Chengxin Zhang is a doctoral candidate at the School of Politics and International Relations of Lanzhou University, China, and a researcher at Glory Diplomacy Youth Think Tank, China.
China can build on its advantage in exports and EV expertise for its next leap in the global auto industry – by investing in R&D and cultivating world-class brands.
China can plug the talent gap by revving up its universities and use its powerful state apparatus to pool semiconductor funding. But getting the resources channelled to the right companies and minds is a path riddled with subsidy fraud, R&D incompetence and corruption.
China is Asean’s top trading partner and more China-invested projects are gaining traction but its expanding economic influence is also attracting suspicion and distrust.
Japan and China have arrived at the 50th anniversary of the normalisation of bilateral ties, but relations are strained. Given Japan’s stance on cross-strait issues and the Diaoyu Islands, and its long-standing failure to apologise for the Nanking massacre, it isn’t difficult to understand why.