Technovation with Peter High (CIO, CTO, CDO, CXO Interviews) The 90% Model: Dr. Ram Charan on China’s Manufacturing War
Mar 30, 2026
Dr. Ram Charan, veteran CEO adviser and author of China’s 90% Model, explains a deliberate strategy to achieve manufacturing dominance through scale and pricing power. He discusses why China targets 90% capacity, how Western asset-light moves hollowed out production, the national-security angle of supply chains, and why AI should be treated as a tool rather than a strategy.
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Childhood Shoe Shop Taught Business Fundamentals
- Ram Charan recounts growing up in his family's shoe shop where early retailing taught cash, inventory, and pricing fundamentals.
- He describes buying trips, sizing challenges, and learning to do numbers mentally without computers.
China's 90% Model For Global Manufacturing Dominance
- China pursues a 90% model: build ~90% of global capacity to become hyperscale and push marginal costs extremely low.
- Ram Charan details currency depreciation, subsidies, and scale used to take market share while accepting losses to hollow industries.
Control Of Inputs Lets China Halt Industries Fast
- China has strategically captured resources and supply chokepoints to be able to halt industries quickly.
- Charan warns this control lets China 'stop any industry...within a month' by leveraging ownership and coercion over inputs.
