DeepSeek, TikTok, Temu: How China is taking the lead in tech - BBC World Service

The rise of Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek has taken the world by storm. But it’s part of a wider trend: Chinese apps are rising up the charts around the world. TikTok, CapCut, Shien, Temu – to name a few.

And it's not just on our phones. China is becoming dominant in many other areas of tech. Look at cars.

It's overtaken the previous epicenters of motoring, selling more than any other country thanks to hit electric car makers like BYD. A lot of the success comes from China being the world’s biggest battery maker now too. And solar panels.

China is responsible for an estimated 80‑95% of the global supply chain. By 2028 it’s predicted that 60% of the world’s renewable energy will be generated in China. In drones too China rules the skies.

Next time you hear that buzzing above your head, there's a 70% chance it's a DJI drone made in the city of Shenzhen. Three of the world's top ten drone makers are Chinese. In the futuristic world of quantum computers, Chinese scientists publish more quantum-related research papers annually than any other country.

And they're even ahead of the general leaders, the US, in some areas of quantum computing development. And it's the same picture in AI. Chinese AI firms now issue more patents than any other country.

And the rise of DeepSeek shows it's capable of challenging the dominant US giants with products too. So how has China done all this? Well, it's all part of a long term plan.

in 2015, the Chinese government set out an ambitious project called Made in China 2025. It wanted to move away from being the world's factory for low cost goods, to a global tech leader responsible for its own supply chain of cutting edge tech. Made in China 2025 in my opinion was largely very successful.

So in many industries China is catching up with the leading edge, and in some industries China is even leading. Ev Cars, 5G, Batteries, Solar Energies. Now, even in the AI, Gen AI, China has become one of the players.

Across ten target technologies the plan set out more than 250 mini goals. And according to analysis from South China Morning Post, 86% of them have been ticked off. Some targets, like electric vehicles and renewable energy production, have far exceeded the targets.

South China Morning Post is sometimes accused of being pro-China, but Made in China 2025 has been hailed a success by many other analysts too. So how has China done it? What China has been moderately successful, and some would say incredibly successful at doing, is using it’s sort of state backed capitalism system, where by the governmnet really sets a research agenda, sets a funding agenda.

Bringing foreign researchers and enticing them to stay in China, or at least to give their innovations and ideas over to Chinese companies. Requiring businesses from outside of China oftentimes to set up joint ventures with Chinese ventures. These are all sort of tools that China has used to help achieve these ambitions.

According to US Congress research, the Chinese government planned to raise or spend US$ 1. 5 trillion on grants for research, development or buying foreign companies. According to the report, more than US$ 627 billion had been spent by 2020.

Research centers sprung up in city hubs centered around various technologies. Also, the US and its allies have accused China of shortcutting some of its tech innovation by stealing intellectual property through hacking. For example, US aircraft makers.

China has always denied this. Made in China 2025 got so successful that after just a few years the government stopped using the term, as it was antagonizing rivals. But it was too late.

Over the years, the West have imposed restrictions and sanctions on China regarding sensitive technologies. This huge external threat has wakened up the Chinese and kind of forced them to pursue a self-sufficiency strategy in this advanced technology. There's an old saying in China: “Life always finds its own way out”.

Huawei is a great example of this. In around 2019 it was top of the world in 5G equipment. It had a huge market share in mobile phones too.

All of that took a major hit, though, when the US led widespread sanctions against the company, citing national security concerns around spying. Huawei's market share shrank and it couldn't get the microchips it needed to keep innovating. But it pivoted into microchip manufacturing and is now a major player in that too.

In 2023, it released a phone with a microchip far beyond what the rest of the world thought was possible for the company or the country. A similar situation happened with the viral new chatbot DeepSeek. The firm says it couldn't get the most powerful chips to train its models, so it says it made do with older ones and innovated new techniques.

They built the impressive bot so far less money with far less kit. For the US it came as a shock. DeepSeek, AI from a Chinese company should be a wake up call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused and competing to win.

TikTok too has taken the West by surprise. It's the first non-US social network to succeed in the last ten years. Its enormous success is under the spotlight, though, and under threat from potential intervention by the US on national security grounds.

But Shein and Teemu are proving worthy challengers in e-commerce now too. , thanks to combining China's cheap goods with innovative app technology. But China hasn't succeeded in all its 2025 goals.

It's still years behind other countries in chipmaking, with progress set to get even worse thanks to more sanctions and controls. Plus, the US government and private firms are throwing hundreds of billions of dollars into staying ahead in chip tech. This increased research and development funding is going to ensure the United States leads the world in the industries of the future.

And in January, the US celebrated a commitment from tech giants to invest a potential US$ 500 billion into infrastructure for AI. And it's all taking place right here in America. Other industrialised countries like Germany and Japan have also launched counter plans too.

But there’s no doubt a new high tech leader has emerged with big ambitions, deep pockets and plenty of patience.