Yanwen’s blog

January 28, 2025

Right after New Year, while I was still in the U.S. and people were worried about the incoming Trump tariffs, I came across an article that I found rather amusing: "Tesla Starts Production at Shanghai Megapack Factory."

Tesla is ramping up its grid-scale Megapack battery production with a new facility in Shanghai, set to begin mass production in early 2025. The factory, built in record time with a $200 million investment, will initially produce 10,000 Megapacks annually—equating to 40GWh of energy storage. This new site marks Tesla’s second major Megapack facility, following its existing operation in Lathrop, California.

Interestingly, the article pointed out that this move challenges the prevailing U.S. narrative of "decoupling" or "de-risking" from China.

Tesla's Strategic Expansion

Tesla’s decision to expand Megapack production is a clear strategic move. It showcases the company’s commitment to tapping into China’s unmatched manufacturing expertise and advanced technology for its global supply chain. This aligns with Tesla’s broader goal of scaling production while cutting costs. 

Shanghai, with its world-class infrastructure, competitive manufacturing costs, and proximity to vital battery supply chains, offers undeniable advantages. By locating the plant there, Tesla ensures that it stays competitive in the rapidly growing global energy storage market.

The Irony of U.S.-China Tensions

There’s an undeniable irony in this development against the backdrop of "decoupling" from China. Tesla continues to expand their operations in China, obviously drawn by China's unparalleled manufacturing ecosystem and expertise in clean energy technologies.

Take the case of CATL, China’s largest battery manufacturer, for instance. While the U.S. warns against its dependence on firms like CATL, American companies still benefit from their technology and products, underscoring the paradox of the situation.

Broader Implications: China’s Growing Role in Clean Energy

This news further highlights China’s pivotal role in the global clean energy transition. Beyond being a manufacturing powerhouse, China is making unprecedented leaps in renewable energy, batteries, and electric vehicles (EVs). Its advancements position the country as a critical key player in achieving global climate goals.

Elon Musk’s strategy reflects a pragmatic approach: rather than following geopolitical narratives, Tesla focuses on efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and scalability—principles that must inevitably involve collaboration with China.

Business Realities vs. Geopolitical Narratives

Tesla’s Shanghai Megapack facility reflects the interconnectedness of the global economy, especially in the clean energy sector. It underscores the reality that, while geopolitical narratives may sound loud and even threatening, business decisions are still driven by the search for efficiency, innovation, and competitiveness. As the U.S. pushes for decoupling, companies like Tesla show that collaboration with China remains essential for staying competitive in the increasingly green and innovative future.

January 27, 2025

As I was preparing to leave for Beijing, something happened in China that has sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley—so much so that it's causing a meltdown. A Chinese saying captures this perfectly: 一石激起千层浪 (yī shí jī qǐ qiān céng làng) A single stone creates a thousand ripples.

On January 20, DeepSeek, a relatively unknown AI research lab from China, released an open-source model that has quickly become the talk of the town in Silicon Valley.

1. A Surprise from an Unknown Lab. 

Out of nowhere, DeepSeek, a little-known AI lab in China, has made a significant splash by releasing its open-source AI model, DeepSeek-R1. This model has outperformed industry giants like OpenAI’s o1 in key areas such as math and reasoning benchmarks.

2. Defying the Odds in a Hostile Environment

What makes this breakthrough even more impressive is the context in which it occurred. In a landscape shaped by harsh U.S. export controls limiting China’s access to advanced AI hardware, DeepSeek has managed to thrive. While most AI firms are forced to rely on large-scale hardware and resources, DeepSeek has taken a different route—focusing on software-driven optimization and efficient resource management.

3. Innovation in Model Architecture

DeepSeek's innovation lies in its ability to optimize model architecture using techniques like multi-head latent attention (MLA) and mix-of-experts. These strategies have enabled their models to achieve remarkable efficiency, requiring far fewer computing resources than competitors such as Meta’s Llama 3.1.

4. A Bold Vision and a Stellar Team

The driving force behind DeepSeek is its founder, Liang Wenfeng, who pivoted his hedge fund, High-Flyer, into an AI research firm with the bold vision of advancing the field of AI. Unlike other AI startups in China, DeepSeek prioritizes long-term scientific research over quick commercialization. The company’s technical team, mostly composed of recent graduates from top Chinese universities, fosters a collaborative culture driven by curiosity and a shared mission to overcome challenges.

5. Turning Constraints into Innovation

DeepSeek's ability to thrive despite the strict U.S. export controls on AI chips, like Nvidia’s H100, is another shoutout to its innovation. Faced with a scarcity of resources, the lab embraced creative solutions to optimize model training and architecture, transforming challenges into opportunities.

6. Efficiency at Its Finest

While it took Google years and billions of dollars to develop its Gemini model, and Meta spent considerable resources on Llama, DeepSeek achieved similar—or even superior—results in just two months, with a modest budget of $5.6 million. This surprisingly remarkable efficiency highlights the lab’s ability to do more with less, a key differentiator in the AI space.

7. Gaining Global Credibility Through Open Source

DeepSeek’s decision to make its model open-source is a game-changer. By sharing their work, they’ve garnered credibility and support from the global AI research community, positioning China’s AI sector to compete on the world stage, despite hardware limitations. This open approach fosters collaboration, attracts contributors, and accelerates innovation.

The success of DeepSeek reminds the world so much of Huawei’s experience. The unexpected breakthrough from this small lab also challenges existing assumptions about vast resources needed to achieve such advancements. In a sense, DeepSeek will not only reshape AI development but also force people to re-think of the effectiveness of export restrictions in stopping China's technological advance.

January 26, 2025

I’d like to share something that may not seem particularly interesting at first glance, but it caught my attention. On LinkedIn, I often receive messages from people asking various questions. I usually direct them to my posts for answers and then disengage, unsure whether I’m interacting with AI bots or real people. Interestingly, some people don’t appear to be genuinely interested in my content. Instead, their main goal seems to be casual conversations—something I have neither the time nor the inclination to entertain.

Thankfully, most of them stop messaging after a few days of being ignored. Reflecting on this behavior, if these are indeed real people seeking conversation, it paints a picture of a world with many lonely individuals trying to connect, even on a professional platform like LinkedIn.

On a completely different and more interesting note, have you heard about zebrafish in space? Known as 斑马鱼 (Bānmǎ yú) in Chinese, this experiment is groundbreaking. A closed aquatic ecosystem aboard China’s space station allowed four zebrafish to complete their life cycle—growth and reproduction—over 43 days in microgravity. Here’s a summary of the key facts and implications:

On April 25, 2024, China’s Shenzhou-18 spacecraft launched, carrying four zebrafish, aquatic plants, and astronauts. On November 4, 2024, astronauts returned with water samples from the space-based ecosystem. The experiment lasted 43 days, during which zebrafish adapted to and thrived in microgravity.

Experiment details include the closed ecosystem used photosynthetic plants to produce oxygen, while zebrafish waste sustained plant growth. Food was administered via syringe. Zebrafish displayed unique behaviors, such as upside-down swimming, caused by the effects of microgravity.  

Key players include researchers from the Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics conducted the experiment. Results were published in The Innovation journal.

Broader implications are this study enhances our understanding of vertebrate adaptation to microgravity, providing essential data for designing closed-loop life-support systems for long-term space missions. It also highlights China’s leadership in zebrafish research, supported by over 500 domestic laboratories.

Biomedical significance lies in the fact that zebrafish share over 70% genetic similarity with humans, making them valuable for studying disease mechanisms and drug development. This experiment opens new possibilities for space-based medical research.

Implications for Space Exploration:

This milestone demonstrates the feasibility of sustaining vertebrate life cycles in space and lays the foundation for future experiments. Insights gained could inform studies on how vertebrates, including humans, adapt to microgravity, with potential applications for mitigating issues like bone density loss, muscle atrophy, and organ function changes during extended missions. These findings are crucial as humanity progresses toward ambitious goals, such as establishing lunar bases or exploring Mars.

Looking ahead, China plans to send more fish to space in 2025, focusing on sustainable life-support systems. Studying aquatic life in microgravity may pave the way for developing robust closed-loop ecosystems, essential for maintaining life during long-duration space travel.

January 25, 2025

Telling stories about China has been a journey fueled by curiosity, dedication, and a commitment to bridge cultural and informational gaps. I’ve spent countless hours researching, distilling complex topics, and presenting them in language that’s accessible and engaging. It’s a labor of love, yet it often invites skepticism. One reader once asked me, “Do you really believe this?”

The truth is, what I believe is secondary and not relevant. What drives me isn’t a need to convince anyone of my belief. Instead, it’s the journalist in me—a desire to explore and share perspectives that are often overlooked or unknown, particularly in the United States. 

My motivation is rooted in making sure China stories that rarely reach the mainstream are brought to light, especially for Americans like my children, who often encounter one side of the narrative. And I want them to know that other side of narratives do exist.

I hope this process has been as enlightening for me as it is for my readers. Much like teaching, the act of teaching benefits both the teacher and the students. Each story teaches me something new about the world, and that shared discovery is its own reward.

Here’s a snapshot of the remarkable events and projects I’ve had the privilege to cover recently:

- 12/24/2024: Huawei's robots combat desertification in the Taklamakan Desert.  (Read more here) 

- 12/26/2024: Rabbits reversing desertification in Inner Mongolia—an ingenious and surprising solution.  (Read more here)

- 12/28/2024: The Altash Water Conservancy Project—a lifeline for Xinjiang’s sustainable future.  (Read more here)

- 12/29/2024: The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway construction, a milestone in regional connectivity.  (Read more here)

- 12/30/2024: Jupiter One, a groundbreaking hydrogen generator signaling the dawn of clean energy.  (Read more here)

- 12/31/2024: The CR450 high-speed train, redefining efficiency in rail travel.  (Read more here)

- 1/2/2025: China’s Great Green Wall—a transformative success in global environmental restoration.  (Read more here)

- 1/3/2025: China's progress in quantum technology, catching up with America.  (Read more here)

- 1/6/2025: The Tianshan Shengli Tunnel, the world’s longest expressway tunnel.  (Read more here)

- 1/7/2025: The construction of the world’s largest hydropower dam on the Yalu Zangbu River in Tibet. (Read more here)

 A New Perspective on What China has Achieved

These stories open a window into China’s current position in innovation and technology, offering readers a chance to see its progress from a different perspective. For me, learning and sharing these narratives has been a journey of expanding horizons and fostering curiosity. Whether or not my readers agree with my perspective, my hope is that they walk away with a broader understanding of an alternative narrative about China—a story often left untold.

January 24, 2025

On January 20, while waiting at the gate at New York's JFK airport, I met a Korean couple. The man, 79 years old, was remarkably healthy and full of energy, chatting animatedly with me. He mentioned how, in Korea, it’s common to see elderly people like him who are active and healthy. The couple was visiting the U.S., having already toured the Washington, D.C. area. Curious about my travel choice, he asked why I chose Korean Air. I explained that there are very few direct flights between the U.S. and China, so travelers often rely on airlines from Korea, Japan, or Taiwan. These countries are critical "connectors" for international travel from the U.S. and China—a role reminiscent of how Vietnam, Mexico and other connector countries play the same trade function between China and the U.S.

One cultural observation stood out to me: on the Korean flight, when I said “thank you” to the service personnel, they didn’t respond. I’m certain they heard me, but their silence felt different from the customary acknowledgment one might expect.

The next day, while transferring at Incheon Airport, I struck up a conversation with two Chinese travelers from Toronto. We discussed China's rapid technological advancements. One senior Chinese posed an intriguing question: “But who invented these technologies?” The implication was clear—she believed many of these innovations originated in the West. While it’s true that the West has historically been the pioneer in many fields, moving inventions from "0 to 1," I added that China's strength lies in taking those ideas and scaling them up to unprecedented levels—turning "1 into 1,000 or even 1,000,000." An invention, no matter how groundbreaking, cannot reach its full potential if it remains confined to a lab or niche market. China has demonstrated unparalleled efficiency in bringing technologies like robots and electric vehicles to the masses in record time, transforming innovation into global impact like never seen before.

On my flight from South Korea to Beijing, I sat beside two young Chinese men, both born in 1998. One, from Yunnan, was a businessman with extensive activity in South America. He remarked that “90% of the goods people use daily in South American countries are made in China.” However, he shared frustrations about the challenges Chinese businesses face due to U.S. sanctions and trade restrictions, which is the major challenge for Chinese international operations.

The other young man, originally from Beijing, had a different story. He attended high school in Connecticut in 2013, completed college in Vancouver, and worked there after graduation. However, he recently lost his job and was now returning to China to celebrate the Spring Festival with his family. He said, I don't mind right now going back home and not returning to Canada. Job markets are not good anyway. Their journeys reflect the diverse paths young Chinese people are taking in an increasingly interconnected yet politically complicated world.

Reflections

These encounters highlight the interplay of culture, economics, and global dynamics. From a Korean elder’s pride in his nation’s health and vitality, to debates over innovation and its reach, to the resilience of young Chinese professionals navigating global challenges, every conversation offered a lens into how individuals experience and interpret the shifting tides of our interconnected world. While crossing physical borders when we travel, it also offers opportunity to understand the complexities of culture, opportunity, and progress.