China’s rapid ascent from rural poverty to industrial superpower reshaped the global economy and established a new center of gravity for manufacturing. Today, Chinese factories anchor much of the world’s supply chains, producing goods at a speed and scale that few countries can match.
Behind this transformation is a system that author Dan Wang describes in his new book “Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future” as the “engineering state,” a model defined by massive investments in infrastructure, strategic planning, and so-called “process knowledge” gleaned from the country’s rapid industrial development.
Now, more and more, the Chinese government touts this development model as an example for other countries in the Global South to emulate.
Dan joins Eric to discuss whether the so-called “engineering state” is replicable elsewhere or if it’s a uniquely Chinese phenomenon.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction
00:18 China’s Development Model
04:31 Dan Wang Joins the Conversation
07:17 China as an Engineering State
10:30 What is unique and What Can be replicated
15:55 Chinese Firms Investments Abroad
18:39 Investments vs Loans
19:20 Forced Technology Transfer
25:13 The Role of Chinese Subsidies
29:55 Learning By Doing
32:57 The Other Side of Development
38:00 Rethinking the Engineering State Model for China
42:03 Conclusion
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