S. Alex Yang & Angela Huyue Zhang explain why China’s approach to scaling AI could determine who wins the global tech race.
Innovation
Mar 27, 2026
S. Alex Yang
and Angela Huyue Zhang
The West has long viewed China’s innovation system as purely top-down, but the reality is more complicated. The government functions less like a central planner and more like a platform company, structuring markets so that firms compete intensely and strengthen national capabilities.
China’s answer to the Western model focuses on planning, an open source approach and whether the new technology earns its place…
Tech leaders are increasingly paying attention to AI developments in the country.
Beijing’s AI policy is focused on real-life applications but Chinese companies are beginning to articulate their own grand visions
Political analyst says strong narrative based on factual Chinese framework must be included in artificial intelligence knowledge…
Take part in a live Ask an Expert Q&A with the FT’s John Thornhill and Eleanor Olcott on November 13, at 1pm GMT
Mohit Kumar, Jefferies’s global macro strategist, cites valuations, cheap power, and “wider adoption of AI” for his bullishness…
