--- title: "China’s Tech Sector Is Absolutely Crushing America’s Right Now" description: "As Western investors balk at the growing cost of US AI development, the Chinese tech sector is soaring, fueled by a robust STEM education." date: "2025-02-14" modified: "2025-02-14" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/china-tech-strong-america" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "china" - "deepseek" - "economy" - "stock market" --- # China’s Tech Sector Is Absolutely Crushing America’s Right Now ![As Western investors balk at the growing cost of US AI development, the Chinese tech sector is soaring, fueled by a robust STEM education.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* The [Chinese century]() may be here — at least for the tech industry, that is. As the "magnificent seven" US tech companies [slump amidst a disappointing fourth quarter](), China's [tech sector]() is rallying, spurred by the explosive reverberations of Chinese AI company DeepSeek. On Wednesday, the Heng Seng Index — a Hong Kong aggregate index indicating the overall health of the market, like the NASDAQ or the S&P 500 — hit a [four-month high](), just short of a three-year high. That hype started when the index entered a [bull market last week]() — a buzzy financial term for when a market enters a sustained period of growth**,** at least in the short term, and typically to the delight of investors. Indices in mainland China and Shanghai have likewise grown, supported by optimistic Wall Street strategists who say China's moment in the Sun is [just getting started](). "Global investors are starting to reassess China’s investability within the tech and AI space," [wrote Morgan Stanley strategist]() Laura Wang. "We expect the momentum to sustain in the near-term." Though Chinese tech companies can thank [short-term traders]() for a bit of the fervor, the bulk of energy comes from [swelling national pride]() over Chinese startup DeepSeek upstaging the high-moneyed AI moguls across the Pacific with a much more [cost-efficient model](). But it's also about *how* the startup accomplished the startup — DeepSeek's founder claims that the company's core developers all graduated from Chinese universities, which has also helped spur market optimism around [education stocks]() in China. "The success of DeepSeek proves that our education is absolutely amazing and far better than that of foreign countries!" went [one headline]() posted on Chinese social media. The country's education system is a major aspect of [China's national identity](), and the successes of DeepSeek are being tied to the growth of universities and STEM programs in the mainland. The *New York Times*' Beijing correspondent Vivian Wang [notes]() that the number of Chinese university graduates has grown more than 14-fold over the past 20 years. By 2020, China had far eclipsed the United States in its number of [STEM grads](); that year, Chinese universities produced 3.5 million of them, compared to just 820,000 in the United States, according to American technology research firm CSET. Questioned on his team's accomplishments, DeepSeek's founder Liang Wenfeng took a humble tone, at least compared to his [American contemporaries](). "There are no 'geniuses'," he said in an [interview](). "Our team is just some fresh graduates from top universities, some PhD students and interns, and even some young and promising technicians who have just graduated a few years ago." China's technological rise coincides with a campaign by American mogul Elon Musk to gut the [Department of Education](), as well as President Donald Trump's ambitions to brute-force [AI development]() with [billions of dollars]() of infrastructure, while [censoring scientific research]() at American Universities. The whole thing is flipping the Western geopolitical narrative on its head — China as the fast, efficient innovator, and the US slipping into what many see as growing authoritarianism. Which vision wins out in the tech sector, though, is anyone's guess. **More on China:** *[Chinese Students Repulsed by American School Lunches]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()