The Innovation Myth China Broke
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Shenzhen
14 min read
The article centers on Shenzhen as the exemplar of China's innovation ecosystem, but readers may not know its dramatic transformation from a fishing village of 30,000 to a metropolis of 17+ million in just 40 years, or how its Special Economic Zone status enabled this unprecedented growth
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Made in China 2025
10 min read
The article references Beijing setting strategic priorities for robotics, electric vehicles, and advanced hardware - this is the specific industrial policy driving those priorities, and understanding its ten key sectors and self-sufficiency targets provides crucial context for China's coordinated innovation model
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Shanzhai
10 min read
The rapid iteration and workshop culture described in Shenzhen has roots in shanzhai manufacturing - the copycat electronics culture that evolved into legitimate innovation. Understanding this phenomenon explains how China's 'imitation to innovation' pipeline actually works
This week I started reading (or listening to the audiobook rather) Global Tech Wars by . This is not a sponsored or paid post - I’m writing this purely because of the value I found in it.
The book is about how China built its current tech strength and why it challenges ideas shaped in the West. The author, James Kynge, spent years reporting from China for the Financial Times, which gives him a close view of the country’s industrial growth, political structure, and fast-moving tech sectors.
The first chapter of Global Tech Wars places you in the middle of Shenzhen, a city that grew from a manufacturing hub into one of the most productive innovation ecosystems in the world.
James Kynge walks through the streets and describes a place where ideas turn into physical objects with unusual speed. Workshops run around the clock, suppliers sit minutes away from the factories they serve, and engineers treat rapid iteration as the natural way to work.
This scene challenges a long-standing belief in the West:
The belief that innovation needs political freedom to flourish.
In China, the state appears as a guiding presence rather than an obstacle.
Beijing sets strategic priorities for areas like robotics, electric vehicles, and advanced hardware. Local governments respond by clearing land, speeding up permits, and attracting the talent needed to build these sectors.
The model is not loose or chaotic. It is structured around clear direction, and that direction shapes the actions of thousands of companies.
This system does not fit the Western story about innovation. It does not rely on political freedoms.
It relies on speed, scale, and coordination. Kynge uses Shenzhen as evidence that innovation grows when the underlying environment pushes ideas forward faster than competitors can react.
It’s not just China, the biggest inovators and disruptiors are in emerging markets.
Beyond China: innovation shaped by constraints, not comfort
Another book recommendation is Out-Innovate by .
Lazarow argues that some of the most inventive companies are being built in emerging markets, not because these regions resemble Silicon Valley, but because they force founders to innovate under pressure and focus on real problems from day one. There innovation playbook, shaped by constraints rather than abundance.
We talked about this back in 2022 when he came to the podcast:
...“Innovation is globalized, but these aren’t just big businesses. These are the biggest businesses. The biggest neobank
This excerpt is provided for preview purposes. Full article content is available on the original publication.