China's Premier Claims Tech Rise Is a Gift to the World — But the Data Tells a Different Story

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"China Opportunity 2.0" — Beijing's New Narrative

China's second-most powerful official took to the stage in Dalian on Wednesday to deliver a message to the world: stop worrying about China's technology boom.

Speaking at the opening session of the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions — better known as "Summer Davos" — Premier Li Qiang pushed back against what he called a distorted narrative. Some Western analysts and governments have begun using the term "China Shock 2.0" to describe the disruptive impact of China's rapid expansion in high-tech industries. Li rejected the framing outright.

"It should not be 'China Shock 2.0' — it should be 'China Opportunity 2.0,'" he told the assembled delegates of business executives, politicians, and academics from over 90 countries.

In his view, China's advances in artificial intelligence (AI), electric vehicles (EVs), robotics, solar panels, and semiconductors are making these technologies more affordable and accessible for everyone — a benefit to the global economy, not a burden.

Subsidies? "We're Not That Wealthy"

Perhaps the most pointed part of Li's speech was his dismissal of longstanding Western criticism over China's use of state subsidies — government financial support given to companies to help them grow faster or price their goods cheaper.

"There are some people who say that Chinese products are competitive mainly because the Chinese government extends subsidies," Li said. "That is not the case. The Chinese government is not that wealthy."

Instead, he credited China's 1.4 billion-strong domestic market, which allows new technologies to be deployed at massive scale almost immediately. Heavy private sector investment, he argued, has been the real engine of innovation — not government money.

He pointed to tech giant Huawei and robotics company Unitree as examples of Chinese firms that rose to global significance through their own ingenuity, despite facing significant restrictions from Western governments.

What the Numbers Actually Show

Li's claims are difficult to square with a major report published just weeks earlier by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), a 38-country body that tracks global economic policy.

The OECD found that between 2005 and 2024, Chinese firms received on average three to eight times more government support than companies in OECD member states. The report examined 15 key industrial sectors, ranging from solar panels and semiconductors to steel and shipbuilding.

The findings were stark: around 60 percent of Chinese firms' global market share gains over the past two decades can be linked directly to the subsidies they received — not to greater efficiency or innovation.

In the semiconductor sector alone, Chinese companies received subsidies reaching nearly 10 percent of company revenue in 2021 and 2022. The global average for that sector was just 2 percent.

OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann offered a blunt summary of the problem: "Firms won market share not by being more efficient or more innovative, but by being more heavily subsidised" — comparing the effect to doping in professional sports.

Beijing rejected the report, calling it "one-sided and arbitrary," and argued that it overlooked real competitive advantages such as economies of scale and production efficiency.

Huawei and Unitree: Innovation or State Projects?

Li's choice to highlight Huawei and Unitree as symbols of Chinese innovation was notable — and not without irony.

Huawei has long faced restrictions from both the United States and the European Union, which have curbed the company's role in critical infrastructure. The U.S. has also recently expanded the Pentagon's list of alleged "Chinese military-linked companies" to 188 entities — a list that includes both Huawei and Unitree — barring them from landing U.S. defense contracts.

Beijing called the Pentagon's expansion of the list an act of political interference. Li, however, used these very restrictions as proof of China's technological prowess, framing foreign pushback as a backhanded confirmation of success.

A Fragile Balancing Act

The Summer Davos gathering takes place against a complex economic backdrop. China's economy has struggled in recent years to match the rapid pace of growth it maintained in previous decades, weighed down by sluggish household consumption and an unresolved debt crisis in the property sector.

Li acknowledged the global uncertainty, characterizing China's economic stability as a "safe harbour" amid mounting volatility — and pointing to the country's status as a major importer, having ranked as the world's second-largest importer for 17 consecutive years.

At the same time, mounting trade tensions — driven in part by concerns about Chinese oversupply and the price impact on Western industries — are pushing many governments to raise tariffs and impose new trade barriers.

Li's message was clearly aimed at easing those concerns. Whether his audience found it convincing is another matter. The gap between Beijing's narrative and independent economic data remains wide — and growing harder to paper over.

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Sources:

1. AP News — Premier says China's tech advancements an 'opportunity' for the world, not a threat: https://apnews.com/article/china-economy-subsidies-ai-tech-li-wef-497753eb03fbe61ccd192782d72d59be
2. Reuters / Nikkei Asia — China's premier rejects claims that state subsidies are driving tech rise: https://asia.nikkei.com/economy/china-s-premier-rejects-claims-that-state-subsidies-are-driving-tech-rise
3. OECD Press Release — Industrial subsidies reach highest levels since the global financial crisis: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2026/06/industrial-subsidies-reach-highest-levels-since-the-global-financial-crisis-says-oecd.html
4. France 24 / AFP — Huge state subsidies give China unfair edge over foreign rivals: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20260601-huge-state-subsidies-give-china-unfair-edge-over-foreign-rivals-oecd
5. South China Morning Post — China rejects OECD report on industrial subsidies as 'one-sided': https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3355941/china-rejects-oecd-report-industrial-subsidies-one-sided-amid-eu-trade-tensions
6. Digital Journal / AFP — Geopolitics and AI in spotlight at China's 'Summer Davos': https://www.digitaljournal.com/article/geopolitics-and-ai-in-spotlight-at-chinas-summer-davos/

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