David Autor and Gordon Hanson, two economic professors known for their research into how globalisation and especially the rise of China is reshaping the American labour market, contributed an article to the Opinion pages of The New York Times.

The article was titled "Did we learn nothing from the 'China Shock'?" They wrote: "The first time China upended the U.S. economy between 1999 and 2007, it helped erase nearly a quarter of all technological jobs. Known as the 'China Shock', it was driven by a singular process — China's late 1970s transition from Maoist central panning to a market economy, which rapidly moved the country's labor and capital from collective rural farms to urban factories. Waves of inexpensive goods from China imploded the economic foundations of places where manufacturing was the main game in town... Twenty years later, these workers haven't recovered from those job losses. Although places like these are growing again, most job gains are in low-wage industries such as textiles, sporting goods electronics and auto parts."

China's transition to manufacturing was complete once Chairman Deng Xiaoping succeeded Mao as the supreme leader. He opened the country to the outside world and invited foreign participation in China's development. While what Autor and Hanson described in their 2013-16 research story has lost its relevance, they have begun to focus on what they call China Shock 2. This has seen the transition from China as an underdog and is successfully developing innovative sectors such as aviation, AI, telecommunications, microprocessors, robotics, quantum computing, biotech, pharma and solar batteries.

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