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Robotics has catapulted Beijing into a dominant position in many industries

“It’s the most humbling thing I’ve ever seen,” said Ford’s chief executive about his recent trip to China.

“Their cost and the quality of their vehicles is far superior to what I see in the West,” Farley warned in July.

Andrew Forrest, the Australian billionaire behind mining giant Fortescue – which is investing massively in green energy – says his trips to China convinced him to abandon his company’s attempts to manufacture electric vehicle powertrains in-house.

Other executives describe vast, “dark factories” where robots do so much of the work alone that there is no need to even leave the lights on for humans.

“We visited a dark factory producing some astronomical number of mobile phones,” recalls Greg Jackson, the boss of British energy supplier Octopus.

In Britain, Shenzhen-based BYD multiplied its September sales by a factor of 10 this year – overtaking far more established brands such as Mini, Renault and Land Rover.

  • saimen@feddit.orgEnglish
    2·
    5 hours ago

    I was in Shanghai 15 years ago and I remember feeling the energy and optimism in the air. You could physically sense this spirit of “everything is possible” and also see it by looking at this huge modern megacity where 20 years before (at that time) has only been a small fisher village.

    Until today, I am still perplexed by Chinas economy. It is supposed to be communism but it felt more capitalistic than the USA. Markets everywhere with seemingly no rules, pure competition.

    • BeMoreCareful@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      3 hours ago

      Yeah, I don’t understand either (not that I should). It’s almost like their corruption moves the opposite way from ours. I’m used to US companies asking for presents and considerations and government supplying. I think it may work differently in China?

      Maybe it’s just what growth/expansion phase of capitalism looks like and why it was so exciting for so many.

      I also imagine we’re not seeing the whole picture. As we are only allowed government approved messaging.

      Honestly, I can see the benefits of training and integrating the technology of Internet into their culture, before exposing the population to new ideas. Not that I think that’s the design, but it may end up being an unintentional consequence.

      Edit:

      I guess it’s sort of what happened when the US started building up the old bones of the internet, out companies had a defacto leg up.

      If China keeps their Internet bubble, with it’s social structure and deep deep economic ties, then if you want access to the Chinese market, you’ll have to use their Internet and be subject to the government, probably utilizing their people to negotiate.

      They’re not selling pickaxes to golf diggers, they already own the mine.

      /Basically conjecture