What My Trip to Shenzhen Taught Me About China’s AI Takeover.

Photo by Saradasish Pradhan on Unsplash

So… I recently ended up in Shenzhen for a work trip.

And honestly, with all these tech companies flying around, I started asking myself: what the hell is actually happening in China right now?

For the last 20 years, they’ve been making everything. The laptop you’re reading this on? Made in China. Your phone? Made in China. Even the new EVs everyone’s talking about? Chinese.

And the craziest part? This was once one of the poorest countries in the world.

So my question is: How did they pull this off?

Some say manufacturing scale, others say cheap labour. Everyone’s got opinions, but how many have actually been there to see what’s happening?

The Fundamental Question

Ever wondered what actually makes a country grow?

Robert Solow, a Nobel-winning economist, nailed it down to 3 things:

1. Capital.
2. Labour.
3. Technology.

At first, countries grow by building factories, roads, machines. But there’s a limit, because you can only build so much before progress slows down .