You may be beset by a bewildering array of new Chinese cars. How can they all be viable? They can’t be, and this is the point. This is why so many brands are suddenly competing for global attention at the same time, entering overseas markets aggressively and often competing heavily on price. Jaecoo to you too. JAECOO, NIO, Xpeng, Leapmotor, Zeekr, HiPhi, Aion, Omoda, Maxus Skywell, and Deepal, it’s all a bit overwhelming, really. But why all these brands, why all these models, and how come they’re all flooding some parts of the world? To understand this, we need to look at China’s industrial policy, its history, and its growth aims. In short, how does China work?
Jaecoo SUV. Image courtesy of Jaecoo.
With 3D printing service bureaus competing aggressively for market share in China, people can often source prototypes there at extremely low prices. The intricacies and inexorable logic of the Chinese deflationary industrial policy system mean that many can bloom, but at some point, the ratcheting up of ever-larger government funding will select only a few winners to go global. Since this is tied to particular regions and cities, performance is only one element, but revenue and global relevance sure as hell count. That system is now one of the predominant models of economic growth globally. And it offers particular advantages to 3D printing now. But many businesses around the world may struggle to compete with that scale and speed. What follows is a simplified interpretation of how parts of China’s industrial system work. It won’t explain China completely, but it will be enough for you to formulate tactics from it.
Deng
China used to be so poor that in the 1960s the country barely had enough cash on hand to send its foreign minister, Zhou Enlai, and a delegation to Paris. Imagine a country of millions, with thousands of years of history, potentially bankrupted by a room service menu. It was the junior partner in a Communist alliance, but the Russians wouldn’t give it nuclear weapons and paid lip service to Chinese concerns. Later, the two countries would actively oppose one another. Famine swept the country, and central planning led to the deaths of tens of millions. In the Great Chinese Famine, anywhere from 20 to 55 million died, with 15% of the population starving to death in several provinces.
A war with erstwhile ally Vietnam made the nation feel almost alone in the world and weak. A brutal decades-long civil war and war against Japanese invasion had already devastated its infrastructure. Education was faltering, and industrial production was low. Centralized policies led to big roads, dams, and steel plants, but low-quality products and inefficiency. The Cultural Revolution had exposed deep rifts in society and alienated or exiled a managerial class. The 1800s to 1980s brought trauma after trauma, disaster after disaster. These are your memories if you’re an aging person looking back on a life in Ch
You may be beset by a bewildering array of new Chinese cars. How can they all be viable? They can’t be, and this is the point. This is why so many brands are suddenly competing for global attention at the same time, entering overseas markets aggressively and often competing heavily on price. Jaecoo to you too. JAECOO, NIO, Xpeng, Leapmotor, Zeekr, HiPhi, Aion, Omoda, Maxus Skywell, and Deepal, it’s all a bit overwhelming, really. But why all these brands, why all these models, and how come they’re all flooding some parts of the world? To understand this, we need to look at China’s industrial policy, its history, and its growth aims. In short, how does China work?
Jaecoo SUV. Image courtesy of Jaecoo.
With 3D printing service bureaus competing aggressively for market share in China, people can often source prototypes there at extremely low prices. The intricacies and inexorable logic of the Chinese deflationary industrial policy system mean that many can bloom, but at some point, the ratcheting up of ever-larger government funding will select only a few winners to go global. Since this is tied to particular regions and cities, performance is only one element, but revenue and global relevance sure as hell count. That system is now one of the predominant models of economic growth globally. And it offers particular advantages to 3D printing now. But many businesses around the world may struggle to compete with that scale and speed. What follows is a simplified interpretation of how parts of China’s industrial system work. It won’t explain China completely, but it will be enough for you to formulate tactics from it.
Deng
China used to be so poor that in the 1960s the country barely had enough cash on hand to send its foreign minister, Zhou Enlai, and a delegation to Paris. Imagine a country of millions, with thousands of years of history, potentially bankrupted by a room service menu. It was the junior partner in a Communist alliance, but the Russians wouldn’t give it nuclear weapons and paid lip service to Chinese concerns. Later, the two countries would actively oppose one another. Famine swept the country, and central planning led to the deaths of tens of millions. In the Great Chinese Famine, anywhere from 20 to 55 million died, with 15% of the population starving to death in several provinces.
A war with erstwhile ally Vietnam made the nation feel almost alone in the world and weak. A brutal decades-long civil war and war against Japanese invasion had already devastated its infrastructure. Education was faltering, and industrial production was low. Centralized policies led to big roads, dams, and steel plants, but low-quality products and inefficiency. The Cultural Revolution had exposed deep rifts in society and alienated or exiled a managerial class. The 1800s to 1980s brought trauma after trauma, disaster after disaster. These are your memories if you’re an aging person looking back on a life in Ch