The Guardian6 Jun 2026Macro
Automatically composed with AI from the cited sources
China now accounts for roughly one-third of global manufacturing output, up from 5% in 1995, with its share of global manufacturing exports rising from 3% to 20% and exceeding 50% for hundreds of product categories, while its current-account surplus reaches an estimated 3.8–5% of GDP. The op-ed catalogs Beijing’s use of export controls as retaliation: a 2010 rare-earth cutoff to Japan, a 2025 block on chip exports from Nexperia’s Dongguan plant forcing the Dutch government to reverse a takeover, and a 2026 curtailment of magnet and mineral supplies to Japan following statements on Taiwan. It also notes President Xi’s 2020 speech calling for tightening international production chains’ dependence on China to create deterrent capability.