OCTOBER 26 — In a world increasingly fractured by geopolitical rivalry, protectionism, technological nationalism and strategic distrust, Chinese economist Jin Keyu has offered Beijing something more valuable than another prescription for economic growth.
She has articulated a strategy through which China can remain globally indispensable without insisting on being industrially dominant everywhere.
Her argument, published in TIME on October 23, 2026, deserves serious attention not merely in Beijing, but across Asean, Europe, Africa, Latin America and the United States.
At the heart of her argument is a fundamental proposition: China cannot indefinitely remain the world’s factory.
