The thesis
After five decades of arguably the greatest economic transformation in human history, the next phase of China's economic growth and development is, understandably, the subject of significant global interest and debate. What is clear, however, is that China's leading technology companies will continue to play a pivotal role in the domestic economy and, increasingly, in markets across the world. According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Critical Technology Tracker, which was updated last year, China leads the US in 57 of 64 critical technology fields, indicating that decades of strategic investment has created a cohort of leading global businesses, some of which already dominate emerging, high-growth sectors.
This playlist brings together some of the most important Chinese technology businesses that are already playing a key role in growing global markets, including EVs, battery technology, AI, healthcare and renewable energy.
Key themes
- AI — established Chinese technology businesses that are now developing large language models, generative AI applications (often open source) and specialised models for robotics, including Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent
- Healthcare — WuXi AppTec, a global leading drug research, development and manufacturing organisation providing services to global pharma, biotech and medical device businesses
- Renewable energy — Sungrow, a leading global supplier to the industry including PV inverters, batteries and EV charging infrastructure
- EVs — manufacturers including BYD and Geely
- Batteries — CATL, the world's leading lithium-ion battery manufacturer for EVs and energy storage systems
