BEIJING, (Xinhua) — Recently, some Western media have been peddling the “China Shock 2.0” narrative, portraying China’s ascent in high-tech sectors as a new wave of disruption to the global economy.
This catchphrase risks overlooking realities. China’s high-quality, competitively priced products have long been a key factor in making advanced technologies more accessible, offering greater certainty in an increasingly uncertain world.
The narrative, in a way, points to growing unease in the West over China’s swift rise, as well as the tangible success of China’s development strategy, according to experts.
NARRATIVE BORN FROM UNEASE
“For some, China’s rapid rise in high-tech sectors where Western economies have long held a clear lead has proven difficult to reconcile,” said Bai Ming, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a think tank under the Ministry of Commerce.
Against this backdrop, the notion of a “China Shock 2.0” appears less an analytical framework and more a narrative shaped by unease, Bai added.
China’s success in the high-tech sector has been underpinned by its long-accumulated industrial strengths and sustained push toward innovation-driven growth. High-tech innovation has long been central to the country’s policy agenda, with its 15th Five-Year Plan targeting to increase its total research and development spending by an average of more than 7 percent annually, and raise the value added of core digital economy industries to 12.5 percent of GDP over the next five years.
The effects are already visible. In 2025, the country’s high-tech manufacturing showed strong momentum, with profits rising 13.3 percent year on year, 12.7 percentage points faster than the overall industrial sector.
Some critics attribute these gains entirely to extensive state subsidies, accusing China of creating “unfair competition.” Such claims, experts said, tend to frame China’s success narrowly as achieved via distortionary state intervention.
Mao Keji, a policy expert at the International Cooperation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission, said China’s support mechanisms are structured differently from what is typically described as subsidies in Western analyses. Such support is broad-based, embedded across the broader economic system, rather than direct financial transfers, Mao said.
He cited the government’s investment in infrastructure, education, healthcare and social protection as an example. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China allocated nearly 3.4 trillion yuan (about 495.09 billion U.S. dollars) in central budget investment to support public sector projects. It also issued roughly 16 trillion yuan in local government special bonds to finance infrastructure and related development projects.
These investments have created conditions conducive to business development, improving labor quality and strengthening overall productive capacity, ultimately enabling large-scale, high-quality supply, Mao said.
“Reducing this model to ‘subsidies’ is not only misleading, but it also obscures the underlying drivers of China’s competitiveness,” Mao noted, adding that such an accusation does little to address structural weaknesses in Western economies, and risks slowing their own technological progress.
A BOON, NOT A SHOCK
China’s rise has taken place within a deeply interconnected global economy and is rooted in mutual benefit, according to experts.
“The country’s development has not been directed at squeezing out other economies, but instead generated broader benefits for the global economy,” said Dong Yan, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
China’s products are providing more affordable alternatives for many developing countries, helping them upgrade industrial capabilities while supporting infrastructure development and technological progress, she explained.
This trend is reflected in China’s expanding trade ties with emerging markets. In the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, China’s trade with Belt and Road partner countries went up 14.2 percent year on year, accounting for more than half of the total. Trade with ASEAN and Latin America both rose 15.4 percent during this period, while trade with Africa increased by 23.7 percent.
Growth has been particularly strong in exports of high-value-added products. For instance, China’s exports of photovoltaic products to sub-Saharan Africa regions surged approximately 2.5-fold in Q1, while exports of inverters, wires and cables increased by 56.1 percent.
The power projects built by Chinese companies in sub-Saharan Africa are providing stable and reliable electricity to local communities, said Wang Jun, deputy head of the General Administration of Customs.
Beyond robust exporting, China has also become a vast market in its own right. As the world’s largest trader in goods and the second-largest consumer market, China has become a major trading partner for more than 150 countries and regions. Platforms such as the China International Import Expo have further contributed to global demand by expanding access to the Chinese market.
While some still portray China’s rise as a challenge to the existing trade order, many countries are treating it as an opportunity and moving to capture new sources of growth.
For example, the British government has signaled that it “should not fear” the rise of Chinese imports, after a plug-in hybrid compact SUV produced by Chinese automaker Chery became the country’s best-selling new car in March, the BBC said.
“I don’t want to prevent UK consumers from having access to the cars of their choice,” Peter Kyle, British secretary of state for Business and Trade, told the BBC. He added that the government is also focused on the “significant opportunities” for jobs and investment as Chinese automakers consider setting up factories in the country.
Experts have noted that in an increasingly fragmented world, cooperation is more critical than confrontation.
“A clearer understanding of China’s development, alongside the use of complementary strengths, could offer a pathway for countries around the world to achieve more sustainable growth,” Bai said. ■
