korrents

What Keyu Jin thinks about innovation

@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.

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

  1. Our readingChinese industrial policy worked, and the evidence is that the cities which pushed hardest on a sector ended up best at both production and patents.

    Their wordsIndustrial policy was heavily criticized and again, if I talk to my Harvard professors, they’ll be very, very, very skeptical about the role of the state, especially in such a major way. But if you look at the Chinese experience, the evidence for success is all there. The cities that have pushed the most on supporting that particular sector ultimately did the best in terms of production, but also in terms of innovation, measured by patents. It’s all in the data.

    ↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 4th of 16 in this recording

    Interesting

  3. Our readingA country cannot have radical technological breakthroughs and also refuse to tolerate uncomfortably rich people, because the financial system it resents is what funds the innovation.

    Their wordsDo you want technological supremacy and radical breakthroughs? Well, yes. If you do, then you have to tolerate that there are going to be some people who are just going to be uncomfortably rich, like in the United States. You can’t say that you detest the financial system for its greed, but then not accept the fact that it is what fuels innovation, right?

    ↗Keyu Jin: China's Economy, Tariffs, Trade, Trump, Communism & Capitalism | Lex Fridman Podcast #477youtube.com 5th of 16 in this recording

    America

    Interesting

  5. 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

    EuropeChina

    Interesting

  7. 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

    ChinaAmerica

    Interesting

  9. 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

    ChinaAmerica

    Interesting