As Western nations question the benefits of globalization, China has become the world’s leading globalizer.
China’s exports to the largest economies of the Global South have nearly doubled from pre-Covid levels to a seasonally-adjusted US$70 billion in June 2022 from $38 billion in June 2019.
Several factors have impelled the surge in Chinese exports, but the most important impulse comes from China’s strategic investment in digital and physical infrastructure, ranging from broadband networks in Indonesia and Brazil to power plants in Turkey and railways in Southeast Asia.
As Western nations question the benefits of globalization, China has become the world’s leading globalizer.
What I called “China’s plan to Sino-form the world” in a 2020 book has advanced so far that it is beyond the capacity of the United States and its allies to impede. Half a billion people in neighboring countries now depend on Chinese technology for communications, data processing and logistics, providing China with a nearly limitless source of young workers for its industries and an ever-expanding export market.
