New: Nonfiction on China’s technology push • Made in China 2025 • Global impact

From the “World’s Factory” to an Innovation Nation

How did the “world’s factory” become a global innovation powerhouse? This book shows how China, with the initiative “Made in China 2025” builds up key industries — from Artificial Intelligence and 5G to semiconductors and electric mobility.
It explores innovation hubs like Shenzhen and companies such as Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent — and explains what China’s technological shift means for business, politics, and companies worldwide.Ideal for: Technology & Economy • Politics & Geopolitics • Investing • Study & Teaching

Sample Buy now About the author

Keywords: China • Made in China 2025 • Technology policy • Digitization • Artificial Intelligence • 5G • Semiconductor industry • Electric mobility • 1,000 green factories • Start-up ecosystem • Shenzhen • Huawei • Alibaba • Tencent • Research & development • Patents • Surveillance technologies • Global competition

What it covers

Key topics: strategy, technologies, players — and what it means for Europe and the world.

⚙️ Key technologies

AI, 5G, semiconductors, robotics, and electric mobility: the fields in which China aims to set standards.

🏭 Industry & “green factories”

Modernizing production, boosting energy efficiency, and initiatives like “1,000 green factories”.

🧠 Research & patents

R&D, patent filings, and technology policy — how innovation is organized systematically.

🌆 Innovation hubs

Shenzhen as a laboratory: start-ups, supply chains, speed — and how they interact with the state.

🏢 Tech giants

Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent: platforms, infrastructure, and their role in global competition.

🌍 Global impact

China’s rise reshapes markets, supply chains, and geopolitical room for manoeuvre — opportunities and dependencies.

Sample

A brief impression of tone, themes, and the central questions.

Sample (teaser)

China’s technological rise is not an accident — it is the result of long-term strategy. “Made in China 2025” combines industrial policy, research, capital, and speed to turn manufacturing into an innovation engine.

This book takes you through the key arenas and players: from Shenzhen and its start‑up ecosystem to global champions Huawei, Alibaba and Tencent. It focuses on opportunities, tensions, and the question of how the race for technological leadership affects Europe, markets, and supply chains.

• What are the goals and instruments of “Made in China 2025”? • What role do AI, 5G, and semiconductors play in the new global economy? • How do innovation hubs emerge — and what conditions do they need? • What does this shift mean for companies, investors, and policy-makers?

“From the outside, China’s pace often looks like magic. In reality it is a system of planning, experimentation, and scaling — an interplay of state, industry, and digital infrastructure.”

“If you want to understand global competition, you need to know the technologies — but also the political frameworks in which they arise.”

Read more …

 

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Praise

Reviews, press quotes & reader feedback.

“Clear, well-structured, and surprisingly accessible — a strong overview of China’s tech strategy.”

— Review / blog

“Helps put headlines into context: technology, politics, and economics in a coherent framework.”

— Magazine / press

“Essential reading for anyone who wants to join the conversation about competing with China.”

— Reader

About the author

More background, essays and books: alterstorheiten.info

Hermann Selchow

Born 1956. Fascinated since youth by social questions and philosophical concepts. Worked for many years at a well-known German theatre and later in other professional fields. He publishes his reflections in book form at alterstorheiten.info.

Website Books Blog

FAQ

Quick answers to common questions (easy to edit).

What is “Made in China 2025” about, specifically?

It focuses on China’s industrial and technology policy, the “Made in China 2025” initiative, and the key sectors (AI, 5G, semiconductors, e‑mobility) — plus their global consequences.

Is the book more reportage or analysis?

It combines clear explanation with analytical framing: what is being built where, who is driving it, and what dynamics arise in global competition.

Which places and companies play a role?

Innovation hubs like Shenzhen, as well as major platform and infrastructure players such as Huawei, Alibaba and Tencent, are used as examples of pace, scaling, and strategy.

Who is the book especially for?

For readers interested in technology and politics, students, journalists, decision-makers, entrepreneurs and investors — and for reading groups that want to discuss China’s role in the tech future.