This shift would be reinforced by the changing balance in the world economy. China has become what Britain had been during the Industrial Revolution—the manufacturing “workshop of the world.” A few examples: China today is the world’s largest producer of steel (almost 50 percent), aluminum, and computers—as well as the rare earths necessary for electric vehicles and wind turbines. In one three-year period, 2011–13, China consumed more cement than the United States did in the entire twentieth century. It has financial heft. SAFE—the State Administration for Foreign Exchange—holds foreign
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