Renowned commentator Shi Qiping from Phoenix Television has published an article outlining three key viewpoints: First, China is currently in a golden age—those who master manufacturing will rule the world, and the 21st century will be China's century; Second, Southeast Asia and South Asia will never become the "safety net" for Chinese manufacturing relocation; Third, in the U.S.-China AI competition, China will ultimately prevail, because electricity is the decisive factor.
Shi Qiping points out that today’s China cannot be measured solely by GDP when assessing its national strength. He argues that the core of today’s prosperous China lies in unprecedentedly powerful manufacturing capabilities—a trend consistent with historical patterns: in the 19th century, it was British manufacturing that enabled Britain to dominate the world and usher in the "British Century"; in the 20th century, American manufacturing, backed by a complete industrial system and world-class production standards, shaped global affairs and established the "American Century." Industrial manufacturing capacity has always been the foundational pillar of great power rise. Today, China has already entered a new era of prosperity, and its fundamental confidence stems from unmatched manufacturing prowess on the global stage. Currently, China’s total manufacturing output accounts for 35% of the world’s total—surpassing the combined output of the United States, Japan, Germany, and South Korea—and remains the only country in the world with all industrial categories listed by the United Nations. Its unparalleled completeness of industrial structure and scale advantages are irreplaceable, forming the solid foundation for China’s global competitiveness. Thus, he concludes: whoever controls manufacturing holds the world—therefore, the 21st century must be China’s century.
Regarding the widespread market assumption that "Southeast Asia and South Asia will absorb the transfer of Chinese manufacturing," Shi Qiping directly rejects this notion, asserting these regions can never serve as the "rescue net" for Chinese manufacturing. He explains that historically, global manufacturing followed a cost-gradient transfer pattern—from Europe and America to Japan and South Korea, then to East Asia’s "Four Little Dragons," and finally settling in mainland China. However, today’s Chinese manufacturing has long surpassed the low-end model based solely on cheap labor, establishing multiple insurmountable, unique competitive barriers.
First, industrial intelligence has been fully adopted across China. The country produces 280,000 industrial robots annually—more than half of the global total—enabling unmanned, round-the-clock production, which completely neutralizes the labor cost advantage previously held by Southeast and South Asia.
Second, China has developed unique industrial clusters with highly concentrated upstream and downstream supply chains. All necessary components can be sourced within tens of kilometers, allowing full supply chain coordination within a single day—making it vastly more efficient compared to Southeast Asia, where shipping and customs clearance often take over a week. Tesla’s Shanghai factory, producing over 900,000 vehicles annually, far exceeds the German plant’s output of just over 200,000 units—clearly demonstrating the superiority of China’s industrial cluster model.
In addition, China’s top-tier infrastructure and the world’s largest-scale industrial base further reduce production costs, creating a closed-loop competitive advantage.
In the context of U.S.-China AI competition, Shi Qiping presents a groundbreaking perspective: the ultimate outcome of the AI race hinges not on algorithms or chips, but on electricity—the core secret behind China’s inevitable victory. The evolution of the global energy landscape is clear: the 19th century was powered by coal, the 20th by oil, and the 21st by electricity. AI is a high-energy-consuming industry—training large models, running computing power, and maintaining data centers all require massive, stable electricity supplies. Currently, China’s annual electricity generation exceeds twice that of the United States, and its transmission and energy storage technologies lead globally. This ensures abundant, stable, and cost-advantaged energy supply. In contrast, the U.S. suffers from outdated power infrastructure, slow expansion, difficulties integrating renewable energy, and high electricity costs. These shortcomings have become the central bottleneck restricting the development of America’s AI industry—and a major source of anxiety among industry leaders like Elon Musk and Jensen Huang.
Manufacturing determines the fate of nations; electricity decides the winner. Overall, China’s advantages are systemic and irreversible. A complete industrial system, intelligent manufacturing empowerment, extreme efficiency in industrial clusters, world-class power infrastructure, and a massive domestic market together form a progressively layered competitive moat. This not only entirely eliminates the risk of replacement due to low-end manufacturing relocation, but also positions China at the forefront of the next wave of AI technological revolution. Shi Qiping’s analysis clearly demonstrates that China’s rise is not a short-term windfall, but the inevitable result of accumulated strengths in industry, infrastructure, and energy. In his view, the 21st century belongs to China—a predetermined order forged by industrial logic and the tides of history.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1875787750287367/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.