After the sudden emergence of the Chinese company DeepSeek’s generative AI model in January, there has been much excitement about the future of innovation in China. But continuing US efforts to limit the sale of the latest AI chips to China are a reminder of the tensions surrounding this area. The recently announced deal for a partial US takeover of Chinese social media platform TikTok’s American operation may hint at the potential for cooperation. But Jensen Huang, CEO of chipmaker Nvidia, has warned that restrictions on chip production will only encourage the development of China’s own semiconductor industry, with China already just ‘nanoseconds behind’ in AI. Yet how far is Chinese innovation handicapped by political controls? And as China seeks to promote new sectors like robotics and cloud computing, can it avoid the type of overcapacity already seen in its electric vehicle industry? To discuss these issues, we’re joined by Duncan Clark, a specialist in Chinese technology since 1994, when he founded the investment advisory company BDA in Beijing. An early advisor to Jack Ma, founder of the e-commerce giant Alibaba, he’s also author of the book ‘Alibaba — The House that Jack Ma Built’, and is co-chair of the Asia Society France.

Books referred to in the episode:

Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future by Dan Wang
Apple in China – The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company by Patrick McGee

Image © 光画社 (Kōgasha) / Adobe Stock

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The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the speakers and are not necessarily those of the SOAS China Institute.

Ep196: Innovation in China — After the 'DeepSeek moment'

China In Context is a fortnightly podcast by the SOAS China Institute (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) which offers expert analysis on the politics, economy, society, culture and history of China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. It features interviews with leading academics, researchers, journalists and other China-specialists from around the world.