This chapter focuses on contemporary empirical data and through many graphs and comparative macro-economic tools shows how China’s political economy is set to surpass that of the USA in the very near future. It argues, among others, that China’s comparative strength does not simply lie in its importance in world trade of manufacturing produce and the surplus it generates. The crucial strategic substratum of China’s ascendance has been the role of the Chinese state in guiding the country’s development inside and outside China proper. Further, the Chinese state controls the production of rare earth elements (europium, gadolinium, dysprosium, terbium etc.), which allow China to bid for a monopolistic position in global political economy undermining head-on America’s primacy in digitisation, nanotechnology, biotechnology, electronics and cyber-security.
Data and Analysis of Chinese Ascendancy