The robotization of China’s economy - a time bomb or a lifeline?

[Abiky]

Robots were in the action of manufacturing for a while when was the last time we managed to create a car that is completely made by humans? Maybe it was before 90s but since then automation took over and one of the reasons is to avoid dependency on humans who may not always work up to their potential while a robot can be just one time investment and works at 100% efficiency 24/7. And importantly, it's not just in china almost every other country too that is why we are lacking employment while the consumerism at it's peak.

With the aging population and all, it makes sense to replace humans with bots and AI. This is inevitable. Does this mean the global economy will collapse due to rising unemployment? No. On the contrary, it will recover as AI and robotics boost production. It will save companies a lot of money, while increasing profit revenue. Governments will simply earn from taxes obtained by companies making use of these revolutionary technologies. Ordinary people will live their lives as usual, without working. Like being at home, while getting paid some sort of "Universal Basic Income" in return.

The only jobs that will exist in the future are AI/robotics engineers and/or technicians. China knows what's at stake, so it's preparing itself for this new future before everyone else. It's already outpacing the US at an alarming rate. We'll see what happens in the long run...

[KiaKia]

Of all the countries in the world if you think that China is the one that will have problems later you are kidding yourself, china is one of the most economical one in the world, and that's because they are always in production.

They make a lot of things and right now they are living in the future already, they have a lots of cars that are so futuristic, few of them are even flying, I have watch few videos of some cool cars straight out of James Bond movies.

Robotics innovation from china are confusing enough because they are progressing, if we want to talk about the struggles of china production isn't one of them, innovation isn't one of them and I doubt it will ever be.

[DrBeer]

And while the statement "China isn’t ignoring these problems" sounds debatable - it would be more accurate to say that China is aware of them, but there are no real and effective solutions yet.

How do you correct the one child politics of the past?
They have created a problem larger than admitted . Data from China, well as masters of manipulation real data is hard to come by.

Wiki insinuates it. by "Missing women of China" redirects here. A mostly male society,  pretty nationalistic too has only one exit. Dying out.  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex-ratio_imbalance_in_China

This was one of the first systemic "time bombs" that came to light decades later and that had been planted by the Chinese government.

I’d like to remind you of some of the Chinese government’s historical "effective solutions", and the one that stands out most to me was the campaign against sparrows:
As part of the "Great Leap Forward" policy, Chairman Mao Zedong declared war on the "four pests": rats, flies, mosquitoes, and sparrows.

It was believed that sparrows pecked away too much grain, depriving the people of food

...

the results of this "wise decision"
Insect Invasion: The ecosystem’s balance was disrupted. Caterpillars and locusts, which had previously been eaten by sparrows, multiplied in enormous numbers.
Crop Failure: Pests destroyed rice and other crops in a relentless wave.
The Great Chinese Famine: Due to crop failure, a terrible famine broke out in the country (1960–1961), claiming the lives of, according to various estimates, between 10 and 30 million people.
 

[DrBeer]

Of all the countries in the world if you think that China is the one that will have problems later you are kidding yourself, china is one of the most economical one in the world, and that's because they are always in production.

They make a lot of things and right now they are living in the future already, they have a lots of cars that are so futuristic, few of them are even flying, I have watch few videos of some cool cars straight out of James Bond movies.

Robotics innovation from china are confusing enough because they are progressing, if we want to talk about the struggles of china production isn't one of them, innovation isn't one of them and I doubt it will ever be.

I was born in the USSR. Back then, compared to China, the USSR was an industrial giant with its own scientific base, and it posed a COMPETITION to the Western world. But it collapsed because its "core" was rotten. China is one of the USSR’s ideological brothers, although Deng Xiaoping steered China away from communist ideology and prevented it from repeating the USSR’s failure. But… Deng Xiaoping’s ideology has been deteriorating for two decades now, and Xi Jinping is driving China back into totalitarianism. But to hell with totalitarianism - the problem lies elsewhere, in China’s economy, which has a host of problems! Propaganda and window-dressing are at work for the global market, trying to pass off the Chinese economy as an "unsinkable cruiser that has surpassed all its peers", but beneath this pretty facade lie a host of internal problems, anchors holding the economy back, and "peculiarities", or, more precisely, a highly "synthetic" success based on outrageous government subsidies and the massive debt of the largest exporters - and without exports, China’s economy would simply collapse.

P.S. Would you like to buy a Chinese car - futuristic and straight out of the future?   Care to share your experience? I’ve already had one, so now I drive high-quality, non-Chinese cars

[DrBeer]

Here is another interesting analysis of the challenges and consequences of automation as they apply to China.

- Structural Unemployment and Social Stratification
Skills Mismatch: Automation is rapidly eliminating low-skilled blue-collar jobs (assembly, textiles, logistics). At the same time, the education and retraining system is not keeping pace with the market.
Wage pressure: In regions with high levels of robot adoption, there is a decline in relative wages for workers with medium and low skill levels.
The problem of youth unemployment: Production models designed for automation are reducing the number of so-called "entry-level" positions for young professionals, which exacerbates the already high rate of youth unemployment.
- The Threat of the "Middle-Income Trap" and the Decline in Domestic Consumption
China is attempting to transition from an export-oriented model to one based on domestic consumption (the "dual circulation" strategy).
However, widespread automation without a corresponding increase in high-paying jobs is shrinking the national wage bill. Without sustained growth in real household incomes, domestic demand stagnates, which hinders the development of the service sector and non-technology sectors.
- Technological and Raw Material Dependency
High-level components: Despite its leadership in assembly and scale of application, China continues to import key high-precision components (high-precision gearboxes, servo motors, and top-tier controllers) largely from Japan, Germany, and South Korea.
Sanctions Risks: Restrictions on access to advanced chips and software imposed by the U.S. and the West are hindering the transition from simple industrial robots to "smart" systems with AI capabilities.
- Regional Imbalance
Automation is concentrated in the economically developed coastal provinces (Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu).
Inland and central provinces lack the resources for similar modernization, which accelerates the outflow of capital and talent from less developed regions and widens the economic gap within the country.
- Excessive Capital Investment and Industry Overheating
Generous subsidies from local authorities lead to the formation of "bubbles" and subsidy-driven inefficiency: hundreds of companies are opening robotic production facilities for the sake of government grants rather than out of genuine economic necessity. This results in overproduction of basic equipment and a decline in return on investment (ROI).

[abhiseshakana]

And then a completely different question arises.
What will be the main mechanism for income distribution in an economy where production relies less and less on human labor?
And this, to me, seems a much more interesting question than simply "will robots take our jobs"? Tens, if not hundreds, of millions of unemployed people in China -that’s a HUGE problem for the country....
Do you think China will ultimately reap a demographic dividend from robotization, or will it face a new problem - excess production capacity and a lack of effective demand?

Do not forget that China historical track record show that Beijing rarely solve problems using conventional western economic theory, they have amazing advance capabilities with a distinctive approach that consistently enables them to escape economic traps which is observe, imitate, and modify (ATM) on their own terms. To answer your question i like to linking this to the concept of gongtong fuyu (common prosperity) which aims to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. China government want to change the structure of its society, from an inverted pyramid shape, where the base is wide and then tapers sharply upwards with a few rich people in power at the top and the majority with low incomes become Shrink the super rich group at the top and lift up the poor group at the bottom, so that the majority of the population sits in the middle as a strong middle class. These middle class which the state will safeguard to ensure it retains its purchasing power , when robots take over repetition jobs.

Without gongtong fuyu, robot automatization will make manufacture owner and technology company become trillioner meanwhile, millions of laidoff workers will fall into poverty and be unable to shop which in the end the economy collapsed due to a lack of demand. Robots work hard to produce inexpensive goods and generate abundant profits.  Government under the umbrella of Gongtong Fuyu absorbs those profits, rather than allowing them to accumulate in the accounts of a handful of conglomerates. Those profits are used to reduce the cost of living for the people. When people do not have to worry about the costs of housing, education, and healthcare, they can still live prosperously and spend money in other sectors such as services, tourism, and entertainment even if they no longer work in factories.

Redistribution mechanism will be separated through three pillars :

• Demanding company provide fair wages and social security for the remaining workers.
• The extraordinary efficiency of industrial robots creates massive profits for companies and state owned enterprises. The state captures a significant share of these profits through taxes and strict regulations, then redistributes them to the public in the form of subsidies for basic living costs  such as free education, affordable housing, and facilities for the elderly.
• Government is pressuring tech giants such as Alibaba, Tencent, and BYD to contribute billions of dollars to social foundations, rural development, and skills retraining for young people whose jobs have been displaced by robots.

I see Gongtong Fuyu is Beijing’s control mechanism which designed to ensure that wealth generated by AI and robotics is not monopolized by a handful of elites, but redistributed by the state to safeguard the livelihoods and purchasing power of the entire populationon. This represents a concrete way for China to reshape its labor market, preventing a collapse caused by the wave of industrial robot automation in its own terms.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/03/chinas-tech-giants-pour-billions-into-xis-goal-of-common-prosperity.html
https://www.jri.co.jp/en/reports/rim/2022/83/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360201445_What's_Really_behind_China's_Common_Prosperity_Program

[Doll2233]

Robotization is a solution and political challenge as well for China. As the workforce shrinks, automation can compensate and it also allows China to increase or maintain its production despite the demographic decline. So, robots become necessary rather than just replacing workers. But the demand is a concern if factories become more productive, whereas wages and employment cannot keep pace, then China will end up producing more goods but there are not enough consumers, which will create overcapacity and pressure on businesses.
The main problems are whether robots are destroying jobs and whether China is going to successfully place their displaced workers into other sectors like healthcare, technology or growing sectors. That type of transition can happen then robotization is going to help China manage their demographic problem.

[TastyChillySauce00]

Robots were in the action of manufacturing for a while when was the last time we managed to create a car that is completely made by humans? Maybe it was before 90s but since then automation took over and one of the reasons is to avoid dependency on humans who may not always work up to their potential while a robot can be just one time investment and works at 100% efficiency 24/7. And importantly, it's not just in china almost every other country too that is why we are lacking employment while the consumerism at it's peak.

With the aging population and all, it makes sense to replace humans with bots and AI. This is inevitable. Does this mean the global economy will collapse due to rising unemployment? No. On the contrary, it will recover as AI and robotics boost production. It will save companies a lot of money, while increasing profit revenue. Governments will simply earn from taxes obtained by companies making use of these revolutionary technologies. Ordinary people will live their lives as usual, without working. Like being at home, while getting paid some sort of "Universal Basic Income" in return.

The only jobs that will exist in the future are AI/robotics engineers and/or technicians. China knows what's at stake, so it's preparing itself for this new future before everyone else. It's already outpacing the US at an alarming rate. We'll see what happens in the long run...

Actually agree with this, China's fertility rate is declining and population is also on the decline according to data only 0.98 fertility rate and population growth rate of negative 0.1%, they could be the next japan but on a larger scale, to maintain the economy they need to invest into robot for future economic sustainability. They can't afford to be like Japan where economy is stagnating due to aging population.

If any country is on the same path as China, which is lower fertility rate and about to embark into aging population, investing into robot and AI should be no brainer.

[Abiky]

Of all the countries in the world if you think that China is the one that will have problems later you are kidding yourself, china is one of the most economical one in the world, and that's because they are always in production.

They make a lot of things and right now they are living in the future already, they have a lots of cars that are so futuristic, few of them are even flying, I have watch few videos of some cool cars straight out of James Bond movies.

Robotics innovation from china are confusing enough because they are progressing, if we want to talk about the struggles of china production isn't one of them, innovation isn't one of them and I doubt it will ever be.

China struggles in quality, compared to countries like the US or Japan. It's more focused on quantity, by mass-producing units at a fraction of the cost. This is what China's been doing with both the EV and Robotics industry. Some even say China's AI LLMs are direct copies/clones of their American counterparts (like it's the case of DeepSeek vs ChatGPT). Turns out this is working pretty well for China. It now has a lot of tech at its disposal. Unlike the US, which is lacking behind. Only in terms of production. Technology-wise (quality), the US is still superior. Still, the country fears one day China will reign supreme. It's why Donald Trump has been against China (although he as softened his tone recently).

We can't say what will happen in the future, but one thing is certain, and that is China's position as one of the largest economic players in the world will remain untouched. The West must learn how to deal with this.

[DrBeer]

And then a completely different question arises.
What will be the main mechanism for income distribution in an economy where production relies less and less on human labor?
And this, to me, seems a much more interesting question than simply "will robots take our jobs"? Tens, if not hundreds, of millions of unemployed people in China -that’s a HUGE problem for the country....
Do you think China will ultimately reap a demographic dividend from robotization, or will it face a new problem - excess production capacity and a lack of effective demand?

Do not forget that China historical track record show that Beijing rarely solve problems using conventional western economic theory, they have amazing advance capabilities with a distinctive approach that consistently enables them to escape economic traps which is observe, imitate, and modify (ATM) on their own terms. To answer your question i like to linking this to the concept of gongtong fuyu (common prosperity) which aims to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. China government want to change the structure of its society, from an inverted pyramid shape, where the base is wide and then tapers sharply upwards with a few rich people in power at the top and the majority with low incomes become Shrink the super rich group at the top and lift up the poor group at the bottom, so that the majority of the population sits in the middle as a strong middle class. These middle class which the state will safeguard to ensure it retains its purchasing power , when robots take over repetition jobs.

Without gongtong fuyu, robot automatization will make manufacture owner and technology company become trillioner meanwhile, millions of laidoff workers will fall into poverty and be unable to shop which in the end the economy collapsed due to a lack of demand. Robots work hard to produce inexpensive goods and generate abundant profits.  Government under the umbrella of Gongtong Fuyu absorbs those profits, rather than allowing them to accumulate in the accounts of a handful of conglomerates. Those profits are used to reduce the cost of living for the people. When people do not have to worry about the costs of housing, education, and healthcare, they can still live prosperously and spend money in other sectors such as services, tourism, and entertainment even if they no longer work in factories.

Redistribution mechanism will be separated through three pillars :

• Demanding company provide fair wages and social security for the remaining workers.
• The extraordinary efficiency of industrial robots creates massive profits for companies and state owned enterprises. The state captures a significant share of these profits through taxes and strict regulations, then redistributes them to the public in the form of subsidies for basic living costs  such as free education, affordable housing, and facilities for the elderly.
• Government is pressuring tech giants such as Alibaba, Tencent, and BYD to contribute billions of dollars to social foundations, rural development, and skills retraining for young people whose jobs have been displaced by robots.

I see Gongtong Fuyu is Beijing’s control mechanism which designed to ensure that wealth generated by AI and robotics is not monopolized by a handful of elites, but redistributed by the state to safeguard the livelihoods and purchasing power of the entire populationon. This represents a concrete way for China to reshape its labor market, preventing a collapse caused by the wave of industrial robot automation in its own terms.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/03/chinas-tech-giants-pour-billions-into-xis-goal-of-common-prosperity.html
https://www.jri.co.jp/en/reports/rim/2022/83/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360201445_What's_Really_behind_China's_Common_Prosperity_Program

I will be less positive in my assessment of their capabilities, simply based on their historical track record of "effective problem-solving", and I will offer my perspective: it is more likely that they have a well-established system for manipulating information to create a positive "image".
Three simple examples: the fight against sparrows, birth control, and the government housing construction program. Three examples from different periods. The effect is the same- solving one problem created an EVEN BIGGER problem...
 
There are plenty of other examples. That’s exactly why I started this thread - because it’s similar to other "unique Chinese solutions". "Common Prosperity" reminds me very much of the idea of "building communism in the USSR". I’ll remind you how that all ended.

[DrBeer]

Of all the countries in the world if you think that China is the one that will have problems later you are kidding yourself, china is one of the most economical one in the world, and that's because they are always in production.

They make a lot of things and right now they are living in the future already, they have a lots of cars that are so futuristic, few of them are even flying, I have watch few videos of some cool cars straight out of James Bond movies.

Robotics innovation from china are confusing enough because they are progressing, if we want to talk about the struggles of china production isn't one of them, innovation isn't one of them and I doubt it will ever be.

China struggles in quality, compared to countries like the US or Japan. It's more focused on quantity, by mass-producing units at a fraction of the cost. This is what China's been doing with both the EV and Robotics industry. Some even say China's AI LLMs are direct copies/clones of their American counterparts (like it's the case of DeepSeek vs ChatGPT). Turns out this is working pretty well for China. It now has a lot of tech at its disposal. Unlike the US, which is lacking behind. Only in terms of production. Technology-wise (quality), the US is still superior. Still, the country fears one day China will reign supreme. It's why Donald Trump has been against China (although he as softened his tone recently).

We can't say what will happen in the future, but one thing is certain, and that is China's position as one of the largest economic players in the world will remain untouched. The West must learn how to deal with this.

This is very accurately pointed out using the example of AI-China is good at copying others’ ideas and bringing mass-market products to the market. But if it’s a complex technological endeavor, then we can say with nearly 100% certainty that it’s essentially a copied solution. However, stealing data to train your own AI system doesn’t mean your system will be better than the original... Incidentally, the same applies to many other areas of the economy. It’s no coincidence that China has actively sent its citizens to study at leading universities in the U.S. and Europe to gain knowledge, and has placed its specialists in high-tech companies to gather technological information and trade secrets...
And everything we see in China today is, in most cases, thanks to Western technologies.

[Abiky]

This is very accurately pointed out using the example of AI-China is good at copying others’ ideas and bringing mass-market products to the market. But if it’s a complex technological endeavor, then we can say with nearly 100% certainty that it’s essentially a copied solution. However, stealing data to train your own AI system doesn’t mean your system will be better than the original... Incidentally, the same applies to many other areas of the economy. It’s no coincidence that China has actively sent its citizens to study at leading universities in the U.S. and Europe to gain knowledge, and has placed its specialists in high-tech companies to gather technological information and trade secrets...
And everything we see in China today is, in most cases, thanks to Western technologies.

China owes it all to the West. Yet, it acts as if it achieved everything on its own. Perhaps, it's doing it out of pride or ego. If the West (particularly the US) weakens, China might become a force to reckon with. We will live in a New World Order with China and Russia at the helm. They will be the center of everything. China will lead in Robotics, AI, and EVs, while Russia will lead in nuclear weapons, and other areas.

I dunno. Just speculating here. Many things can happen in the future. Let's just hope communism/socialism doesn't take over the world. Else, we'll be doomed.

[DrBeer]

This is very accurately pointed out using the example of AI-China is good at copying others’ ideas and bringing mass-market products to the market. But if it’s a complex technological endeavor, then we can say with nearly 100% certainty that it’s essentially a copied solution. However, stealing data to train your own AI system doesn’t mean your system will be better than the original... Incidentally, the same applies to many other areas of the economy. It’s no coincidence that China has actively sent its citizens to study at leading universities in the U.S. and Europe to gain knowledge, and has placed its specialists in high-tech companies to gather technological information and trade secrets...
And everything we see in China today is, in most cases, thanks to Western technologies.

China owes it all to the West. Yet, it acts as if it achieved everything on its own. Perhaps, it's doing it out of pride or ego. If the West (particularly the US) weakens, China might become a force to reckon with. We will live in a New World Order with China and Russia at the helm. They will be the center of everything. China will lead in Robotics, AI, and EVs, while Russia will lead in nuclear weapons, and other areas.

I dunno. Just speculating here. Many things can happen in the future. Let's just hope communism/socialism doesn't take over the world. Else, we'll be doomed.

This is standard practice for regimes like this, it shouldn't surprise you. I’m not demanding that China worship and grovel before the West, but in essence, it’s currently trying to "bite the hand" of those who helped, and helped China tremendously, to become what it is today. And it’s foolish to deny that China’s economy is a "colossus with feet of clay". At least for now, that’s not the case....

China, at least for now, doesn’t need a war. China doesn’t like war, since all its experience with it has been very negative-plus, it brings destruction, tragedy, and so on. China needs to trade, and for that, it needs markets.
Will there be a new world order? I’m not sure. I think today’s mess will end with Trump’s departure from the White House, otherwise, the U.S. will go from being a world leader to a run-down country....

But when it comes to leadership, things are complicated.
Electric cars - they need to be sold somewhere, sold in very large quantities, and heavily subsidized... Robotics gives rise to the problems described at the beginning of this thread, as for AI, most models currently operate on knowledge stolen from Western models. Russia’s leadership is a whole other topic - straight out of a fairy tale Nuclear weapons were developed in the USSR, and since the collapse, Russia has failed to create anything truly new that isn’t just an "upgrade" of its Soviet past. Space exploration has been lost, rocket technology -well, perhaps only for terrorist attacks on peaceful cities,  the army has no advantage whatsoever, except for a partial numerical superiority, and for five years now has failed to achieve any success against the small Ukrainian Armed Forces.  All the fairy tales about projects like Nanotech and other "unparalleled technologies" - they’ve all failed, becoming nothing more than a pretext for corruption and theft on a massive scale.... In short -not really a suitable topic for serious discussion

[M47AK16]

China's fertility rate is declining and population is also on the decline according to data only 0.98 fertility rate and population growth rate of negative 0.1%, they could be the next japan but on a larger scale, to maintain the economy they need to invest into robot for future economic sustainability. They can't afford to be like Japan where economy is stagnating due to aging population.

If any country is on the same path as China, which is lower fertility rate and about to embark into aging population, investing into robot and AI should be no brainer.

I can still look for an alternative here. Instead of investing into robotics or AI, can't countries like China simply invest in better lifestyle which would definitely increase the fertility rate? There should be some majors taken to increase the rate because youth is really important to shape the future of any country. Japan is one of the most technologically advanced country but the youth there is stagnant. This might definitely make the present way better but it somehow plays with the future.

Yes, investing in robots or AI can still be a better choice but the governments there should also focus on offering a better lifestyle because a country can't really have a bright future with a dropping fertility rate.

[uneng]

The question is, where are all those people going to work if the current chores are being executed by automatons?

Theoretically, if there isn't human labor involved, or is involved only in a very minor scale, prices of goods should decrease. This way, living costs as a whole should decrease too, so they wouldn't need to work so hard and so intensively to meet monthly expenses like before.

At same time, people in charge of automated businesses would have surplus money to spend someway else. And when people have spare money, they tend to spend with themselves (entertainment, leisure, welfare). It opens a wide range of opportunities for people to work in fields focused on those elements.

I think that is the way to go. While robots do the hard part, humans occupy their time with meaningful activities which generate pleasure and welfare, and also proportionate them an income to live from.

[noorman0]

-snip-
Is this the effect of robotization of China's economy? I highly doubt it, it not reasonable to reckon that robots who have done their job to increase the volume of goods should be held accountable for the weak domestic consumption of the goods, could the demography of youth who have been displayed and rendered unemployed be a strong reason for this or does the good lack standard to meet the domestic needs.

This may be a domino effect resulting from the large-scale use of robots capable of displacing conventional workers. In any case, declining per capita income will shift consumer spending patterns, causing people to prioritize basic necessities. From what I have read, the 3 largest areas of robotic technology implementation fall under the category of secondary needs (non-food).

[boyptc]

I thought that Xi had already declared some mandate that there's a need to reduce the usage of AI and robots. With the development that they're doing, I think it's mainly targeting to reduce the human labor force and wants to automate everything.

I've seen some videos of their lab about making humanoids and they're looking like humans. This is no longer a race of which glorious in robotics and AI because they always compete with the US.

Well, if the time comes that robots can do everything even household chores they should subsidize people's need.

[Die_empty]

I can still look for an alternative here. Instead of investing into robotics or AI, can't countries like China simply invest in better lifestyle which would definitely increase the fertility rate? There should be some majors taken to increase the rate because youth is really important to shape the future of any country. Japan is one of the most technologically advanced country but the youth there is stagnant. This might definitely make the present way better but it somehow plays with the future.

Yes, investing in robots or AI can still be a better choice but the governments there should also focus on offering a better lifestyle because a country can't really have a bright future with a dropping fertility rate.

You are making a good observation. Chinese families are not having more children because of the harsh economic realities. China is giving families some incentives to have more children. This move has failed because the cost of raising children is higher than the incentives the government offers. China needs to make its childbirth policy more attractive for families to have more offspring.

There are other factors that have contributed to the decline in population. The Chinese One-Child Policy (1980–2015) deeply changed the social and cultural norms of the society. The new generation is now used to small families, so it would be difficult to readjust. So the government would also have to reorient the people, exposing them to the importance of having more children.

[angrybirdy]

I can still look for an alternative here. Instead of investing into robotics or AI, can't countries like China simply invest in better lifestyle which would definitely increase the fertility rate? There should be some majors taken to increase the rate because youth is really important to shape the future of any country. Japan is one of the most technologically advanced country but the youth there is stagnant. This might definitely make the present way better but it somehow plays with the future.

Yes, investing in robots or AI can still be a better choice but the governments there should also focus on offering a better lifestyle because a country can't really have a bright future with a dropping fertility rate.

You are making a good observation. Chinese families are not having more children because of the harsh economic realities. China is giving families some incentives to have more children. This move has failed because the cost of raising children is higher than the incentives the government offers. China needs to make its childbirth policy more attractive for families to have more offspring.

There are other factors that have contributed to the decline in population. The Chinese One-Child Policy (1980–2015) deeply changed the social and cultural norms of the society. The new generation is now used to small families, so it would be difficult to readjust. So the government would also have to reorient the people, exposing them to the importance of having more children.

Yes, it is true that economic factors play an important role as one of the causes of the low birth rate in China. However, incentives and bonuses given by the govenrment alone can’t solve all problems as they may be more worried about the future of their family, upbringing of the child, education, and housing. The government needs to concentrate on making the cost of living low and improving the life of parents who work. It will take some time to make a change in their attitude, especially after the one-child policy for many years. Finally, it is a personal choice.

[BigTarget]

China owes it all to the West. Yet, it acts as if it achieved everything on its own. Perhaps, it's doing it out of pride or ego. If the West (particularly the US) weakens, China might become a force to reckon with. We will live in a New World Order with China and Russia at the helm. They will be the center of everything. China will lead in Robotics, AI, and EVs, while Russia will lead in nuclear weapons, and other areas.

I dunno. Just speculating here. Many things can happen in the future. Let's just hope communism/socialism doesn't take over the world. Else, we'll be doomed.

Well, in theory, you are right that China did sell all of those things to the West, and that's how they got rich. But you also have to remember that they had basically nothing 100 years ago; yes, a very populated nation, but it was not the biggest power in the world. And they went through a period of pain, literally people throwing themselves off sweatshop buildings because of how hard they worked.

It was a period where people who are old enough to be our parents lived in a nightmare, and they faced maybe the worst period in the world. Yet, that resulted in them traversing a nation into the big power they are today.

Just because there are buyers doesn't mean they did nothing; they were the ones who built this giant nation from the ground up and made things that had buyers. If I gave you a shit sandwich, you would not pay me 50 bucks to eat it. They did build this amazing country of manufacturing.

First, it started with building stuff for others; they were basically working for slave wages. Then they stole the IPs and built it themselves, and now they are even taking it bigger than the West can build. So while "how" they got there is not something the West can do because of how inhuman it was, the place they reach now allows the current generation to live much better.