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Busani Ngcaweni
AMID the ongoing historic “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, technology conflicts have been intensifying.
Recently, US and EU officials have criticised China for overproducing electric vehicles.
In mid-May, the US even decided to raise tariffs on Chinese EVs.
From such statements and their subsequent rebuttals, it became evident that in just less than a decade of being blamed for polluting the planet as the “world’s factory”, China has made a great leap, from being overly dependent on fossil fuels to becoming the global leader in green technologies.
For example, Chinese-made EVs have become globally competitive in all respects — from design to efficiency to pricing.
At the Beijing automobile show in April and May, another significant event of the month, it was Chinese-made EVs that were trending.
Apart from acknowledging the Chinese car makers’ unparalleled advancement, some European and US car maker executives said they have lost some of their best designers to Chinese enterprises because of agility, resources and the advancement made in research and development.
One executive said that in China there are battery exchange stations, meaning you do not have to worry about the hours of charging, and even for that, the rapid roll-out of charging infrastructure means consumers have fewer troubles to worry about.
This discussion reminded me of the concerns by EV owners in Rome who are bitter about the lack of charging infrastructure, compounded by the exorbitant costs of electricity. The Chinese reply to dumping allegations is simple: China has transitioned into advanced manufacturing which has led to significant breakthroughs in our production capacities using artificial intelligence.
Add to that the scale of the Chinese EV market, and it makes sense that their products are price competitive.
It is understandable therefore that in April, the world’s leading EV maker, Tesla, decided to reduce prices, taking tech and price competitions to extraordinary levels.
There is a view that more collaboration, instead of rivalry, between China and the US, the two major powers in AI, will benefit the whole of humanity, because many countries can leverage their capabilities and investments to promote sustainable development.
Perhaps we will live long enough to write about the realisation of this dream.
Tech revolution brings new cooperation opportunities
As a native of Africa, my most profound AI moment was the UN-convened panel in April on the value chains of critical energy transition minerals. This intervention by the UN is as revolutionary as the AI era itself.
First, the advances in technological products referred to above depend on the availability and access to critical minerals.
Batteries powering EVs need lithium to store energy, cobalt to improve battery life, nickel to enhance storage and efficiency, and graphite and manganese to improve performance.
Africa has the largest deposits of these minerals. — China Daily
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