China's emerging tech as a new driver of global growth

Editor's note: Wang Peng, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, a big data business analyst, and a senior network public opinion Analyst. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

The 16th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as 2025 Summer Davos, is being held in Tianjin from June 24 to 26, 2025. With the theme "Entrepreneurship for a New Era," this year's forum brings together about 1,800 participants from over 90 countries and regions.

At a time when the global economy is being tested by geopolitical instability, accelerated technological change and mounting sustainability challenges, China is turning to emerging technologies as a key lever to reshape global growth dynamics. As the world's largest digital economy, China's strategic investments in areas such as artificial intelligence(AI), 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain are not only accelerating domestic economic transformation, but also injecting fresh momentum into the global economy through technology spillover, standards-setting and the building of shared ecosystems.  

Emerging technologies as a new engine of productivity growth

China's breakthroughs in emerging technologies are rewriting the rules of the traditional growth playbook. No longer just a "nice-to-have" add-on for established industries, these technologies are becoming core forces that reshape production dynamics and unlock a new kind of productivity. Applications such as AI-assisted coding and enterprise management are now widely adopted, significantly lowering costs for businesses and individuals alike.

Likewise, the IoT and digital twin are fueling smarter management, more flexible production processes and networked collaboration across the manufacturing sector. A growing number of companies are embracing data-driven operations, large-scale customized production and industrial synergy. The rapid advancement and wide adoption of these technologies are a testament to the strength of China's sustained investment in emerging tech, and the results are beginning to speak for themselves.

From growth bottlenecks to a new global growth logic

The global economy is currently grappling with deep-rooted challenges as traditional engines of growth lose steam. Geopolitical fragmentation is amplifying supply chain risks. Environmental and resource constraints are forcing a rethink of development models. Growing technological monopolies are widening innovation gaps, leading to a state of "low-efficiency equilibrium" in global growth.  

Against this backdrop, China is making sustained investments in emerging technologies centered on AI, 5G, the digital economy and green technologies. These efforts aim to reshape productivity paradigms, rewire industrial collaboration networks and redefine the global innovation ecosystem, offering a systemic response to the world's growth bottlenecks.  

Traditional growth theory holds that when the marginal returns on capital and labor begin to decline, gains in total factor productivity become the key to breaking through growth plateaus. China's large-scale application of emerging technologies is doing exactly that by unleashing new drivers of productivity through restructuring technology processes and unlocking efficiency gains from end to end. This, in turn, is injecting new momentum into global economic growth.

Perhaps most notably, emerging technologies are enabling what could be called "cross-border industrial synergy." China's industrial internet ecosystem is already among the most advanced globally, with over 100 million industrial devices connected through leading platforms.  

A case in point: Sany Heavy Industry's "lighthouse factory" leverages a cloud-based collaboration system to link research and development centers in China, Germany and the U.S. in a 24-hour relay, dramatically accelerating product development cycles for construction machinery. This model is now being replicated in other regions such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

China's emerging tech investment and its contribution to global economic growth

At a time when the global innovation landscape is strained by rising tech protectionism, a widening innovation divide between the Global North and the Global South and increasingly rigid cooperation frameworks, China is advancing a distinctive model of innovation through a three-dimensional approach: institutional innovation, ecosystem building and international collaboration. This three-pronged strategy has given rise to an innovation incentive system with uniquely Chinese characteristics, one that not only drives domestic tech breakthroughs but also offers a replicable model for global innovation cooperation and reshapes the rules governing the global flow of innovation capabilities under the principles of openness, joint capacity-building and rule innovation.  

Through systemic innovation initiatives like the "open competition mechanism for selecting research project leads" and the export of technologies via the "Digital Silk Road," China is turning its innovation achievements into shared growth momentum, creating a "resonance effect" that links domestic innovation with global cooperation programs.  

The spillover of China's achievements in emerging technologies is no longer simply about commercial gains. It is taking shape as a new model for delivering global public goods. When 5G base stations bridge digital divides across the African savannah, AI-powered diagnostic systems improve access to healthcare in rural Southeast Asia and industrial internet platforms connect Latin American factories to global value chains, China is demonstrating that the highest value of technological innovation lies in its ability to break growth bottlenecks through systemic spillovers, enabling more economies to share in the dividends of technology progress.  

As the world enters a critical phase of redistributing innovation resources, China's experience reveals a central truth: To unlock global innovation potential, we must break the silos of isolated innovation, allow technological capabilities to flow through open collaboration and ensure that innovation outcomes gain value through inclusive sharing.  

This philosophy of finding strength in diversity and thriving through mutual benefit may well be the ultimate answer to the current innovation dilemma. The future does not lie in zero-sum tech competition, but in the co-creation of ecosystems that foster mutual growth; not in monopolizing innovation among a few, but in making it a shared legacy for all. Through its evolving practice, China is steadily adding clarity and substance to this vision. 

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