Well at this point they are probably the only country in the world that can produce a car end to end starting from the raw iron ore and other elements up to the chips and software that runs on them (I’m sure they will still need to import some small stuff probably like Rhodium or Iridium maybe), who is going to compete with that? Everything done in country, no tariffs at all throughout the entire production cycle.

That said some of these industry especially metallurgical ones will never return to Europe or US as they basically destroy and pollute the environment on a large scale, in China that still seems acceptable but also might change promoting them to outsource to other countries which they already do in some areas I think.

▲

geysersam 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I find it quite strange en people take a development that has happened over the last ~50 years, little more than half a lifetime, and confidently state that now "it will always stay like this". Things always change.

Imagine what those kinds of people would have said in China in the 70s, with western industries being vastly more advanced and efficient. "It's over, we will never catch up." they would probably have said. Wrong then, more wrong now.

▲

coliveira 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> China that still seems acceptable

China has made a tremendous effort to move to a clean(er) industrial system, using a lot of renewables and clean energy and improving environmental standards. At this point production in China is probably the best for the environment compared to most countries, including the US that is deeply invested in oil production.

▲

Danox 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

China evidently is pushing to move to sodium ion batteries. They didn’t have to. They could’ve stuck with lithium. I’ll let you guess what what would’ve happened in the United States they would’ve said we don’t have to this lithium already works. Why do you want to upset the Apple Cart.

They are also moving close to a point where they will bring Thorium Reactors on line they don’t have to. They could just stick with uranium, but they’re not.

Is this part of the fact that they have engineers running a lot of of the things at the top of their government instead of lawyers?

They seem to be building a lot of infrastructure they are in the process of building several dams on the Brahmaputra River.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medog_Hydropower_Station

	▲	UltraSane 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It does seem that China is run by engineers who like to build cool stuff.

▲

UltraSane 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

United States: 384 gCO2/kWh

China: 525 gCO2/kWh

https://ourworldindata.org/electricity-mix

▲

AngryData an hour ago | parent [-]

But we do have to consider how the speed in which it is dropping. China uses about the same percentage of fossil fuels for energy production as the US right now, but more of it is coal so it is dirtier. However they are aggressively installing and promoting renewables and nuclear power, built themselves, and their pollution standards are rapidly increasing. While in the US renewable and nuclear investment is and has been pretty crappy.

	▲	Grombobulous 17 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		The fact that China is not that far above the US while being the world's factory and having 4x the population is pretty impressive. And like you said, China is putting a real effort in. I don't see the US trying to reduce domestic short hop flights with electric high speed rail. I don't see the US trying to replace gasoline cars with EVs. I don't see the US curtailing structural incentivization of pickup trucks and SUVs. The main US policy seems to be "spend trillions on wars for oil" rather than accepting the inevitable decline of oil and planning around it.