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everyone knows that china is the world's largest industrial country, but no one knows how strong china's industrial strength is. here is an analogy: in the field of military spending, the united states is undoubtedly far ahead, with military spending exceeding the total of the next eight countries. china's leading advantage in the industrial field is almost as huge. according to official data released in july, china has accounted for 35% of the global industrial output value, exceeding the total of the 2nd to 10th place.

on september 6, the government released another set of data: in august, china's market share of global new ship orders reached 90%, completely crushing the world on its own. one country took on 90% of the world's shipbuilding orders. even the united states at its peak had never accomplished such a feat. when the us government saw this data, it probably gasped in shock. because the shipbuilding industry not only involves a country's economic interests, but is also directly linked to a country's maritime military strength.

the beiyang fleet was once the seventh largest fleet in the world and the first in the far east. but why did it decline in just a few years? by the time the first sino-japanese war broke out, it was already significantly behind the japanese combined fleet. the main reason was that the beiyang fleet's main battleships were bought from foreign countries at high prices. they were technically controlled by others, and their production and delivery time also depended on others' wishes. even maintenance required the help of foreigners.

therefore, in peacetime, the warships of the beiyang fleet were a burden to the qing dynasty. purchasing warships could not benefit the country's economy or employment, and the money was earned by foreigners. as a result, the beiyang fleet was not favored by the government, and various expenses were saved as much as possible during normal times. but when a war suddenly broke out, the beiyang fleet's warships were too late to be replenished and repaired, so they had to bite the bullet and fight the japanese combined fleet.

but if you build your own warships, the situation is different. although you still have to spend money, buying warships built by your own country is equivalent to spending money domestically, promoting the development of the industrial chain related to shipbuilding. building a large warship can at least bring jobs to tens of thousands of families.

moreover, when a country builds warships, it does not need to rely on other countries for production, and can also solve future upgrades and maintenance by itself, which invisibly brings potential economic value to society. therefore, the qing dynasty, which relied on buying to arm a powerful fleet, cannot be called a maritime military power, because as long as other countries cut off the supply of warships, this fleet will soon be eliminated. even if there was no sino-japanese war of 1894-1895, it would only be a matter of time before the beiyang fleet was completely destroyed. the sino-japanese war of 1894-1895 only brought this process forward.

now china is undoubtedly the world's number one shipbuilding country. in peacetime, china accepts shipbuilding orders from all over the world. in wartime, china has the ability to build warships like "making dumplings" just like the united states during the pacific war, and use its terrifying military industrial production capacity to crush its opponents.

some people may wonder, is it possible that the united states, which has the world's largest navy, is not as strong in shipbuilding as china? it all started 40 years ago. the united states was once the world's largest shipbuilding country, but after the end of world war ii, the united states was at a disadvantage in terms of labor costs. in order to make more profits, companies began to transfer most of their businesses overseas. compared with the shipbuilding industry, which requires huge investments and has a low rate of return, financial investments on wall street can make money much faster. few american capitalists are willing to invest in the shipbuilding industry.

in the 1980s, after reagan became president, he started a completely free capitalism, namely reaganomics. the government no longer interfered with capital, reduced tariffs and trade barriers, outsourced a lot of things and globalized trade, capital flowed freely, state-owned enterprises were sold whenever possible, and financial controls were relaxed. the result was that capital without control became a runaway horse, and the united states was completely "de-industrialized". almost all heavy asset manufacturing industries were transferred abroad, and only manufacturing companies such as boeing, which had a monopoly in the world, were retained. in the end, the manufacturing industries retained in the united states were basically companies related to the military-industrial complex, such as arms companies such as lockheed.

the shipbuilding industry in the united states also suffered a devastating blow during this period. in the early 1980s, american shipbuilding companies could still get orders for 60 ocean-going merchant ships every year. by the end of the 1980s, american shipyards no longer accepted orders for civilian ships, and their only business was to build warships for the us military. however, in peacetime, there was no way to support so many shipyards with orders from the us navy alone, so the united states only retained a few shipyards, and the rest all closed down. since there was no need to accept foreign orders and they relied entirely on the pentagon to do their work, all these shipyards in the united states were lying flat. the shipyard equipment was aging and the employee management was chaotic. there was a farce in which employees set fire to nuclear submarines in order to get off work early. a few years ago, the us navy's "goodman richard" amphibious assault ship was also burned in the shipyard. many people laughed at the decline of russia's shipbuilding industry, but in fact, the united states was not much better. at least russian shipyards have not fallen to the point of burning aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines.

although the united states still has the largest navy in the world today, it is mainly because the wealth accumulated by the united states during the cold war is too rich, and it has not yet been used up. the u.s. navy currently has 11 aircraft carriers, 7 of which were started during the cold war. the current united states actually no longer has the ability to mass-produce aircraft carriers. from 1993 to now, the united states has only started construction of 5 aircraft carriers.

as for destroyers, us shipyards cannot even meet the target of building two destroyers per year, and the latest constellation-class frigates even need to be manufactured by italian shipyards. because its own shipyards are unreliable, the united states even needs to ask japan and india for help, entrusting them to repair and maintain warships when necessary. even indian shipyards are qualified to help the united states repair warships, which shows how poor the us shipyards have become.

therefore, the united states actually regrets the wrong decision it made 40 years ago. the biden administration has criticized reagan's policies in recent years. for example, us president's national security advisor sullivan said in a speech at the brookings institution this year: the united states was wrong. the united states used to think that the market was omnipotent, but under the market efficiency above all else, the us industrial base has been hollowed out, and the entire manufacturing supply chain, including the jobs above, have been transferred. the united states must reflect on its past liberalism.

in recent years, the us government has been busy correcting past mistakes and has begun to intervene in the market at the government level, such as preventing other countries from acquiring us steel companies, using government subsidies to attract manufacturing back to the country, and even using national security as an excuse to suppress chinese industrial products and forcing us companies to use us-made industrial products.

however, deindustrialization is easy, but revitalizing industrialization is extremely difficult. since obama took office, the us government has intended to revitalize the manufacturing industry, but until today it has achieved little success. the us government can only use administrative intervention to retain the last bit of market for its manufacturing industry. in order to preserve its own manufacturing industry, the us government did not hesitate to violate the principle of free trade and began to take the initiative to impose tariffs.

as the manufacturing industry has been unable to be revived, the continued shrinkage of the us shipbuilding industry has become an irreversible trend. even the us navy cannot support several us shipyards. the us's frequent interest rate hikes have severely restricted the borrowing capacity of asset-heavy companies such as shipyards, weakening the space for these shipbuilding companies to develop and improve. almost no american capitalists are willing to invest in the shipbuilding industry, unless musk has a whim and is ready to enter the shipbuilding industry.

therefore, although the gap in maritime military strength between china and the united states is still relatively large, it is difficult for the united states to maintain its leading advantage for a long time. although china has only three aircraft carriers and the united states has 11, china is in the stage of increasing its production capacity, while the united states is in the stage of rapidly declining production capacity. taking the shield ship as an example, china built several type 052c destroyers in the early 21st century, but after the appearance of the type 052c, the scale of china's shield ships has not been expanded, so that foreign media gloated that china has encountered difficulties in shipbuilding. however, china is just holding back its big move. in 2014, the type 052d destroyer began to serve, and china officially began a shipbuilding frenzy. in 10 years, nearly 30 type 025d destroyers were put into service, plus 8 type 055 destroyers, which brought a small shock to the world.

the same is true for aircraft carriers. the type 001 and type 002 aircraft carriers are just china's test runs in the field of aircraft carriers. china needs to master the relevant manufacturing process through these two aircraft carriers and establish a complete supporting industrial chain, which is equivalent to the type 052b destroyer. the type 052b destroyer is the last simulation test of the hull and power system before china builds the shield ship. the type 003 fujian ship is equivalent to the type 052c destroyer. the type 052c is china's first true shield ship, while the type 003 is china's first aircraft carrier with a catapult and a straight flight deck. however, just as the type 052c destroyer is not built in large quantities, the type 003 aircraft carrier will not be built in large quantities. it is just a transitional model that connects the upper and lower levels. the aircraft carrier that china will really build in large quantities is the type 004 or type 005, which has both nuclear power and electromagnetic catapults. when china's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier appears, china will begin to mass-produce aircraft carriers in the true sense.

so don't underestimate china's determination to develop its aircraft carrier fleet just because it has only three aircraft carriers. before 2014, china only had six type 052c destroyers. who would have thought that china would have nearly 50 destroyers 10 years later? with china's current shipbuilding capabilities, as long as the relevant technology of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers matures, china is fully capable of surpassing the united states during the cold war. it is not a problem to start building five nuclear-powered aircraft carriers within 10 years. and what about the united states? the nimitz-class aircraft carriers that were put into service earlier are entering their old age. do american shipyards still have the ability to build aircraft carriers 1:1 for replacement?

in the future, the number of chinese aircraft carriers will increase while that of the united states will decrease. this is an irreversible trend. china now has only three aircraft carriers, and the us government has already stated that it has no intention of engaging in conflict with china. if china had six aircraft carriers, the "taiwan independence" forces would not dare to breathe, fearing that the people's liberation army would find a reason to directly crush them; if china also had 11 aircraft carriers, it would probably be the us government's turn to shout "the friendship between china and the united states will last forever."

once china begins to suppress the united states in terms of the number of aircraft carriers, it will be a symbol of the complete collapse of us hegemony. the dollar can become the mainstream currency in international trade because the united states is strong enough. if anyone is not honest, the us aircraft carrier fleet can come to enforce the law. back then, saddam and the european union used the euro to settle oil trade. as a result, the united states sent an aircraft carrier fleet without saying a word. the us soldiers fought all the way to baghdad and captured saddam alive without the authorization of the un security council. aircraft carriers are the foundation of the dollar hegemony. if china had 11 aircraft carriers and the united states had only 3 at that time, the us government would not dare to send troops to iraq even if it had 100 guts.

and now, what the united states is most worried about is about to happen. the terrifying strength demonstrated by china in the field of shipbuilding has made the united states lack the courage to launch an arms race, because even if the united states has sufficient funds, the shipyards cannot afford the task of mass-producing aircraft carriers.