Jensen Huang lists three countries that may lead manufacturing and advanced technology, and neither US or India are in that list

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has identified Germany, Japan and China as three countries with strong positions in manufacturing and advanced technology, arguing that the integration of computing and digital technology into industrial development will shape the next phase of global manufacturing. Huang made the remarks during a discussion with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, explaining how China’s economic transformation coincided with the rise of the computer industry and why US restrictions have encouraged Beijing to strengthen its domestic semiconductor capabilities.

Huang said the United States had spent much of the past five decades shifting heavy manufacturing, construction and skilled production overseas, particularly to China. He argued that the resulting global industrial landscape has three major manufacturing powers: Germany, Japan and China.

“For the last 50 years, because of the current Industrial Revolution, which is computing and digital technology, the United States has largely exported its heavy manufacturing, its building, and its craft to China. So now the world has three (leaders) again. It’s Germany, Japan and China,” Huang said.


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Why Germany, Japan and China could lead new-age manufacturing

Huang’s assessment centres on the ability to combine established industrial capabilities with computing and digital technology. Germany and Japan have long-standing manufacturing bases, while China’s rapid industrial expansion took place alongside the growth of the computer industry.

According to Huang, this timing gave China an advantage by allowing digital infrastructure and computing capabilities to develop alongside its manufacturing sector. He said China had become one of the few countries with substantial strengths in both industrial production and computer science.

“The advantage that China has is that they came into their industrial revolution, if you will, their economic transformation happened during precisely the time of the computer industry. They are quite computerized. China is probably the only nation today that is deep in manufacturing and deep in computer science. And very comfortable in both,” he said.

Huang’s comments suggest that the next phase of manufacturing competition will depend not only on production capacity but also on how effectively countries integrate computing, semiconductors and other advanced technologies into industrial operations.

How US restrictions have accelerated China’s chip ambitions

Speaking to CNBC on the sidelines of Nvidia’s GTC Berlin conference, Huang said US export controls and trade restrictions had encouraged China to accelerate efforts to develop its own semiconductor manufacturing capabilities.

Current US restrictions limit exports of certain advanced processors to China, including Nvidia’s high-end artificial intelligence (AI) graphics processing units (GPUs). Reports have also claimed that some Chinese entities have accessed advanced computing capacity through third-party data centres in Southeast Asia.

Huang said the restrictions had strengthened Beijing’s push towards domestic production and increased industrial support for its semiconductor sector.

“We’ve definitely accelerated China’s initiatives, its nationalization of semiconductor manufacturing capabilities, and all of the industrial support that has been put into that sector, and so there’s no question we’ve accelerated that,” he said.

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Huang says US tech companies can withstand competition

Despite China’s efforts to build up its domestic semiconductor industry, Huang said American technology companies remained prepared to compete with rivals globally.

His comments come amid intensifying competition over advanced chips, AI computing and the technologies expected to underpin future industrial production. While Huang identified Germany, Japan and China as major manufacturing powers, he maintained that US technology companies were equipped to face competitive pressure “from anybody”.