Comment by bdcravens | Hacker News Reader

Comment by bdcravens | Hacker News Reader

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I remembered reading an article in Wired about 20 years ago, about counterfeit cloth. A premier fabric maker in France said that Chinese cloth wasn't just a counterfeit of theirs, but was actually a superior product.

BYD would easily blow away Tesla as the leading EV maker if they were allowed in the US.

TikTok has proven that not only can China create a world-leading social platform, that users care so little about where it's from that when it was blocked, they flocked to another Chinese social-media option rather than retreat to the "safe" options.

China is even winning in American capitalism, there 70-80% of the goods sold by Walmart and Amazon are from China.

Companies like BambuLab, DJI, and Roborock are proven world-leaders in their categories.

Sticking our head in the sand and pretending that American and Western products are inherently superior is absolutely foolish.

I have been thinking for a while that lot of people need to understand that China is making the cheapest possible crap because lot of us keep buying it. Why not make cheap stuff when customers want and pay for it.

Being able and willing to make cheap stuff, does not prevent on from making expensive and good quality stuff as well. And you can in many parts make that quality stuff cheaper as you have supply chain from raw materials.

China's vertically-integrated manufacturing ecosystem strategically creates value at all tiers - while cost-efficient production democratizes access to smartphones, solar equipment and IoT devices for billions globally, the same supply chains empower premium innovations like Huawei's satellite phones or CATL's solid-state batteries. This dual-capacity bridges the digital divide: African farmers now access agritech tools at 1/5 the 2010 prices, and South Asian households install solar systems cheaper than kerosene alternatives. Ultimately, industrial clusters aren't just making things affordable, but redefining what's possible for human development at every income level.

Go back to the early 1970s and "Made in Japan" was an indicator of a low quality product. This sort of thing has happened before a few times. China is just bigger than the others that did it.

China is better at free market capitalism. While in US markets quickly gravitate towards monopoly or duopoly, China has multiple companies in each sector.

> China is better at free market capitalism

Aren’t they not a free market?

That’s partly why

> China has multiple companies in each sector.

Free markets lead to monopolies when unchecked… like in the us.

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