China's Grand Strategy
Technology has transformed the global economy. Over the past two decades, technology has introduced a pivotal shift in the nature of power with emerging economies gaining a competitive advantage. Leveraging this “geotechnological" shift is Chinese grand strategy. China’s unprecedented economic expansion now exerts a gravitational pull on the world economy, gathering emerging markets in its orbit. Bolstered by its commercial heft, China’s global ambition is increasingly built on ports, highways and pipelines in the expansion of its supply chain empire. More than this, China's grand strategy is built on developing new markets for advanced Chinese technology.
Where Western leaders cling to outworn notions of the Westphalian nation-state, China is reimagining the world as a single complex network of supply chains and trade arteries. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature project, the multi-trillion dollar “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) stretches across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, and represents the largest infrastructure project in history. Constructing a comprehensive trade network for Chinese goods, BRI offers a platform for China’s long-term strategic shift around advanced technologies. This includes electric vehicles (EV), telecommunications, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, clean energy technology, advanced electrical equipment, rail infrastructure and maritime engineering.
Building on commercial acquisitions and investments in state-owned enterprise (SOE), Beijing’s “Made in China 2025” industrial policy seeks to position China as a high-tech global superpower. China is spending billions of dollars on science and technology, developing research in genomics, quantum computing, robotics, and advanced materials. The country’s technology leaders, Huawei and ZTE are becoming global giants. Huawei is the world's sixth-largest information technology company (by revenue) and employs 170,000 workers. ZTE supports telecom providers and governments in more than 160 countries, employing 75,000 workers— including 30,000 in R&D centers across China, Europe, the US, Canada and Japan.
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