There is an old saying in China: "Life finds a way."
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Beyond Deepseek: How China's 10-year high-tech plan worked
Although the Chinese-made artificial intelligence application DeepSeek surprised most of the world, it was not a surprise to those who follow China closely.
China has been slowly building its expertise in high-tech products over the past decade, part of an ambitious project called “Made in China 2025.”
According to experts, DeepSeek's success is a fruit of this large project.
“Made in China 2025” was grandly announced by the Chinese government in 2015.
China has chosen and focused on 10 technology industries that it wants to dominate by 2025.
Artificial intelligence, quantum computers, electric vehicles, renewable energy and battery technology were some of them.
China has managed to become a major player in many of these areas and has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations in some of them.
“I think Made in China 2025 has been a great success,” says Dr Yundan Gong, an economic development expert at Kings College London.
"In many industries, China has kept up with the times and even begun to lead in some."
China has surpassed previous leaders in the automobile industry (Germany, Japan, and the US) and is now selling more cars than any other country, thanks to companies like electric vehicle maker BYD.
This success in electric vehicles is also related to China's transformation into the world's largest battery producer.
In the renewable energy space, China now accounts for about 80-95 percent of the global solar panel supply chain, according to the International Energy Agency.
Researchers say China has become a giant in renewable energy, and by 2028, 60 percent of all renewable energy in the world will be produced in China.
China has chosen and focused on 10 technology industries that it wants to dominate by 2025.
Artificial intelligence, quantum computers, electric vehicles, renewable energy and battery technology were some of them.
China has managed to become a major player in many of these areas and has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations in some of them.
“I think Made in China 2025 has been a great success,” says Dr Yundan Gong, an economic development expert at Kings College London.
"In many industries, China has kept up with the times and even begun to lead in some."
China has surpassed previous leaders in the automobile industry (Germany, Japan, and the US) and is now selling more cars than any other country, thanks to companies like electric vehicle maker BYD.
This success in electric vehicles is also related to China's transformation into the world's largest battery producer.
In the renewable energy space, China now accounts for about 80-95 percent of the global solar panel supply chain, according to the International Energy Agency.
Researchers say China has become a giant in renewable energy, and by 2028, 60 percent of all renewable energy in the world will be produced in China.
But experts say restrictions in some other areas are holding China back. After all, one of the goals of Made in China 2025 was to increase self-sufficiency.
“There is an old saying in China: life finds a way,” says Peng Zhou, Professor of Applied Economics at Cardiff University Business School in Wales.
"Restrictions and sanctions have only changed the roots, not the direction."
Experts like Prof. Zhou see DeepSeek as a good example of this, as the company was unable to access the most powerful chips due to US sanctions.
Having to work with less powerful chips led them to develop new techniques, and thus they developed an AI model that could operate much more cheaply.
While some of DeepSeek’s competitors are skeptical of its statements, DeepSeek also shocked US President Donald Trump, who said it was a “warning sign” for US AI giants.
But the United States is still seen as the world leader in artificial intelligence.
The United States also has a lead in many aspects of quantum computing, but Chinese scientists now publish more papers in this field than their colleagues in other countries.
The United States is also trying to strengthen its position in competition with China by investing hundreds of billions of dollars from public and private sources in microchip production, scientific research and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Another potential hurdle in China’s path is national security concerns. TikTok became the first popular social media platform not to originate in the United States, leading it to come close to being banned in the United States over suspicions of espionage.
Chinese e-commerce platforms like Temu and Shein and AI applications like DeepSeek could also suffer the same fate.
On the other hand, you can see that it is possible to survive outside the West by looking at the Chinese telecom giant Huawei.
While the fast-growing company rose to leadership in the 5G and smartphone space, it faced sanctions and bans due to national security concerns starting in 2019.
But Huawei expanded in other parts of the world, began producing its own microchips and reached $100 million in revenue, thwarting the Western sanctions chain.