China has developed a method where once entering a certain industry, a few years later the industry completely belongs to it In 1991, Sony of Japan produced the first commercial lithium battery, and Japan has been a leader in this field for the next thirty years. Currently, approximately 70% of batteries worldwide come from China Not just the battery. Solar panels used to be dominated by Japan and Germany, steel belonged to Europe, and rare earths belonged to the United States. Now, the production capacity and discourse power of these industries are basically in the hands of China The first step is for the government to select a strategic industry and inject support such as low interest loans, low-cost electricity, low-cost land, and tax reductions The second step is for Chinese companies to leverage these advantages to produce at costs far below the market average, and even sell at a loss. The goal is not to make money, but to prevent competitors from keeping up with the price The third step is that Western competitors have gone bankrupt or withdrawn one after another in the long-term losses Step four, after the market is cleared, China forms a monopoly, with prices and rules determined by itself The most typical example is solar panels. Chinese companies are still selling at a loss, with production capacity twice that of global demand. But in their view, losses are an investment, because in the end, only China survived The deeper layout is that China does not control the minerals themselves, but rather controls the processing stages It only mines 8% of the world's copper, but refines 47% of copper; Lithium reserves are less than 7%, but 80% of lithium is processed; Cobalt refining accounts for 77%, and rare earth processing accounts for 90% Raw materials can be on someone else's land, but the factories that turn raw materials into usable products are in China. Having mines is not enough, mastering processing is the real winner Once a monopoly is established, the second wave of attack begins: low-priced sellers become gatekeepers In the past year, China has introduced new regulations in the rare earth field - as long as a product contains one thousandth of Chinese sourced substances, export must obtain a license Antimony is a more specific example. This metal used for ammunition is completely dependent on imports by the United States. China suspends exports, supply drops by 97%, prices triple China has directly cut off its supply to the United States of gallium and germanium, two key materials for chips. Subsequently, restrictions were suspended in another trade agreement The faucet is in its hand, it can be turned off or on One number can summarize the overall situation: China dominates the refining of 19 out of 20 key minerals. Almost all modern production raw materials cannot bypass Chinese factories This is not isolated from any particular industry. Starting from cheap steel, every step has climbed towards more critical areas, and now it has touched the foundation of all industries The final scene is about artificial intelligence. Similarly, replicating this model: making the model publicly available for free, distributing it to everyone, and causing competitors to incur losses But artificial intelligence is not a single industry, it is the foundation of all industries in the future. What is lost is no longer an industry, but the entire future The United States has been defending free markets and opposing government intervention in the economy for decades. But in the face of China, it has also begun to adopt the methods it once criticized The government directly invests in the company: holds about 10% of the shares of chip giant Intel, becoming the largest shareholder of MP Materials in the rare earth field. By 2025 alone, we have already invested in seven companies What China did with the hands of the state, the United States is also doing now. But the problem is that China started this game decades ago, and the United States has only just awakened Enter at a low price, establish a monopoly, and then transform into a weapon. You think you have bought a bargain, but one day, the other party the final say whether to give you the product