Everything will change
China has just adopted its latest five-year plan for economic development. The Western economic pundits (i.e. all those who, among other things, know the most about football) just smile wearily: a centrally controlled five-year plan – how outdated is that? these days you just go and get the oil, hand all the power to the tech firms and their self-promoters, quickly throw the whole global economy into disarray with tariffs, and do everything differently again tomorrow – what’s the point of a five-year plan? Well, perhaps that’s precisely the point: planning certainty. I don’t want to pass myself off as an expert here, truly not, but as I understand it, it’s about innovation rather than mass production, billions for AI and the chips required for it, technological independence in general, and strengthening the domestic economy. To me, that sounds like a plan – others definitely don’t have one. And that’s why radical is taking a closer look, has dedicated the entire issue #6 to China, introduces the manufacturers now represented in Switzerland, but also has the figures that explain the tectonic shifts in the industry. And I spoke at length with a man who knows the whole game inside out: Wolfgang Egger, once a big shot at Alfa and the Volkswagen Group, and for nearly a decade now chief designer at BYD. The stories on this are freely accessible (except for the interview with Egger); they’ll all be published here over the next few days.
The interview with Wolfgang Egger
Figures on the tectonic shifts
BYD: Self-confidence and a playful spirit
A change of direction at Lynk & Co.
pure//: There is no such thing as ‘Chinese cuisine’
Also in radical#6: pure, the magazine for contemporary food culture. You can find it here. And find out everything about subscriptions here.
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