korrents

What Keyu Jin thinks about China

@keyu-jin · 16 positions · 0 changes of mind

Economist specialising in China's economy, international macroeconomics and global trade, and author of The New China Playbook.

Keyu Jin did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

11 dated positions, 2025, in their own words. Our reading of what Keyu Jin has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingChina is politically centralised and economically decentralised, and the belief that a handful of people run its economy is the West's biggest misconception about it.

    Their wordsThe biggest misunderstanding is somehow that a group of people or even just one person runs the entire Chinese economy. It is far from the reality. It is a very complex, large economy, and even if there is an extreme form of political centralization, the economy is totally decentralized.

    ↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 1st of 16 in this recording

    Interesting

  3. Our readingEconomically China is one of the most capitalist societies on earth; it is the social fabric, not the economy, that is socialist.

    Their wordsI’ve rarely seen a more capitalist society than China, from the pure economic side. I’ve rarely seen companies that are as competitive as Chinese companies. People as ambitious and obsessed with making money as Chinese people. Kind of ruthless actually. And look, consumers shop, firms invest. If you invest well financially, you’ll get great returns. What is not capitalistic about the Chinese economy? At the same time, the social fabric is highly socialist.

    ↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 2nd of 16 in this recording

    Interesting

  5. Our readingChina's biggest economic challenge is consumption, not production: it cannot become a rich country until it becomes a consuming one.

    Their wordsI say now that China’s biggest challenge is consumption, it’s not production. We know that China’s very, very competitive in production and supply. China needs to be a consuming country to be a rich country.

    ↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 3rd of 16 in this recording

    Interesting

  7. Our readingChina lets companies innovate first and regulates afterwards, which is the opposite of Europe and is deliberately meant not to slow innovation down.

    Their wordsOne interesting point is that, in China, you ask the companies to innovate first, and then you regulate after, right? So, that has led to things like P2P platforms. It’s led to lots of kind of financial innovations, some of which has actually been very helpful and good, some of which had been disastrous, but the intention to regulate after the fact is to really not slow down or hinder the innovation. This is a very different approach from Europe. You regulate first, and then companies have to work around that.

    ↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 7th of 16 in this recording

    Europeinnovation

    Interesting

  9. Our readingThe core difference between America and China runs in opposite directions: there capital controls politics, here politics must rein in capital.

    Their wordsIn the US, capital controls politics, one could argue. In China, it has to be the other way around. Capital must be reigned in by politics. As part of the capitalist class, do not have the ambition to exceed the powers of the political class, is really at the core of it, I’d say, is the biggest difference between US and China.

    ↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 8th of 16 in this recording

    ambitionAmericapolitics

    Interesting

  11. Our readingAmerica will keep leading on zero-to-one breakthroughs, but it is diffusion that decides how much productivity a technology actually releases, and China is better at that.

    Their wordsThe US will lead for some time on breakthroughs on disruptive technologies, the zero to one technologies that ultimately change the world. But innovation is a process. It goes from invention to production and commercialization and diffusion, diffusing technology throughout all parts of the economy. And on those two stages, I think that China has a unique advantage, even if it still can’t do the zero to one breakthroughs, because in the end, how much this technology is adopted by the countries and by the various parts of the economy is fundamentally crucial to how much productivity will be unleashed.

    ↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 9th of 16 in this recording

    Americainnovation

    Interesting

  13. Our readingUS export controls produced China's chip breakthroughs rather than preventing them: while China could comfortably import American chips, its own industry stalled for twenty years.

    Their wordsAnd remember that DeepSeek happened in times of crisis, urgency, not in times of comfort. A lot of these technological breakthroughs and leapfrogging happens in times of crisis. This is called crisis innovation. And you got to thank the US for that. When the Chinese were comfortably importing chips from the US, the whole industry stalled for 20 years.

    ↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 10th of 16 in this recording

    Americainnovation

    Interesting

  15. Our readingEconomic coercion has a half-life: use your leverage once and it is much weaker the second time, because everyone starts substituting away from you.

    Their wordsAnd what’s more, you use your leverage once, and that leverage has a half-life. It becomes a lot less effective the second time around because other countries, other companies are going to try to substitute away. If China uses the rare earth leverage, which I think it is now a little bit, there will be alternatives and substitutes.

    ↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 11th of 16 in this recording

    Interesting

  17. Our readingTariffs will not fix what is wrong with global trade; they are a distortionary protectionist method and they will be bad for the country imposing them.

    Their wordsTariffs, this kind of highly protectionist method is very distortionary and it’s going to be bad for the US. I’d actually argue that both China and the US have totally taken advantage and also enjoyed the global economic realm under the US liberal order.

    ↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 12th of 16 in this recording

    tariffs

    Interesting

  19. Our readingThe American trade deficit is a macroeconomic fact, not a trade one: the US saves less than it invests, so no tariff can close it.

    Their wordsThe trade deficits have widened since Trump, right? They haven’t closed the imbalance with China and with the rest of the world because ultimately the US saves less than it invests. And that’s a macrophenomenon. It’s not a trade phenomenon

    ↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 13th of 16 in this recording

    Americatariffs

    Interesting

  21. Our readingChina's economy will not collapse, whatever the West has been predicting on and off since the 1980s.

    Their wordsCollapse is such a strong word, and the West has been using this word repeatedly. If I remember correctly, maybe four to five times, maybe even six times since 1980s during the period of China’s fastest growth. I tend to not think that Chinese economy will collapse.

    ↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 16th of 16 in this recording

    Interesting