Creativity in the Age of AI: What the World Can Learn from China

We believe that creativity can be enhanced by everyone — any individual, any organization, any country. Creativity is not a mysterious gift bestowed upon a lucky few; it is a capability that can be systematically developed through proven approaches, then amplified by artificial intelligence.

In our recent book, Creativity in the Age of AI: Toolkits for the Modern Mind, we present 12 sets of approaches designed to spark creativity, each enhanced by AI capabilities. One of the most important strategies for enhancing creativity is learning from others — from individuals, organizations, and countries that have achieved remarkable breakthroughs by challenging the status quo and persisting through obstacles.

This brings us to an essential question: What can the world learn from China?

We recognize that China’s policies and practices are subjects of vigorous debate in international discourse. Reasonable people may hold different views on many aspects of China’s approach to governance, trade, and global engagement. Yet regardless of one’s position on these debates, certain achievements are simply undeniable — and the lessons they offer for creativity and innovation are too valuable to ignore.

To identify China’s most instructive innovations, we consulted multiple AI platforms — including American (GPT 5.2), European (Mistral), and Chinese (DeepSeek) systems. Remarkably, they converged on similar themes: digital payments and super-apps, infrastructure innovation (including the world’s largest high-speed rail network, modern megacities, massive ports and bridges, and advanced logistics hubs built at unprecedented speed and scale), and breakthrough approaches to complex challenges. Combined with our own analysis, four achievements stand out as particularly instructive for global business leaders.

Mobile Payments and Super-Apps: Leapfrogging Legacy Systems

Every AI platform we consulted identified China’s mobile payment revolution as a breakthrough innovation. And for good reason: China leapfrogged credit cards entirely, building a QR-code-based payment ecosystem that transformed daily life from street vendors to hospitals to government services.

Platforms like Alipay and WeChat Pay created what GPT 5.2 aptly calls “super-apps” — integrated ecosystems combining payments, messaging, commerce, identity verification, and logistics into a single habit loop. China’s digital economy now exceeds 50 trillion yuan ($6.94 trillion) and accounts for more than 40% of GDP.

The creativity lesson is profound: the most powerful innovations redesign daily routines, not just markets. This illustrates what we call challenging mental models — China succeeded by matching technology to how people actually lived. QR codes worked because they fit existing behaviors. Crucially, small vendors and rural migrants were first-class users — demonstrating that inclusion drives adoption. As GPT 5.2 observed, “Innovation is behavioral, not just technical.”

Lifting 800 Million Out of Poverty: Bold Vision and Persistence

Between 1981 and 2020, China reduced the number of people living in extreme poverty by close to 800 million — accounting for nearly three-quarters of global poverty reduction during that period. According to the World Bank, the proportion living on less than $1.90 per day fell from 85% to essentially zero. No country in human history has achieved poverty reduction at this scale and speed.

What can we learn from this achievement? First, the importance of challenging mental models. China’s approach was built on the recognition that economic growth alone was insufficient — targeted support was needed for areas and individuals disadvantaged by geography and lack of opportunity. This required questioning assumptions that had guided development policy for decades.

Second, the value of experimentation and iteration. China’s size necessitated decentralized implementation with significant scope for local experimentation — embodying the principle of “experiment locally, scale nationally.” Different regions tried different approaches, and successful experiments were scaled while failures were abandoned. This adaptive approach — testing hypotheses, gathering data, and continuously refining — is precisely what we recommend in our book as a key creativity approach.

Third, the demonstration of courage and persistence. Poverty reduction required sustained commitment over decades, despite setbacks and obstacles. It demanded the courage to make this goal a priority across all levels of government and society — combined with an obsession with execution that tolerated imperfection in pursuit of speed — and the persistence to see it through year after year.

Electric Vehicles: Creative Destruction Without Incumbents

In little more than a decade, Chinese companies like BYD have gone from being unknown manufacturers to world leaders in EV technology and production. China now produces more electric vehicles than any other country, and Chinese EVs are increasingly competitive in global markets — from premium sedans to ultra-affordable compact cars that bring electric mobility to first-time car buyers. Consider Wuling, whose $3,300 Mini EV became China’s top-selling electric vehicle by focusing not on range or luxury but on what millions of small-business owners and rural commuters actually needed: a cheap, reliable, easy-to-repair vehicle that represented a massive upgrade from electric scooters.

How did this happen? The answer lies in what we call creating new paradigms — which requires long-term thinking rather than short-term calculations. Unlike established automakers in Detroit, Germany, Japan, and Korea, Chinese manufacturers had no incumbent business to protect. They were not constrained by the need to avoid cannibalizing profitable internal combustion engine sales. This freedom allowed them to pursue electric vehicle technology as a greenfield investment, unencumbered by legacy thinking.

The Chinese EV industry also benefited from intense competition among hundreds of companies, all racing to succeed in this new market. This furious competition drove rapid innovation — what observers have called “innovation at Chinese speed.” Companies that couldn’t compete were eliminated; those that survived developed extraordinarily streamlined and efficient production methods.

The lesson for established organizations is sobering but important: sometimes the greatest barrier to creativity is the fear of disrupting your own successful business. Kodak invented the digital camera but couldn’t bring itself to cannibalize its film business. The Chinese EV industry succeeded precisely because it had no such constraints.

DeepSeek: Constraint as the Mother of Innovation

Perhaps no recent development better illustrates Chinese creativity than the rise of DeepSeek. In January 2025, this Hangzhou-based startup stunned the global technology community by releasing an AI model that rivals the performance of America’s most advanced systems — at a fraction of the cost.

DeepSeek claimed to have trained its V3 foundation model for approximately $6 million — compared to more than $100 million for OpenAI’s GPT-4. The company achieved this efficiency despite facing significant constraints: U.S. export controls had limited Chinese companies’ access to the most advanced AI chips. Rather than being defeated by these limitations, DeepSeek innovated around them, developing algorithmic efficiencies that squeezed extraordinary performance from available hardware.

This is a profound lesson in creativity: constraints can be catalysts. When the obvious path is blocked, creative minds find alternative routes. DeepSeek’s success demonstrates that limitations can spur innovation that might never have occurred otherwise. The impact has been immediate: Chinese companies across industries are now integrating DeepSeek’s open-source models into everything from vehicle systems to medical diagnostics.

Across these achievements, a common pattern emerges. As GPT 5.2 observed, China’s most important innovations share four traits: they are systemic rather than standalone; they scale first, then perfect; they prioritize adoption over elegance; and they treat infrastructure as a creative act — exemplified by China’s massive investments in high-speed rail, smart cities, and digital networks that enable all other innovations.

Western innovation often celebrates the inventor. Chinese innovation often empowers the organizer — combining state support with market competition in ways that accelerate execution. Both approaches have merit — and both offer lessons worth learning. As GPT 5.2 provocatively asks: “Where in your work could you innovate by redesigning the system rather than perfecting the product?”

Lessons for Enhancing Your Own Creativity

Challenge your mental models. Question the assumptions that everyone takes for granted. Your breakthrough may depend on identifying and challenging the constraints that exist only in your thinking.

Embrace experimentation. Try different approaches, learn from failures, and scale successes. Create space in your organization for systematic experimentation — and remember that speed often matters more than perfection.

See constraints as opportunities. When resources are limited, creativity flourishes. Don’t let limitations discourage you — let them inspire alternative approaches.

Think in systems. The most powerful innovations redesign ecosystems. Innovation often happens in the “boring” layers — logistics, payments, infrastructure.

Persist through obstacles. All of China’s achievements required sustained commitment over years or decades. Transformative creativity rarely comes quickly. Be prepared for a long journey — and maintain an obsession with execution along the way.

Creating Your Own Creative Toolkit

In our book, we present 12 approaches to enhancing creativity, from challenging mental models to morphological analysis to interdisciplinary collaboration. But we encourage readers not merely to learn these approaches — we encourage you to experiment with them, to discover which ones work best for your particular challenges, and to create your own personalized portfolio of creativity tools.

This portfolio should be dynamic, continuously evolving as you encounter new challenges and learn new approaches. Learning from others — including from China’s remarkable achievements — is itself a creativity approach that can enrich your toolkit.

AI, properly used, can turbocharge every approach in your toolkit. It can help you identify unconscious assumptions, generate novel combinations, surface unexpected analogies, and accelerate experimentation. The key is to use AI as a collaborator that augments your creativity rather than a substitute for your thinking.

China’s achievements in mobile payments, poverty reduction, electric vehicles, and AI demonstrate what becomes possible when bold vision meets systematic execution and sustained persistence. The world has much to learn from these examples — and much to gain by applying these lessons to our own creative challenges.

What will you create?