If you are ever on TikTok, you might have come across videos about life in one of the Chinese metropolises. Cities full of the most amazing tech that we in the west are still dreaming of. Real working driverless taxis, drones carrying parcels across multi layered streets, robots doing window washing on hi-rises.

All powered by clean energy from thousands of wind turbines and thousands of square kilometres of solar panels.

At the beginning of this year, the AI world was jittered by the appearance of a very capable AI called DeepSeek. It was big news, because here was an AI that was just as good as ChatGPT at a fraction of the cost, and far less energy hungry.

Think gas guzzlers doing 5 miles to the gallon vs a lightweight EV.

DeepSeek is Chinese.

While the USA is setting itself up for a recession, caused in part by the self-inflicted wound that is tariffs, but exacerbated by gas guzzling AI data centres and a likely AI bubble burst, China is confidently making plans for an AI future.

A friend kindly shared a link from the tech section of the Ukrainian news site 24 TV. Here is an excerpt:

🧠➡️ The initial goal is to deeply integrate AI into various spheres of public life by 2027 and achieve 90% AI usage by 2030.

🧠➡️ The ultimate goal for 2035 is the complete transformation of Chinese society to an intelligent economy, turning AI into the basic infrastructure and driving force of the economy.

The Chinese State Council released statements to this end in their ten-year plan.

One crucial thing that China has but the USA no more: a manufacturing industry that is real, innovative, and sharing. As much as the US wants to withhold technology from China, it has been outsourcing manufacturing for decades, and where do you think that knowledge of technology sticks? Exactly.

More TikTok. I have learned that if an American small business wants something complicated built, they go to Shenzhen not Detroit. Because all around the iPhone manufacturers there is an immense infrastructure of small specialised businesses ready to help. In the US, not so much, not so helpful, much more expensive.

🛠️ China is already a global leader in producing hardware essential for AI, such as semiconductors, servers, and robotics.

🧠 Advanced AI models like DeepSeek shows China’s progress in foundational AI research and development.

🌳 China dominates the global supply chain for renewable energy: solar panels, wind turbines, EVs.

And, very important, the centralised approach allows for coordinated investment in AI, green energy, and manufacturing. Massive state-led funding in AI research and industrial applications.

Uniquely positioned then, to build next-gen hardware, to power the next-gen super efficient data centres with green energy, educate the next-gen data scientists. Uniquely positioned to become the number one AI player in the world.