Why does China invest hundreds of billions in semiconductors, artificial intelligence, batteries and high-speed rail? The answer lies in how Beijing views economic development. Many technologies are not seen as commercial sectors alone, but as strategic infrastructure that underpins future national power.
China’s economic rise is often viewed through the lens of growth, technology and geopolitics. This series explores the institutional architecture behind that rise and examines how state coordination, industrial policy and strategic planning shape economic power in the twenty-first century.
For decades, Europe built its digital world from the ground up. Fibre followed roads. Mobile masts followed population density. Connectivity was something engineers could point at — tangible, terrestrial and geographically bounded. When networks failed, the causes were usually visible: a storm, a cut cable, a damaged site. That mental model is no longer sufficient.
