Ship production by nation:
And: https://www.seaconcrew.com/industry-news/67.html
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In the bigger picture:
They have 180% our manufacturing base: https://www.statista.com/chart/20858/top-10-countries-by-share-of-global-manufacturing-output/
Steel production: https://www.voronoiapp.com/economy/China-and-India-Lead-in-Global-Steel-Production—5623
Aluminum production: https://www.mining.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/image-3-737x1024.png
Glass production: https://www.statista.com/statistics/702188/flat-glass-production-share-globally-by-region/?srsltid=AfmBOorCSt1UUhGN-LmMAqneUuJa-Qk8EkyHGJJBGSl1UkxDpKfmDxBI
Car production: https://www.voronoiapp.com/automotive/China-Accounted-For-About-a-Third-of-Global-Car-Production-in-2023—3449
Cell phone production: https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-01-16/de455c68-574c-49ce-993d-793bdee430c2.png
Drone production: https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/V2B7kbdnDRK7YLLPDSef0W6r0u9mMatBShiAQtC9.webp
Concrete usage: https://www.worldcementassociation.org/images/info-graphics/001-World-Wide-Cement-Production.jpg
Plastic production: https://filesblog.bizvibe.com/wp-content/webp-express/webp-images/uploads/2020/03/Top-Plastic-Item-Exports-by-Country.png.webp
Polyester production: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mnm-Azlin/publication/345973127/figure/fig1/AS:958724868931585@1605589229475/World-consumption-of-polyester-fibre-23.ppm
Semi conductor production: https://www.statista.com/chart/25552/semiconductor-manufacturing-by-location/?srsltid=AfmBOopisgAv74khABfbuqzCM5Hsc4ZTPw-2bFg9ad4hCLLwoJlKEQqg
Electricity production: https://www.voronoiapp.com/energy/-China-Generated-More-Electricity-in-2024-Than-the-US-EU—India-Combined-5260 or https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2024/2024-07-31/4401eb94-d6c1-42d8-b840-7f196e942b5f.png
Laptop production: https://cdn.howmuch.net/articles/new_computer-devices-exports-by-country-copy-50e2.jpg
China passed us in PPP in 2014 and since then has grown at a faster rate anally, consistently, despite all our predictions and schadenfreude (wishful thinking) predicting bubbles bursting, wide spread corruption causing an economic slow down, and inflated economic reports causing a correction in the future: https://statisticstimes.com/economy/united-states-vs-china-economy.php (They are averaging about 5% annually while we are growing at roughly half that rate).
Internet users by country: https://internetacrosstheworld.weebly.com/uploads/3/7/1/3/37131827/3684971_orig.png
STEM patents by country: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Patent-Grants-by-Country-of-Origin.html
Engineers by country: https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/7913.jpeg
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China became a monster a long time ago.
Perceptions lag reality.
Folks are just today realizing or accepting what has been true for a while.
However, what is alarming is that while China has been an economic powerhouse for a while, they have in more recent times begun to apply a greater share of their wealth and tech to their war industry, and that is a concern: https://www.reddit.com/r/LessCredibleDefence/comments/18zc8oa/global_military_spending_in_2022/#lightbox
The are massively modernizing their armed forces, and who they are seeing as their threat is obvious: https://news.usni.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/China-Carrier-Target-Maxar.jpg or https://news.usni.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Chinese-Navy-Targets-In-Desert-New-Aircraft-Carrier.jpeg
Sure, China is producing more boats, but they have not surpassed the US in terms of total water displacement. This is almost certainly because they are building numerous smaller craft to take Taiwan.
China's growth trajectory has been huge, however their economy is currently sputtering because they have wrecked their relationship with their top customers (The West). I'm not sure they'll overtake us, and I'm also not sure about the structural integrity and operational capability of anything they produce.
