China’s top 15 electric vehicle companies – The China Project
China is already the giant of the global EV industry: In 2022, 64% of global electric vehicle (EV) production occurred in China.
“China does not seek to change the existing international order,” and what is the core of the existing international order? It is that the United States is the boss. China clearly states that it does not seek to change the existing international order or interfere in the internal affairs of the United States, and has no intention to challenge or displace the United States.
Lonely Planet: Imperial China, by Xu Xiake – The China Project
Xú Xiákè 徐霞客 was China's first, most popular, and most prolific travel writer. He visited 16 modern provinces over more than three decades, and the observations he left behind, from the scientific to the mundane, provide us with a comprehensive guide to 17th-century China.
… local governments across China have lately been working to bolster private innovators. Even second-tier cities like Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hefei, Suzhou, and Wuhan have nurtured global companies working in areas like quantum computing, artificial intelligence, electric and autonomous vehicles. As I explain in my new book, The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism, this “decentralized” approach to boosting innovation is what enabled China to achieve economic reform and growth. China’s “unicorns” are geographically diffuse, not concentrated only in cities like Beijing and Shenzhen. …
In reality, the Chinese system features a highly nuanced relationship between the private sector and local governments. This is the key to understanding how things work in China.
Local-government officials have an incentive to pursue the policy priority that the central government has set – previously growth, now innovation. But there are many possible ways to support entrepreneurs. Beyond providing capital, local governments can help coordinate supply chains, attract talent, offer cheap land, and create an industrial cluster than can realize agglomeration effects. With the amount of money available to support private companies declining, the latter interventions have become even more important. And they are being pursued all over China.
This is neither state capitalism, as it is typically understood, nor is it socialism or a market economy. Until we stop judging the country through a cultural lens and gain a better understanding of China’s unique system on its own terms – including the deeply embedded mechanisms of competition and accountability – we will get China wrong more than we get it right. …
This generation has the potential to be a positive force for the Chinese economy and serve as a bridge to the rest of the world, as their values align more closely with those of younger people in other countries. Their more laid-back, slightly less ambitious attitudes – for them, life is not all about “survival of the fittest” – would be good for China’s image. Unfortunately, as I point out in a recent commentary, this generation is now facing unprecedented challenges at home.
Given these limitations, pragmatism dictates focusing on the biggest polluters. Global carbon dioxide emissions are concentrated among only a handful of countries and regions. China, the US, the European Union, Japan, and Russia collectively account for 63% of the total, and none of these top polluters is a low-income country anymore. China, the poorest of the group, represents around 30% of all emissions, making it by far the world’s largest current polluter in absolute terms. But its government is taking steps to accelerate the transition to green energy – a winning strategy, given the country’s abundance of rare earth metals.
India, the third-largest emitter, currently accounts for approximately 7% of global CO2 emissions, and its size and growth trajectory imply that it could easily surpass China as the leading polluter, barring stronger climate policies. In fact, when it comes to helping developing countries decarbonize, considerable progress could be made simply by targeting India alone. The big advantage of this strategy is that it would avoid the paralysis associated with attempts to adopt a multilateral approach in an increasingly fragmented world.
Thank you for registering to attend today's webinar 'At a Crossroads: China's Post-Pandemic Economic Relations with Latin America and the Caribbean,' hosted by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center and the Inter-American Dialogue.
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Third ABCF-ZISU Youth Forum, June 9/10 (Barbados/Hanghou
The third in the series of youth forums, organized by members of the Association for Barbados-China Friendship and the Zhejiang International Studies University in Hangzhou, China, takes place virtually on Friday, June 9 at 8pm (Saturday, June 10, 8am in Hanghou). The topic of the forum is “Opportunities and challenges in the process of modernization”. For further information and to register to attend, contact the ABCF by WhatsApp at 1 246 288 1356 or by email at ABCFBBassn@gmail.com.
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This compilation is put together by DeLisle Worrell, President of the ABCF. Previous updates may be found at commentary | Association for Barbados China Friendship (abcf-bb.com)
The ABCF mission is to build a deeper understanding between the Chinese people and Barbadians and Caribbean people from all walks of life. The association’s focus is on personal experiences, people-to-people contact, cultural exchanges and exchanges of ideas, and the facilitation of travel, business and study. From the outset we aim to learn from and build on the experiences of the Caribbean and China, and to develop mutual understandings and support that will be to the benefit of both sides.
