tech

What if “overcapacity” isn’t China’s flaw - but Europe’s wake-up call? ‘ Overcapacity’ has become a buzzword in trade policy discussions, from US to the EU. In recent months, European leaders have grown increasingly alarmed about what they perceive as a potential tsunami of Chinese products flooding global markets. This is no longer just about China selling high-volume, capital-intensive products like steel or labor-intensive goods textiles. It’s now about China exporting hig

A Climate of Fear The Trump administration has moved to revoke student visas. The Department of Homeland Security cancelled the visas of international students at Harvard University, accusing the institution of hosting “anti-American, antisemitic, and pro-terrorist” agitators, and allegedly collaborating with the Chinese Communist Party through training programs for paramilitary members. A total of 6,793 international students, representing 27.2% of Harvard’s enrolment, riske

A Turbulent Month for Global Trade April may have marked one of the most turbulent periods in international trade in a century, driven by sudden U.S. policy shifts and rising global uncertainty. On April 2, President Donald Trump announced a new trade policy: a universal 10% tariff and reciprocal tariffs on 57 countries, effective April 9. What shocked many was the inclusion of U.S. neighbors Canada and Mexico, along with key allies such as the EU, Japan, South Korea, Israel,

For five long years, the global narrative about China has been increasingly dominated by doubt. Internally, the real-estate crisis, local debt levels, pandemic response, tech crackdowns, economic slowdown, unemployment, and a fast demographic decline made many believe that China was losing control of its economy and society. Externally, the geopolitical environment, Xi Jinping’s ideological stance, military build-up, Taiwan’s future, technology sanctions, and China’s position

At this year’s Spring Festival Gala, China’s most-watched television show, Unitree showcased 16 H1 humanoid robots performing a meticulously choreographed Chinese folk dance. These robots didn’t just move—they walked, ran, and jumped on stage with remarkable agility, demonstrating a new level of precision and control in robotics. For global audiences watching the performance on YouTube, it may have seemed like a playful display—perhaps even pre-programmed or remotely controll

As of today, everyone is talking about DeepSeek. Yet, until recently, few had even heard of it. That all changed on January 20, 2025, when DeepSeek unveiled its R1 model—a direct rival to OpenAI's o1. Notably, this was also the day Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States. There’s no need for me to elaborate on DeepSeek’s extraordinary capabilities, as I assume you are already familiar with how it has shaken Silicon Valley’s dominance in global

As we enter 2025, it’s shaping up to be a pivotal year for global superpowers. The re-election of Donald Trump could either "Make America...