High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy

06/07/24 • 28 min

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In High Wire, Angela Zhang explores how China regulates its tech sector. By analyzing the incentives and interactions among the key players, Ms. Zhang introduces a dynamic pyramid model to analyze the structure, process, and outcome of China’s unique regulatory system. She showcases the self-regulatory tactics employed by Chinese tech titans to survive and thrive in an institutional environment plagued by fraud and corruption. The 2020-2022 tech crackdown led to the private sector’s retreat and the state’s advancement in the tech industry. These regulatory shifts have also steered investors from consumer tech businesses toward hardcore technologies that are essential for China’s bid to match, and perhaps overtake, the United States in innovation.

In an interview conducted on May 24, 2024, Angela Zhang, in conversation with Winston Ma, focuses on the recent past, present, and future of China’s tech governance, especially in the realm of generative artificial intelligence.

About the speakers

Follow Richard Fontaine on X: @AngelaZhangHK

Subscribe to the National Committee on YouTube for video of this interview. Follow us on Twitter (@ncuscr) and Instagram (@ncuscr).

About the speakers

Follow Richard Fontaine on X: @AngelaZhangHK

Subscribe to the National Committee on YouTube for video of this interview. Follow us on Twitter (@ncuscr) and Instagram (@ncuscr).

Previous Episode

Lost Decade: The U.S. Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power

There is wide bipartisan agreement that Asia belongs at the center of U.S. foreign policy. What has been achieved since the Obama administration announced its “Pivot to Asia” in 2011? Robert Blackwill and Richard Fontaine argue in Lost Decade: The U.S. Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power that although the pivot made strategic sense, there have been few successes; furthermore, we need a far more coherent approach to the Indo-Pacific region. The authors stress that American policymakers must fully understand what the pivot to Asia aimed to achieve – and where it fell short – to gather the resources and forge the alliances and resolve necessary to preserve an open order in Asia and the world. Crafting an effective policy for the region is critical to preserving American security, prosperity, and democratic values.

In an interview conducted on May 14, 2024, Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill and Richard Fontaine discuss the recent shift to Asia-centric geopolitics and its implications for America’s present and future.

About the speakers

Follow Richard Fontaine on X: @RHFontaine

Subscribe to the National Committee on YouTube for video of this interview. Follow us on Twitter (@ncuscr) and Instagram (@ncuscr).

Next Episode

Should the U.S. Decouple from China?

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In 2022, the trade volume between the United States and China topped $750 billion dollars. Despite the deep economic interconnection between the two largest economies, both countries have been taking steps to separate their supply chains from each other—a process known as decoupling. What is the drive behind the U.S. desire to decouple from China and the ongoing trade war, and is it possible to decouple from China completely?

In an interview filmed on March 8, 2024, Clark Packard discusses how decoupling would affect the American and global economy.

About the speaker

Follow Clark Packard on X: @PackardClark

Subscribe to the National Committee on YouTube for video of this interview. Follow us on Twitter (@ncuscr) and Instagram (@ncuscr).