For decades, we have looked to Silicon Valley to understand the digital future. But China has developed the only major digital ecosystem in which Silicon Valley companies play almost no role—and this has produced a very different approach to technology and innovation.

While much of the Western AI race focuses on frontier models, benchmarks and efficiency, China is increasingly focused on deployment: using AI to transform factories, supply chains, logistics systems, products and everyday services. Through familiar examples such as SHEIN and Xiaomi, this keynote shows how Chinese companies use technology not only to reduce costs, but also to create new capabilities, business models and sources of growth.

The point is not to copy China. It is to understand the different race China is running—and what companies elsewhere can learn from it.