Why is China so Fast in Innovation?

Everybody tells you that China is fast, and you understand what this means as soon as you arrive in Shanghai. At Pudong Airport, you can take the Transrapid towards the city at 300 kilometres per hour. The technology was developed and tested over decades in Germany but never found commercial use in Europe.

This example represents the broader difference. Europe frequently develops technologies, evaluates them, and discusses whether the market is ready. China puts them into operation and starts learning. At the China Diecasting, I therefore asked people from different parts of the industry a simple question: Why is development in China so fast?

They Invest Before the Market is Defined

One major difference is the sequence in which investments are made. In Europe or North America, a foundry normally starts with the business case. It secures the order, calculates the expected volume and then invests in the required equipment.

The Chinese approach works in the opposite direction. A company buys the machine, installs it, and starts testing. It then looks for applications that can fill the available capacity. Once the machine is standing in the factory, finding an application is no longer a future opportunity. It becomes an immediate necessity. The company approaches customers, develops components, and builds experience. Instead of waiting for the market to appear, it actively tries to create that market. While one company is still preparing the investment proposal for the board meeting, a Chinese one is already producing trial castings.

They Learn through actual Trials Castings

You can discuss a new manufacturing process for years. You can create simulations, risk assessments, and market studies. All of them have value. None of them replaces the experience gained when metal enters the die for the first time.

Chinese companies are willing to begin before every question has been answered. They install the equipment, build a test tool, and produce parts. The first results will not be perfect. Then they change something and try again. Rene Hordijk described it directly: They form partnerships, try, fail, and continue improving until the technology reaches an industry-approved stage. Every iteration produces real information. Instead of debating what might happen, engineers can evaluate what actually happened.

In many European projects, the process is expected to work from day one because the investment, launch date, and customer requirements are already fixed. But there is a difference between eliminating risks in plans and postponing learning in reality.

R&D and Business Development work together

Fast development requires more than purchasing equipment. Companies must also invest engineering resources. When a company has a machine, a test tool, and physical samples, it can invite potential customers into the factory. Instead of explaining a theoretical process, it can demonstrate what has already been achieved.

The foundry can say: We will cast your part, show you the process, and discuss what must change for your application. Customer feedback then flows directly back into development. The foundry learns which properties matter, where the cost limit lies and what the customer needs before placing an order.

R&D generates the technology. Business development generates the applications. The applications create new requirements for R&D. This feedback loop creates speed.

Customers are willing to Participate

Innovation speed is not determined only by foundries and machine manufacturers. Customers must also be willing to try something new.

Chinese OEMs are more open to evaluating new technologies, suppliers, and production concepts. They do not always require years of series-production experience before entering the discussion.

This gives younger companies and new processes an opportunity to prove themselves. It also increases competition. Machine builders develop equipment. Alloy suppliers create new materials. Toolmakers adapt their solutions. Foundries install capacity, and OEMs look for components that can use it. Speed becomes the result of an entire ecosystem rather than one individual company.

They Question the Complete Process

Many European developments focus on optimising what already exists. Cycle time is reduced. Energy consumption is lowered. Tool life is extended. The casting quality is improved. All of this is necessary. However, Chinese companies are also willing to question the complete manufacturing concept. Can the component be integrated differently? Can it be produced with another process? Can the supply chain be brought closer to the OEM?

Some ideas will disappear again. Others may create an entirely new cost structure. Chinese companies are not only trying to manufacture the same component more efficiently. They are reconsidering how the product, process, and supply chain should work together.

Clear Ambition Creates Speed

Chinese companies define a strategy, focus on it and put considerable effort behind it. They work hard, think more and act more. That sounds less technical than investment structures or government programmes, but it is an important part of the answer.

China’s automotive and manufacturing industries have a clear ambition to gain market share. Suppliers want to participate in that growth, and everyone knows that moving too slowly may leave the opportunity to a competitor. This creates pressure to make decisions and act.

What Can Europe Learn?

Europe cannot simply copy the Chinese system. Financing structures, government support, raw-material availability, and approval processes are different. European quality standards also serve an important purpose.

However, Europe can reconsider how it sequences development. Do we always need the complete business case before beginning to learn? Could foundries use more shared development cells? Can suppliers form partnerships around applications before a final drawing exists? Could R&D and business development work more closely together?

Most importantly, Europe must pay attention to what is happening in China. There is no need to follow every Chinese trend. However, ignoring the market that currently sets much of the pace in die-casting innovation is dangerous. You cannot react to a development that you do not see.

Speed is the Result of the System

China is not fast because of one secret. Companies invest before certainty exists. They start testing earlier, accept that the first results are not perfect, and improve through real production experience. Additionally, R&D is connected to business development. OEMs are willing to evaluate new technologies and suppliers. Partnerships form around opportunities, while resources, political support and commercial ambition move the market in the same direction.

Europe is often better at analysing risk. China is currently better at converting risk into experience. In a market changing as quickly as die-casting, the company that learns first normally develops fastest and gets the series production.