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 that China was going to fail. Then Trump changed the narrative, and here we are: China has rebounded, while the West is now playing defence, catch-up, and even bully.
My new book, China’s Next Miracle, is a last call to action for Western companies and policymakers, especially in Europe. A call to stop blaming Beijing for our lack of strategy, hope, and execution. China has changed the game, and if we want to stay in it, we must understand how China is redefining innovation. This book isn’t another “China 101” or a geopolitical sermon. I reveal China’s blind spots where the media’s spotlights blind us. It’s a practical guide for leaders who have to make decisions now—before the next wave of Chinese brands hits their markets. The book explains how China is rewriting the innovation playbook, why we keep misreading the signals, and what you can do to stay relevant, competitive, and calm. In my opinion, we have until 2035 at the latest to change our mindset. Beyond 2035, Western dominance as we know it ends—should China succeed in forging its next miracle.
The Fosbury leap
In high jump, Dick Fosbury didn’t try to jump higher the old way; he turned around and jumped backwards—and cleared a bar no one else could. That’s the metaphor at the heart of my book: China isn’t merely catching up; it’s flipping the model and, by doing so, going higher. I call it China’s “Fosbury moment.”
The story begins with three wake-up calls the West mostly slept through: China the factory (2001–2012), China the digital pioneer (after 2008), and China the industrial upgrade (from 2015’s Made in China 2025). The fourth act is now underway: a push to become a fully modern, innovation-driven society by 2035, built on a vast, self-propelling domestic market, a smarter, greener industrial base, and an inventive spirit at heart.
We keep misreading China
We tend to explain China’s rise with “unfair” advantages—cheap labor, lax rules, state subsidies—and then stop thinking. That blinds us to the real engine: a culture of resilience combined with an innovation process that scales capability first to reach quality, rather than starting with boutique quality and scaling later. In other words, quantity is not the opposite of quality; it is often the path to it. That’s uncomfortable for Western sensibilities, but it matches how Chinese firms iterate products, organise talent, think left-brain first, build data feedback loops, and industrialise new tech.
The result is a growing list of firms we already use or compete with—BYD, TikTok, DJI, TEMU, CATL—built less on shortcuts and more on relentless learning, collective power, and fast industrialisation. Yet these are only the tip of the iceberg. The invisible forces behind these “Chinese miracles” aren’t magic tricks from Beijing; they’re ecosystems that reward speed, scale, and disciplined execution.
Red pills, blue pills
Another metaphor I use is from The Matrix: swallow the blue pill and stay in our comfortable Western narrative that China’s model is not sustainable; take the red pill and confront China’s reality, nuance, strengths, and momentum. The book offers more than 100 “red pills”—practical prompts, strategies, and cautions—to help executives and policymakers move beyond ideology and act on evidence, new innovation models, and emerging trends that once sounded like science fiction. It’s not a call to copy China, but to understand how and why its methods work—so you can design your own Fosbury-style leap and deal with competitors or optimise partnerships coming from China.
China’s Masterplan
The core inversion I explain is China’s pivot from volume to value. The first miracles came from industrialising at breathtaking speed by building capacity. The next miracle is about optimising that capacity—automating, applying AI, and decarbonising it—so value per unit of energy, time, material, and talent rises sharply. This transformation is reinforced by China’s IOR (Investment on Reserves) model: instead of chasing quick ROI, Chinese firms build reserves of talent, ecosystems, and infrastructure to clear tomorrow’s higher bar.
The shift is driven from the base up, but Beijing is now embedding it in its “New Quality Productive Forces” masterplan: fewer brute-force inputs, more intelligent outputs. Expect the “world’s factory” to morph into the world’s smartest production and service ecosystem—where AI increasingly blurs the line between R&D, manufacturing, and service. This blend of strategic policy vision and entrepreneurial agility makes the Fosbury-style leap not a miracle, but a tangible reality we must prepare for.
A quick tour of the book
Chapter 1 – The Moment of Truth How Chinese policymakers aim for a new miracle by 2035, balancing stability and innovation with the right doses of red and blue pills.
Chapter 2 – An Innovation Superpower China’s innovation model contrasts with the West: quantity → innovation → quality. China innovates because of obstacles—applying speed, flexibility, and clout to succeed.
Chapter 3 – China’s Master Plan Beyond Made in China 2025: with “New Quality Productive Forces,” China seeks to evolve from factory to the world’s smartest industrial and R&D hub.
Chapter 4 – Modernising China Upgrading all legacy sectors such as agriculture, transport, construction and energy to reach the western standards of quality, productivity and sustainability by 2035.
Chapter 5 – The Leap into the Future China invests in talent, research, and moonshots—from quantum chips to an artificial sun—to break through as a parallel disruptive innovation centre to the West.
Chapter 6 – The World’s Service Factory From goods to services—finance, health, mobility, entertainment— where Chinese consumer behaviour sets global trends and Chinese firms unleash AI at scale.
Chapter 7 – A Billion Brainpower at Work In just 45 years, Chinese firms rose from suppliers to global leaders—driven by six generations of resilient business leaders and a new wave of exceptional talent.
Chapter 8 – Is the Game Over for the West? Not yet—but the rules have changed. I outline three scenarios and show how breakthroughs in biotech, chemistry, and other frontier fields are reshaping the game the West must learn to play.
Why read it?
If you lead a business that makes things, moves things, finances things—or serves customers who do—this book is for you. Chapter 2 dives into China’s distinctive innovation model and why it works. If you’re a policymaker navigating de-risking without de-growing, it’s for you. Chapter 3 lays out China’s next masterplan in clear, practical terms. If you’re an investor or policymaker trying to cut through the “China is finished” vs “China will dominate” shouting match, it’s for you. The rest of the book reveals the forces driving China’s rise as an innovation superpower. And it’s for anyone who wants to see how China is reshaping the world by rewriting the innovation playbook. My ambition isn’t to convince you of a grand narrative. I want this book to be the canary in the coalmine—helping you separate signal from noise and act before it’s too late.
The bar is already set. Whether we see it or not, Chinese firms are clearing it in category after category—from EVs and batteries to pharmaceuticals and microchips. The longer we frame this as a morality play about power and influence, the more we miss the practical design choices that actually win markets: faster implementation, cultivation of talent, necessity as a driver of innovation, tighter ecosystems, smarter industrial policies, and leaders who combine ambition with discipline.
Yes, the risks are real: overcapacity, weak demand, bubbles, demographics, and geopolitics. But betting against a country that has repeatedly turned constraints into its next miracle is a poor strategy. The better strategy is to understand the model, borrow what fits your context, and build your own Fosbury leap.
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