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In the 1970s, China opened up its markets to global trade and underwent rapid economic growth and industrialization.Credit: VCG/Getty

Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future Dan Wang W. W. Norton (2025)

When it comes to accounts of China’s economic and technological success, a lot has been written but much of it isn’t worth the paper. Western scholars, especially, need to better understand the facts. Presenting those facts is the greatest strength of tech analyst Dan Wang’s excellent book Breakneck.

Here are some of the details he describes. Many of China’s poorest provinces have better infrastructure than the United States’ wealthiest regions. China’s policies designed to stimulate manufacturing growth have led to price wars, waste and debt crises. It is true that China’s one-child policy and zero-COVID strategy caused unnecessary suffering. It is also true that US regulatory policies are hindering the provision of public services such as railways in the United States. Just for including these facts, I would call Wang’s book one of the best English-language texts on China published in the past few years.

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