Xi Jinping: China Did in Decades What Others Took Centuries to Achieve
Published · 3 min read
China has built the world’s largest manufacturing economy in just a few decades, a transformation that took Western nations centuries to complete. From electric vehicles to renewable energy and high-speed rail, the country now leads in industries that will define the global economy this century.
President Xi Jinping highlighted this achievement, pointing to China’s dominance in electronics, clean energy, advanced infrastructure, and automotive technology as proof of the country’s compressed industrial rise.
The World’s Biggest Factory
China has held the top spot in global manufacturing for 15 consecutive years. In 2024, total industrial output reached 40.5 trillion yuan, or roughly $5.65 trillion, far ahead of any other nation.
The country’s manufacturing share is three times that of the United States, six times that of Japan, and nine times that of Germany. China surpassed Germany in 1998, Japan in 2005, and the United States in 2008.
Since then, it has more than doubled its share of global manufacturing. This dominance spans electronics, automotive production, consumer goods, and heavy industry.
Electronics and Semiconductors
China’s electronics sector grew 11.8 percent year-on-year in 2024, outpacing the broader industrial sector by six percentage points. Integrated circuit production surged 22.2 percent, reaching 4,514 billion units. Mobile phone output hit 1.67 billion units.
The government has invested over $150 billion in semiconductor development, roughly three times the funding committed under the U.S. CHIPS Act. By 2024, China-based foundry SMIC had become the world’s third-largest chipmaker by revenue.
Chinese firms now account for 33 percent of global wafer production capacity for foundational logic chips, up from 19 percent in 2015.
Electric Vehicles Take Over
China’s EV market grew 40.5 percent in the first half of 2025, with nearly 6 million plug-in vehicles delivered between January and June. For the first time since 2019, Chinese brands held the top three market positions.
BYD led the sector with 1.55 million deliveries in the first half of 2025 alone, up nearly 20 percent year-on-year. For the full year of 2025, the company sold 3.17 million vehicles domestically.
Exports of new energy vehicles from China grew 25.1 percent in 2025, reflecting rising global demand for Chinese-made electric cars.
Renewable Energy at Record Scale
China pledged in 2020 to reach 1,200 gigawatts of renewable capacity by 2030. It is on track to hit that target by 2025, five years early.
In 2024 alone, China installed 360 gigawatts of wind and solar capacity, more than half of all global additions that year. Total installed renewable capacity now stands at 1.4 terawatts, roughly one-third of the entire world’s renewable generation.
The country controls more than 80 percent of global solar manufacturing capacity and dominates supply chains for the rare earth minerals that power clean energy technology.
High-Speed Rail and 5G Networks
China’s high-speed rail network has surpassed 50,000 kilometers in operating mileage, the largest and most advanced system in the world. Since 2021, roughly 12,000 kilometers of new high-speed rail have been built and opened.
On telecommunications, China has deployed more than 4.25 million 5G base stations, compared to fewer than 150,000 in the United States. Operators have already rolled out next-generation 5G-Advanced networks in more than 300 cities.
A Development Story Unlike Any Other
The industrial rise has reshaped daily life inside China. The number of people living below the international poverty line fell by nearly 800 million over four decades, contributing three-quarters of the global reduction in extreme poverty.
Life expectancy climbed from around 44 years in 1950 to approximately 78 years in 2025. Youth literacy reached 100 percent by 2010.
China’s middle-income population grew from 10 million in 2002 to 336 million by 2023, a pace of roughly 18 percent annual growth over two decades.
References
- China’s Electronic Information Manufacturing Sector 2024 Performance
- China EV Market Report H1 2025 – Clean Technica
- China Renewable Energy Expansion – Rocky Mountain Institute
