CSIS Podcasts China’s Quest to Engineer the Future: A Conversation with Dan Wang
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Sep 4, 2025 
Dan Wang, a research fellow at Stanford’s Hoover History Lab and expert in China’s technological landscape, shares insights from his book, "Breakneck." He delves into China’s grand engineering projects and its ambition to be a global tech leader. The conversation unveils the balance between monumental infrastructure and social implications, touching on Xi Jinping’s ‘completionism’ and the evolving citizen-state dynamic during COVID. Wang also critiques the intertwining of ideology and engineering within the governance of the Communist Party.
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Monumentalism Shapes China's Built Environment
- China pursues monumental public works to signal political prestige and capability.
- These projects favor grand, bird's-eye aesthetics but often neglect everyday human-scale needs.
Overbuilding Brings Resilience And Fiscal Strain
- China often builds large infrastructure without strict focus on financial efficiency.
- Overbuilding creates resilience in crises but burdens local finances and long-term sustainability.
Process Knowledge Fuels China's Tech Climb
- China's technological rise rests on abundant process knowledge and engineering communities.
- Tacit skills and worker mobility across firms sustain rapid industrial upgrading.
