Silicon Valley vs. Electronics Street: Who Should We Fear More?
China’s ambitions on the global (tech) stage
The (Interesting) Growth of Chinese Tech
It might seem like China’s science and tech scene continues to go from strength to strength. And to some extent, it does. China has rolled out plans to become a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous vehicles, and robotics as part of its Made in China 2025 programme.
In short, China is a tech superpower worth following.
But it’s also important to have a vague understanding of how the nation has grown, because we often compare tech superpowers without considering the forces that have brought them to where they are.
First, China’s ‘Great Firewall’. The nation’s legislative and regulatory system that has shaped and controlled domestic use of the Internet. Three of the world’s biggest tech companies, Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, have all grown thanks to the Great Firewall because rival platforms from Facebook to YouTube to Vimeo have been blocked. Therefore, we can’t compare the growth of China’s tech scene to the more ‘organic’ tactics of the US, for instance, without taking note of the forces surrounding this growth.
