There is an interesting article in The Telegraph that cites some western executives who have toured Chinese factories recently.

They also quoted a statistic that I think might be the most-important one in the world: China added 295K robots last year, the US added 34,000.

Fortescue Metals Group President Andrew Forrest:

“I can take you to factories [in China] now, where you’ll basically
be alongside a big conveyor and the machines come out of the floor and
begin to assemble parts,” he says.

“And you’re walking alongside
this conveyor, and after about 800, 900 metres, a truck drives out.
There are no people – everything is robotic.”

Greg Jackson, the boss of British energy
supplier Octopus.

“We visited a dark factory producing some astronomical number of
mobile phones”

“The process was so heavily automated that there
were no workers on the manufacturing side, just a small number who were
there to ensure the plant was working.

“You get this sense of a
change, where China’s competitiveness has gone from being about
government subsidies and low wages to a tremendous number of highly
skilled, educated engineers who are innovating like mad.”

Ford CEO Jim Farley from July:

“It’s the most humbling thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Their cost and the quality of their vehicles is far superior to what I see in the West.”

“We are in a global competition with China, and it’s not just EVs. And if we lose this, we do not have a future at Ford.”

There is a good chance the battle is already lost