China and the limits of its ‘engineering state’. With Dan Wang

中国与“工程国家”的界限。与王丹对话

The Economics Show

2025-09-12

29 分钟
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单集简介 ...

China has become a superpower because of its ability to build bridges, cars and electronics at an astonishing pace. But breakneck growth comes with problems. The country is grappling with overproduction and deflation, and policymakers in Beijing are attempting to jumpstart consumer demand. How can China keep building without jeopardising its economic future? Dan Wang, research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover History Lab and author of 'Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future' speaks to the FT’s financial reporter Aiden Reiter. Aiden Reiter co-writes the Unhedged newsletter. You can read his articles here. Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen. Presented by Aiden Reiter. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Original music and sound design by Samantha Giovinco and Breen Turner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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单集文稿 ...

  • For the past 20 years, China's economy has been built around, well, building.

  • Workers in the world's emerging superpower have made bridges, cars,

  • and electronics at an astonishing pace and with a growing mastery of industrial techniques.

  • But breakneck growth comes with problems.

  • Chinese factory price growth fell for the 34th month in a row in July,

  • as the country continues to struggle with overproduction and deflation.

  • That overproduction has become a political issue.

  • As China's leaders try to nudge the country out of its deflationary slump and boost consumer demand in the country.

  • How can China keep building without jeopardizing its economic future?

  • This is The Economic Show.

  • I'm Aiden Riter, a reporter and podcast host for the FT's market show On Hedged.

  • And to find out, I'm speaking to Dan Wong.

  • Dan is a research fellow at Stanford's Hoover History Lab

  • and a former technology analyst at research firm Gavical Dragonomics of Hong Kong.

  • Dan is also the author of a new book, Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future.

  • Dan, welcome to the show.

  • Thanks very much for having me, Aiden.

  • Dan, Breakneck's been nominated for the FT's Business Book of the Year long list, so congratulations.

  • Uh, would you mind telling me and listeners a bit about the book and why you wrote it?

  • This started as a way to reflect on having spent about six years in China studying Chinese technology developments.