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Are there any examples of breakthrough technologies recently developed by the CCP that have benefited other than themselves? https://www.merriam-webster.com/di

Are there any examples of breakthrough technologies recently developed by the CCP that have benefited other than themselves? https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/breakthrough https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/breakthrough

dv_dt 5y ago
Solar power would likely not be nearly as lost cost as it is now without investment by China. You could argue about wether it is fundamental ip or manufacturing ip that was developed but imho there is much knowledge and economic activity that simply doesn’t happen unless you are in the area where the factories are.
- actuator 5y ago
  Can you elaborate on what breakthrough happened there in solar? I always thought it was economies of scale and cheap labour that led to photovoltaic cells becoming cheap. But I do agree that it is very efficient to prototype and scale things there because of manufacturing ingenuity and efficient supply chains.
  - dv_dt 5y ago
    An "economy of scale" is part technology, part educating a labor force, and part infrastructure, and it's intentional creation takes focused industrial strategy shaping long term capital allocation. Especially with non-software industries.
    - bassman9000 5y ago
      A collection of iterated improvements that require the regulation, the local enterprises, and the workers to align in a particular way is not exportable, nor a breakthrough.
      - dv_dt 5y ago
        Yet China has the “breakthrough” lowest cost solar in the world coming from not being on the map for it twenty years earlier. Not being transferable as an export seems like a benefit for the hosting nation doesn’t it?
- bassman9000 5y ago
  Any specific example of a manufacturing or materials breakthrough the CCP has shared with everyone else? https://phys.org/news/2021-03-breakthrough-solar-cell-materials.html https://phys.org/news/2021-03-breakthrough-solar-cell-materi... https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2021/05/19/china-made-solar-cheap-through-coal-subsidies--forced-labor-not-efficiency/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2021/05/19...

dv_dt 5y ago

Solar power would likely not be nearly as lost cost as it is now without investment by China. You could argue about wether it is fundamental ip or manufacturing ip that was developed but imho there is much knowledge and economic activity that simply doesn’t happen unless you are in the area where the factories are.

actuator 5y ago
Can you elaborate on what breakthrough happened there in solar? I always thought it was economies of scale and cheap labour that led to photovoltaic cells becoming cheap. But I do agree that it is very efficient to prototype and scale things there because of manufacturing ingenuity and efficient supply chains.
- dv_dt 5y ago
  An "economy of scale" is part technology, part educating a labor force, and part infrastructure, and it's intentional creation takes focused industrial strategy shaping long term capital allocation. Especially with non-software industries.
  - bassman9000 5y ago
    A collection of iterated improvements that require the regulation, the local enterprises, and the workers to align in a particular way is not exportable, nor a breakthrough.
    - dv_dt 5y ago
      Yet China has the “breakthrough” lowest cost solar in the world coming from not being on the map for it twenty years earlier. Not being transferable as an export seems like a benefit for the hosting nation doesn’t it?
bassman9000 5y ago
Any specific example of a manufacturing or materials breakthrough the CCP has shared with everyone else? https://phys.org/news/2021-03-breakthrough-solar-cell-materials.html https://phys.org/news/2021-03-breakthrough-solar-cell-materi... https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2021/05/19/china-made-solar-cheap-through-coal-subsidies--forced-labor-not-efficiency/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2021/05/19...