'Made in China' goes for gold in Paris

The Ancient Olympic Games were made in Greece, but it seems the just-concluded Paris 2024 Olympic Games were "made" in China. This is not only because China is one of the top two gold medal winners, but also because a significant portion of the equipment used in the Paris Olympics originated from China.

From table tennis balls and judo mats to Phryges doll mascots, silicon bracelets, LED displays and microchip-embedded footballs, China's contributions to the Games' equipment were extensive. While some of these products may seem basic and low-tech, items like table tennis balls require precise specifications that only China can achieve at a low per-unit cost.

The competitiveness of Chinese products attests to China's meteoric rise in intelligent manufacturing, also known as Industry 4.0. In 2011, at Hannover MESSE, German industrial leader Bosch argued that the future of industry lies in the widespread integration of information and communications technology in production. Chinese leaders immediately recognized the potential of this integration for China's labor-intensive and low value-added manufacturing.