Innovation in China: culture, strategy and AI. What we saw in the field and lessons for Brazil

Those who view China merely as the "world's factory" are still looking at a country that no longer exists. Over recent decades, the Asian giant has become a continental-scale laboratory, capable of designing proprietary chips, training foundational artificial intelligence models, creating vertical digital ecosystems, and deploying applications for hundreds of millions of people within weeks. It is more than technology: it is culture, strategy, and execution.

I was able to observe all of this up close, through an immersive on-site experience at companies such as Huawei, Alibaba Cloud, Meituan, Kwai, SenseTime, and Nio, and at innovation centers in Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai. I also participated in the 8th World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), which brought together global leaders around the theme "Global Solidarity in the AI Era." The field experience allowed me to observe how technology, culture, and strategy intertwine to create impact on a national scale.

The Chinese engine starts long before the first prototype. Culture and education are at the core. In a country that was never colonized and carries over 5,000 years of history, trust relationships are built slowly, but execution, once decided, is swift. Work follows an intense rhythm (the famous 9/9/6 model), and education is treated as a strategic vector for innovation, with pressure and investment to develop talent on a massive scale.

This cultural foundation meets a coordinated governmental and business ecosystem. Huawei, for example, allocates 20% of its revenue to R&D and develops its own AI models; Alibaba Cloud has verticalized its entire technology stack and created the Qwen model family; Meituan handles 150 million daily orders by combining multiple services into a super app; and Kwai already connects over 60 million users in Brazil to social commerce, a phenomenon that accounts for over 25% of e-commerce in China. Models like X27 (shopping converted into mega live commerce studios) and vehicles like those from Nio, with robotically removable batteries in 3 minutes (BaaS system, battery as a service) and integrated virtual assistants, illustrate how innovation permeates entire sectors.

What is impressive is not only what China creates, but the speed and scale at which it applies it. AI models trained for specific sectors are rapidly deployed, and autonomous agents are already present in retail, healthcare, mobility, and public management. All of this is supported by a data infrastructure and digital penetration that exceeds 99% of the population.

Brazil, on the other hand, advances in a more fragmented manner. We have technical talent, creativity, and a significant domestic market, but we face structural barriers: slower regulatory frameworks, still timid R&D investments, and little integration between government, companies, and universities. Our digitization is progressing, but without the same technological verticalization and without a robust national strategy that articulates sectors and defines long-term priorities.

Of course, the Chinese model is not simply replicable. It is deeply rooted in its history, political system, and culture. But there are clear lessons: invest heavily and continuously in research; view technology as a sovereignty asset; create mechanisms for companies to innovate not only in products but in infrastructure and standards; and, above all, coordinate efforts in an articulated manner, understanding that digital competitiveness is built with a vision of decades, not electoral terms.

The world is moving towards an era where artificial intelligence, data integration, and applied innovation will define not only markets but also each nation's place on the geopolitical map. China has already understood this and is executing. Brazil has the foundation to learn quickly and apply ambitiously. How do we implement, with coordination and speed, what is already proven to gain global competitiveness?

*Gustavo Pinto is a senior researcher at Zup Labs, a front dedicated to research and development (R&D) in Generative Artificial Intelligence, where he conducts applied research for Zup, a technology company that is part of the Itaú Unibanco group, and its clients. Holding a PhD in Computer Science from UFPE, Gustavo is the author of over 100 scientific papers in the field of software engineering.