# China's manufacturing edge comes from expertise and long-term planning

Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/s/chinas-manufacturing-edge-comes-from-expertise-and-long-term/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy.

- Speaker: [Amjad Masad](https://realalpha.app/builders/amjad-masad/) · Amjad Masad is founder and CEO of Replit. · Co-founded and leads Replit, a browser-based coding platform letting anyone write and deploy code.
- Host: [Joe Rogan](https://realalpha.app/people/joe-rogan/) · Host, The Joe Rogan Experience
- Show: The Joe Rogan Experience
- Episode: [Joe Rogan Experience #2344 - Amjad Masad](https://realalpha.app/v/WfmrEa0L08E/), Jul 2, 2025
- Moment: 1:56:47 to 1:59:04 of the episode (2 min), playing on https://realalpha.app/s/chinas-manufacturing-edge-comes-from-expertise-and-long-term/; the episode from there: https://realalpha.app/v/WfmrEa0L08E/?t=7007

## Quote

> “the leadership can have a **50-year view** of where things are headed.”
> — [Amjad Masad](https://realalpha.app/builders/amjad-masad/) at [1:57:59](https://realalpha.app/v/WfmrEa0L08E/?t=7079) · The Joe Rogan Experience

## Takeaways

1. China's manufacturing advantage is not just lower labor costs.
2. Manufacturing expertise builds over time.
3. Long planning horizons can support industrial upgrades.

## About this segment

Amjad Masad says China's advantage comes from manufacturing expertise built over time and leaders willing to plan decades ahead. He contrasts that with shorter U.S. planning horizons.

From “Joe Rogan Experience #2344 - Amjad Masad”, Jul 2, 2025. [Watch the full episode](https://realalpha.app/v/WfmrEa0L08E/)

## Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

[1:56:52](https://realalpha.app/v/WfmrEa0L08E/?t=7012) Because they're really advanced. Yeah. I think, you know, a lot of people think that I'm not an expert in China, but a lot of people think that the thing that makes China better at manufacturing is the sort of, quote unquote, like more like, you know, treating workers like slaves, you know, slave work or whatever. which I'm sure some of that happens. But Tim Cook recently said, maybe not so recent, but he thinks part of the reason why they manufacture in China is there's expertise there that developed over time.

[1:57:36](https://realalpha.app/v/WfmrEa0L08E/?t=7056) Yeah, that's why they want to use the Chinese manufacturing for the iPhone 17. Yeah, and I think one of the things that are good at, But one of the things that are good about more technocratic systems, Singapore, obviously China is the biggest one, is that the sort of leadership, it comes at a cost of freedom and other things. But the leadership can have a 50-year view of where things are headed. and they can say, well, yes, we're now making the plastic crap.

[1:58:14](https://realalpha.app/v/WfmrEa0L08E/?t=7094) We don't want to keep making plastic crap. We're going to build the capabilities and the automation and manufacturing expertise to be able to leapfrog the West in making these certain things, whereas it's been historically hard. Again, for good reasons, I think there's more freedom preserving when you don't have that much power in government. But I feel like America, we're like the worst of both worlds, where increasingly the government is making more and more decisions and choices than any state.

[1:58:54](https://realalpha.app/v/WfmrEa0L08E/?t=7134) But at the same time, we don't have this enlightened, like, you know, 10-year roadmap for where we want to be.