China’s rise reshaped Western economics and culture even before exporting culture itself

Evidence

China’s seemingly near-infinite capacity for low-cost, high-quality production gutted factory jobs across high-income nations, fueling the populist backlash that helped propel right-wing leaders like Donald Trump into power. At the same time, rising incomes within China made the market much more appealing to multinational firms. In 2000, China’s GDP per capita was just 959—lower than Honduras or Syria. By 2023, that figure had surged to 12,614, giving the Chinese middle class significant purchasing power. China also had the world’s second-largest pool of millionaires (more than 6 million) and billionaires (473 in 2024). As international brands began to consider the needs of Chinese consumers, it affected the underlying logic of what they created and how they marketed it. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 744

Categorization

• XREF: GDP per capita figure of 959 vs 12,614 parallels the reader’s earlier engagement with economic power shifts and globalization in the Frankfurt School and trade-institution books.