This video explain Chinese economic plan well but analyst in bad ways. To be fair I think china did systemic suppress wage (not to imports expensive things) while stimulate consumption to boost domestic industries.
That video is myopic and uses selective data and reasoning. It is perfectly normal for developing economies to have higher degrees of investment.
China's investments into infrastructure using existing technologies (housing, roads, high speed rail, and subways) are reaching a point where there are diminishing gains to be had like the video hints at. But even there we are not quite at the saturation point yet. It will likely take another decade to do so. But this can be done at a slower pace than in previous decades.
China's tech investment economic strategic is sound and this can be seen with the successes in green energy (solar, wind) and electric vehicles. These are key to reducing air pollution in major cities with improvements in citizen health, and will reduce China's dependency on energy imports.
China's investment into nuclear power is also bringing major fruits already with products like the Hualong One nuclear reactor and the pebble bed modular reactor series. The fast reactor program also is promising but it is still in its infant stage.
Maglev trains are another potential technology which could happen this decade. If successful they will replace airplanes in voyages between major Chinese cities. There will be no reason not to take the train anymore. Not even time. Even at 600 kph you won't need to spend time with baggage checks anymore. And you will get frequent voyages which won't use oil.
Claims that Chinese consumers aren't investing enough ignore that if you look at what they actually buy, be it number of cars, calories consumed, China already consumes way more than a lot of middle income nations. It is just that prices are lower due to insane market competition inside China. This is what pushes prices down, while in the US in the name of consolidation giant megacorporations have risen, which manipulate consumer prices. This is why measuring economic output in dollars is dangerous in itself.
China is still the world's largest transport aircraft market, yet it imports nearly all the aircraft it uses, that is a major area which needs a lot of work and improvement. So investment will continue to go there.
If China becomes energy independent in 20 years, what are some ways in which it might change its economy? Thoughts?
Right now it seems power consumption is accelerating, not slowing down.
China still has less power consumption per capita than other advanced industrial nations. I think it will stop once China has similar power consumption per capita to Germany or Japan. But to do that will require advanced new technologies like fast nuclear reactors, or a more modern power grid, I think.
Right now it is still too early to consider what to do if credible areas to invest in are not available anymore.
