CHINA'S TECH REVOLUTION HOW TECHNOLOGY IS THE COUNTRY'S ECONOMIC BOOM, AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR THE WORLD

摘要

Chengdu's cellphone district is a microcosm of the new China, with its ravenous consumerism and its unflinching entrepreneurialism. Here and all over China, the newly wealthy and middle class can now tap into every kind of technological wonder. Those still stuck on the economic bottom rungs, though, are scrambling to catch up, without the safety net that the communist regime once provided. The place also speaks to China's growing technological prowess: its 300 million cellphone subscribers-the most in the world- its two national wireless carriers, and the hundreds of domestic and foreign service providers and manufacturers that now vie for a share of its burgeoning telecom market [see photo, "China Calling"]. And it illustrates, more generally, how China's emergence as an industrial powerhouse is driven by, and is driving, its interactions with the world. In ways scarcely imaginable 25 years ago, when Deng Xiaoping first opened the economy to market forces, China's fortunes are the world's. And what happens now, even in remote Chengdu, matters- not just for the Chinese but for everyone. In planning this special report, the editors of IEEE Spectrum were most intrigued by this last phenomenon. How is China's tech revolution unfolding? Who are the key actors, and why are they there? Is everyone a winner, or is this in some ways a zero-sum game? What are the sources of friction-within China, as well as between China and its trading partners-that could slow down or even halt this juggernaut?