Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Editor's Note:

The world is increasingly seeing China as "cool" - a description now frequently used not only by international media but also by a growing number of foreign visitors and observers who have personally experienced the dynamism of this country. A China full of innovative momentum, developmental vitality, and cultural inclusiveness is taking clearer shape day by day. As we approach the end of 2025, the Global Times (GT) launches this year-end special series "What makes China cool," to explore the key to China's growing appeal.

In the opening installment of the series, GT reporter Xia Wenxin speaks with Elias Khalil Jabbour (Jabbour), an associate professor at the School of Economics of Brazil's Rio de Janeiro State University, about the "coolness" of Chinese technology and what it means for the future of humanity.

GT: In 2025, which Chinese technological innovations or applications made you think, "This is so cool" or "This is defining the future"? What makes them "cool"?

Jabbour: It is worth emphasizing that in 2025, China consolidated technological advances in artificial intelligence (AI) applied to real life, robotics, biotechnology, smart mobility, renewable energy and space technology. However, the most important technological innovation was the presentation of the "artificial sun," given the immense possibilities this innovation may deliver to humanity: clean and virtually infinite energy.

Another example, returning to the role of AI, was the deployment of AI-based diagnostic systems in community clinics and neighborhood hospitals in urban areas. This means that China is rapidly preparing for the construction of a welfare state with Chinese characteristics, in contrast to Western countries, where social rights are under constant attack.

GT: In your view, what distinguishes "Chinese-style innovation" most from other countries' innovation models? In which fields will such a difference continue?

Jabbour: In short, the West is characterized by financialization as the dominant historical form of wealth generation, resulting in a loss of innovative capacity and competitiveness, along with growing "military Keynesianism." In this context, Western innovation models increasingly revolve around the military industry.

The Chinese style is characterized by the dominance of the public sector in both production and finance, which gives China an extraordinary advantage in the face of the destructive role of financialization in Western economies. In addition, the growing scale of production and multi-level planning further distinguish the Chinese system from those of the West.

GT: Many have noted that China's innovations not only emerge rapidly but also scale up quickly. Based on your observations, what are the key mechanisms driving this ability to transition "from lab to mass deployment"?

Jabbour: In general terms, the socialist system is the main factor responsible for this ability to transition from the laboratory to the widespread diffusion of technological innovations. This does not occur under capitalism, mainly because private lobbies prevent new technologies from replacing old, yet profitable, ones. The advantages of socialism over capitalism are significant and are gradually becoming evident before our eyes.

From a more specific standpoint, China does not wait for markets to "discover" technologies; it deliberately creates markets. How does this work? For instance, through large-scale government procurement (railways, energy, digital systems), the setting of adoption targets (for example, renewable energy mandates and electric vehicle quotas), and infrastructure-first deployment (charging networks before mass electric vehicle ownership).

GT: In addressing global challenges like climate change, public health and AI ethics, what shareable "Chinese solutions" and technological expertise has China already contributed to solving these common problems? How will they reshape the global landscape in the future?

Jabbour: This is an excellent question because it moves beyond "who leads" to "what can actually be shared." China's most valuable global contributions are not slogans or ideological models, but operational solutions that have already been tested at scale.

China has made disruptive contributions across all these areas. The most visible are the impressive advances in technological innovations related to climate change, especially in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. More specifically, large-scale Chinese production can trigger sharp declines in the cost of clean energy, enabling the massive expansion of solar, wind, batteries and electric vehicles. Learning by doing has driven global price reductions of 70 to 90 percent, thereby making climate action economically viable for developing countries.

GT: Looking ahead, in which technological fields do you believe China will maintain its leadership and exert the greatest influence on global development?

Jabbour: There is no doubt that China will maintain its leadership in sectors related to the energy transition, and it is in this field that China will continue to exert a positive influence on global development. The use of AI to optimize human well-being - rather than for military purposes - will also be a landmark in human development and in demonstrating the superiority of socialism over capitalism.

GT: For emerging economies like Brazil, standing at a developmental crossroad, what aspects of China's innovation path offer the most inspiration? How can China's experience help others seize the initiative in the coming waves of technology?

Jabbour: One key aspect is the role of the public financial system in providing fast, low-cost and massive-scale financing for major innovation projects, such as Made in China 2025. Emerging economies often find themselves caught in a financialization trap, and only countries like China, equipped with a public financial system, have managed to avoid falling into it.

I emphasize the role of the public financial system because technological innovation has increasingly become a major financial issue. Trillions of dollars are invested annually by China in the pursuit of the technological frontier, and this is only possible because its financial system is public rather than private.

GT: If you had to explain in a few sentences to the Brazilian people who have never visited or known much about China why today's "innovative China" is cool and how it will shape our future, what would you say?

Jabbour: From a systemic perspective, China's national innovation system is the incubator of innovations that will equip humanity with tools to overcome the major problems afflicting the planet, starting with the climate emergency. Brazilians would encounter a country and a people in which science has penetrated the very fabric of society.

Unlike Western countries, China has a system in which science and innovation are actively encouraged and inspire society as a whole. In the West, despite scientific advances, resistance rooted in science denialism and the influence of mysticism and religion on political decision-making are not uncommon.

In practical terms, today's China is "cool" because it turns ideas into everyday reality very quickly. Things that, in many countries, remain promises - clean energy, high-speed trains, electric buses, digital public services - are already functioning at the scale of entire cities in China. Innovation in China is not about gadgets for the wealthy, but about making life cheaper, faster and more efficient for hundreds of millions of people.

That is why Chinese innovations matter: They do not remain in the laboratory - they change how society actually functions.