To Beat China on Tech, Biden Will Have to Learn from It

After four years of Donald Trump in the White House, it is hard to imagine that life for China’s technology companies can get much worse.

During his time in office, Trump waged a relentless war against China’s global tech expansion.

His administration used nearly every weapon at America’s disposal to pummel Chinese tech companies—such as semiconductor giant SMIC and smartphone maker Xiaomi—with executive orders blocking access to American markets, technology, and investment.

President Biden is expected to maintain a hard line against Chinese tech, up America’s own game by pumping billions of dollars into basic research and development, and rally fellow democracies together to promote global technology standards on cybersecurity and digital trade.

Yet if President Biden is serious about winning the race against China on 5G mobile networks and other new technologies, he will need more than the support of America’s traditional allies; he’ll also need to learn from China’s own global tech expansion and work closer with developing countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

In the last couple decades, Chinese tech companies have gained first-mover advantage by capturing large market shares in these budding economies and laying the groundwork as a standards-setter for how the next generation of technologies will work.

In Africa, for example, after developing a long line of affordable smartphones, the Chinese tech company Transsion now dominates the continent’s mobile phone industry with over 40 percent of total market share.

Chinese telecoms Huawei and ZTE built the majority of Africa’s 4th generation mobile networks, and are now carving a similar path in developing 5G mobile networks in Indonesia, Malaysia, and much of Southeast Asia.

China’s geopolitical behavior has caused plenty of self-inflicted damage to its own tech companies.

And along with Australia, Japan, Vietnam, and others, India is also moving to deny Huawei’s involvement in developing 5G mobile networks within its borders.

Working alongside California-headquartered Qualcomm, the Indian conglomerate, Reliance Industries, is developing its subsidiary Jio Platforms to provide a homegrown solution for India’s 5G mobile networks.

For President Biden, China’s setbacks in these rapidly growing markets provide new openings the United States and its allies can pursue.

While not all partners in the developing world will fit into the idea of a democratic tech alliance, President Biden should look to the India and Vietnam model and help other nations develop domestic capacities that lower dependencies on Huawei and other foreign providers over time.

If President Biden is serious about beating China in a global tech race, he will need to learn from the Chinese experience and reverse America’s longstanding failure to see the strategic gain from engaging the developing world on technology.

By offering tech solutions that spur on new growth and development, President Biden can harness the power and ingenuity of America and its allies to outcompete China.