China’s forte seems to be recombining old technologies for new uses

Huawei has not invented many original products. But it has made some original tweaks. It split its mobile-phone base-stations into 2, lighter parts, which could be installed separately and more cheaply. But an in-house magazine dismisses the modification as “merely an improvement in engineering processes”.

Both schools of thought look in the wrong place for signs of technological creativity. The state may aspire to match America’s supercomputers. But such breakthroughs, which push the limits of scientific and engineering knowledge, are beyond Chinese firms. Their future lies instead in “trolling” through existing technologies and components, and combining them in new ways.