logo
episode-header-image
May 2024
1m 7s

Coming soon: China, the new tech superpo...

Financial Times
About this episode

In a new season of Tech Tonic, longtime FT China reporter Jame Kynge travels around the world to see how China is pushing towards tech supremacy. Will China be able to get an edge in crucial technological areas? What does China’s attempt to leapfrog the west look like on the ground? A 6-part series looking at China’s tech industry.


Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Nov 19
What’s the deal with OpenAI's deals?
<p>OpenAI is entering a new era. It's restructured to add a for-profit arm to its business and has signed more than a trillion dollars’ worth of deals to secure chips and build out data centres. But those huge financial commitments also raise massive questions: How will a heavily ... Show More
26m 5s
Nov 12
Pfizer and Novo Nordisk’s $10bn battle over weight-loss drugs
Pharma juggernauts Pfizer and Novo Nordisk are struggling in the obesity drug race.The two companies are searching for their next moneymaker, and that search recently spun out into a ferocious, multibillion-dollar battle for control of biotech start-up Metsera. The FT’s US deals ... Show More
26m 3s
Nov 5
The $17bn nuclear start-up without any revenue
Publicly-listed Oklo sits at the intersection of two hot areas for Wall Street: artificial intelligence and energy companies. This year alone, Oklo’s share price has jumped more than 400 per cent. But the business hasn’t generated any revenue. It hasn’t built a nuclear reactor, a ... Show More
23m 28s
Recommended Episodes
May 2024
China's race to tech supremacy: Shenzhen speed
<p>How did China go from tech imitator to innovator? The FT’s James Kynge reports from Shenzhen, known as China’s Silicon Valley, where he explores the city’s vast electronics markets with inventor Noah Zerkin, an American who’s based himself in China, visits robot start-up Youib ... Show More
26m 16s
Sep 12
China and the limits of its ‘engineering state’. With Dan Wang
China has become a superpower because of its ability to build bridges, cars and electronics at an astonishing pace. But breakneck growth comes with problems. The country is grappling with overproduction and deflation, and policymakers in Beijing are attempting to jumpstart consum ... Show More
28m 24s
Feb 2025
How Western Tech Companies Are Avoiding China
As U.S.-China tensions heat up, Western tech companies are migrating their supply chains away from China. Producer Julie Chang talks with China tech reporter and editor Liza Lin about what that means for everything from artificial intelligence servers to consumer electronics. Plu ... Show More
13m 1s
Oct 16
Taiwan under threat: how strong are its defences?
Gideon talks to Taipei-based policy analyst J Michael Cole about how the Taiwanese are handling the threat of invasion from Beijing. Clips: APT News; RTI English.Free links to read more on this topic:TSMC’s stock market rally is a triumph of need over fearTaiwan accelerates ‘T-do ... Show More
30m 5s
Jan 2025
China’s DeepSeek AI triggers tech sell-off
<p>US tech stocks tumbled after advances by Chinese start-up DeepSeek ignited worries over whether America could sustain its lead in artificial intelligence. Latin American leaders will hold an emergency summit to respond to President Donald Trump’s mass deportations of migrants, ... Show More
10m 50s
Aug 25
America's lawyers vs. China's engineers
America has a hard time building stuff. Roads. Trains. Bridges. Housing. Everything takes seemingly forever. Meanwhile, China seems to have no trouble at all: high-speed rails, solar panels, electric cars, bridges, ports, all churned out at breakneck speed. Why is that? Sean's gu ... Show More
51m 37s
Nov 2024
The geopolitics of chips: Taiwan’s ‘Silicon Shield’
<p>The global tech industry depends on Taiwan’s semiconductor chips and many believe the sector plays a key role in the island’s national security, helping stave off an invasion from mainland China. But as relations between China and Taiwan worsen, some countries are taking steps ... Show More
22m 45s
Aug 25
China’s Race to Dominate: Listen to Global Tech Wars
Here’s a preview of a new audiobook, Global Tech Wars: China’s Race to Dominate. For decades, China’s economic rise has been symbolized by its unstoppable force of low-cost manufacturing. Now, it’s the leading country in cutting-edge industries like artificial intelligence, elect ... Show More
25m 21s
Aug 25
If Americans Are Lawyers and Chinese Are Engineers, Who Is Going to Win?
The United States and China are constantly looking for a leg up in their rivalry for geopolitical primacy. But what if the real advantage lies in adopting a bit of the other’s culture? A new book makes the case that while China has become an engineering state obsessed with buildi ... Show More
44m 58s