Inside China’s Pursuit of Tech Dominance–and What It Means for the U.S.

WSJ What’s News

The Wall Street Journal

Daily News, News

4 • 4K Ratings

🗓️ 14 December 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The world’s second-biggest economy has been making major inroads on the technology front from artificial intelligence to autonomous driving. China’s ascendence is also complicating its relationship with the U.S., which has long been the center of this kind of innovation. In this special episode of What’s News Sunday, Lingling Wei, WSJ’s Chief China Correspondent, addresses audience questions related to this dynamic and is joined by Peter Landers, WSJ’s Asia Business Editor, and Victor Wang, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist. Sign up for the WSJ China newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What does leadership really look like? On The Power of Advice, a new podcast series from Capital Group,
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0:16.2	It's not about titles. It's about impact. Discover what drives them and the advice they carry forward.
0:24.3	Subscribe and start listening today. Published by Capital Client Group Inc. Are we ready?
0:41.2	Hello and welcome to the World's News Sunday podcast.
0:45.3	I'm Ling Ling Wei, your host today.
0:47.7	I'm the chief China correspondent for the Wall Street Journal.
0:51.4	Every week, I dive into the world's second largest economy and
0:55.5	its complex relationship with the U.S. in my newsletter, WS.J. China. And recently, I asked my readers,
1:03.5	what are your biggest questions about the U.S.-China technology race? The response has been enormous, and the questions cut right
1:14.0	to the heart of what makes this one of the most defining stories of our time.
1:24.4	When we talk about China today, we're really telling a tale of two Chinas.
1:30.3	One story is about China's economic struggle.
1:34.1	The country's 40-year investment-driven boom is over.
1:38.3	It's grappling with the collapsed property market, soaring youth unemployment, and deepening deflation. But the other story is about
1:47.8	its technological progress. In fields like AI, quantum computing, telecommunications, and clean energy,
1:56.7	China isn't just a competitor. In some cases, it may be setting the pace.
2:03.0	To help answer some questions,
2:05.3	I'm bringing in my colleague Peter Landers,
2:08.8	Wall Street Journal's Asia Business Editor, based in Singapore.
2:13.0	This year, he's taken a few trips to China
2:15.6	and has very recent firsthand knowledge of the technology
	...

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