BOOK REVIEW: "The New China Playbook"- Reading Between the Lines
- Tomasz Kruk
- Oct 8
- 3 min read
About the Author
Keyu Jin is a Chinese economist educated in both China and the United States. She earned her A.B. and Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University and is now a tenured professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where her work focuses on international macroeconomics, technology, and China’s growth model. Having grown up during the reform era, she brings rigorous academic training together with lived experience of China’s transformation.
Why I Read It Only Now
I asked myself recently: why did I only read this book now?Keyu Jin’s The New China Playbook (NYT review, May 2023) is not another Western take. Jin is Chinese, in her 40s, raised alongside China’s rise. That makes her an insider, writing with the authority of lived experience rather than detached observation. It is important reading because it presents a carefully curated message about how China wants to be understood.
A Message from China to the World
The book reads like a strategic narrative of what Beijing wants the world to know. It emphasizes:
Self‑sufficiency: leapfrogging into semiconductors, quantum, and space to reduce reliance on others.
Technology & AI: harnessing a vast domestic market and data‑rich customer base to drive AI and platform innovation.
Learning by copying: what the West calls imitation, China frames as accelerated learning and diffusion.
Economic resilience: deep household savings, shadow banking, and the ability to mobilize capital at scale.
Green innovation & infrastructure: using scale to dominate solar, wind, EVs, and the grid that connects them.
Equally important is the social dimension: experiments around a so‑called “voluntary” social credit system (presented as efficiency and trust‑building), efforts to promote social equality, and what I call “Noccominizm”—neither communism nor neoliberal capitalism, but a hybrid governance model.
What Struck Me
What struck me most is the book’s focus on population, scale, and macro forces, with limited attention to individual stories. The notable exception is the author’s own family—early beneficiaries of the return of meritocracy after Mao’s failed revolutionary experiments. Their trajectory illustrates how profoundly the past half‑century of reforms reshaped lives.
What Is Missing
Silences matter. Jin’s narrative largely sidesteps confrontation, conflict, war, or Russia. The omission looks intentional: this is not a diary—it’s a playbook.
Why This Reading Matters Now
Jin highlights something Western audiences rarely hear: many Chinese professionals, academics, and managers are returning. While some citizens leave, China is simultaneously attracting talent back—because for many, it still looks like the most prospective place to build the future.
Yet formidable challenges remain. The one‑child policy has created a demographic burden—an entire generation of single children who now staff leadership, the workforce, and even an army‑personnel pipeline. Demography shapes not only society, but also China’s capacity for confrontation.
My Amateur Historian’s Lens
Drawing on more than two decades in corporate roles, my legal background, a lifelong interest in history, and an Eastern European perspective—together with years of working with Chinese colleagues and time spent working in China—I view the country’s 19th–20th century decline as an anomaly in a much longer arc of prosperity.
In the 21st century, China again leans on traditional strengths: scale, industriousness, and central coordination—this time positioned against Western models. Beyond macro trends, I also see the pragmatism and resilience of ordinary Chinese. Their spirit often reminds me of Poland’s: hard work, adaptation, and enduring pride.
Final Reflection
The New China Playbook is more than a book—it is a strategic message. It presents a confident, technologically ambitious China that seeks to stand apart from both socialism and laissez‑faire capitalism.
But we must read carefully. The claims—and the silences—both matter. Between the lines is the real story of a country still in motion, one whose trajectory will shape the 21st century.
I also heard Lex Fridman’s Podcast (Aug 13, 2025); his interview with Keyu Jin is a perfect supplement to the book, adding nuance on confrontation and China’s possible paths ahead.
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