In the manufacturing sector, one notable development was that China increased the value of its exports of automotive products in Q1 2022 by 30% year on year, using its strong position in the production of lithium-ion batteries to become the world’s second-biggest exporter of electric motor vehicles after the European Union.

China’s material footprint and carbon emissions grew roughly five times between 1980 and 2014 – yet per capita emissions are still less than those of the US.37 In other words, at an incredible cost in resources and environmental damage. To be clear, this is exactly what high-income nations did when they developed, and China has made this expansion