Industrial Commoning and the Chinese P2P Paradox: What China Owes to Open Models

#BauwensInChina: reflections of a Commons-Oriented Traveler to the Chinese grassroots communities, who are seeking to tackle the meaning crisis amongst Chinese youth.

I have been undertaking a 50 day trip to mainland China, at the invitation of the Uncommons digital nomad network, to discover the P2P and grassroots communities in China. What I am sharing here below are some of my first reflections.

The text comes in two parts,

• First, my own reflections, which I wrote on X, as I was travelling; they are more raw reactions than my usual structured writing

• The second part reflects the hypothesis of David Li, founder of the very first makerspace in China, who is convinced that ‘Industrial Commoning’, i.e. the free sharing of industrial designs while ignoring protective patents, is the secret sauce of its success, along its innovative mix of planning, markets, and cybernetics.

Please note that due to travel and time constraints, I exceptionally asked DeepSeek to streamline my conversation notes with David Li.

The text is interspersed with the posters done by the hosts of my trip, and illustrated my talks so far. They are not directly related to the content, but they show what my Chinese audiences were interested in hearing from me.

You will find the links to the original diary at the bottom of this article.

My #BauwensInChina diary series on X contains 50 entries so far, including video reportage published with the help of Nunet.io and Pablo Qingshun LI.

Part 1: The Chinese P2P Paradox

The Chinese P2P Paradox (1)

We are all products of our environment and upbringing, including the propagandistic media machines that form our mental environment. So despite my best efforts, I remain quite Eurocentric in my perspectives, and I actually do not see it as a problem. Every person in the world has their own ‘centricity’, and there is ample reason to be interested and proud in the European traditions. It’s good to strive for some world-centricity, but the global traditions are so vast, including our own, that one should not forget to be anchored in one’s own traditions. It’s impossible to study everything at the same depth.

This being said, I have to re-adjust some of my worldviews.

People like me are first of all convinced that the whole world is in overshoot, and therefore, the civilizational crisis is planetary.

But, I also assumed that China and other countries were in catchup mode, and would soon start to experience similar issues to the West, once they reach a certain level of production and consumption.

While there is still some relative truth to that vision, I underestimated the following:

• The West is not just static, but very rapidly declining

• The Rest, at least parts of it like Russia and China, are not just catching up, they are in a ascending phase. This means there is not the same type of institutional crisis, and that the mentalities overall are still growth-oriented and optimistic.

This seems important in assessing the ‘spiritual’ condition of the peoples and states involved.

The Chinese P2P Paradox (2)

So, how does this relate to P2P?

Well, the paradox is that I also assumed that the P2P dynamics that I have been studying for 20 years, would follow the same pattern. That as the ‘Rest’ would catch up, they would also experience the same issues as the West, such as the limits to growth, and the social and institutional crises that come with it.

But it seems that the P2P dynamics in the ‘Rest’, at least in China, are not following the same path. They seem to be more resilient, more adaptive, and more collective in nature. This is not to say that China is immune to overshoot - its industrial monocultures, especially along the coastal export economies, are still vulnerable. But the P2P dynamics seem to be more agile and scalable, and less individualistic than in the West.

The Chinese P2P Paradox (3)

So, what does this mean for the future of P2P societies?

It means that we need to move beyond our assumptions, and look at the P2P dynamics in the ‘Rest’ with fresh eyes. We need to understand how they are different, and how they are evolving, and what we can learn from them.

For example, the P2P dynamics in China seem to be more rooted in the collective, and less in the individual. This is a stark contrast to the West, where P2P is often seen as a way to empower the individual, and to create decentralized networks of autonomous agents.

This difference may be due to the different cultural and historical contexts, but it may also be due to the different stages of development. The West is in a post-industrial phase, while China is still in an industrializing phase. This may explain why the P2P dynamics in China are more focused on collective action, while the P2P dynamics in the West are more focused on individual liberation.

The Chinese P2P Paradox (4)

So, what are the implications of this paradox?

First, it means that the P2P model that we have been developing in the West may not be universally applicable. It may work well in a post-industrial context, but it may need to be adapted to the industrializing context of the ‘Rest’.

Second, it means that we need to pay more attention to the P2P dynamics in the ‘Rest’, and learn from them. We may find that they have solutions to the problems that we are facing in the West, such as the limits to growth, and the social and institutional crises.

Finally, it means that the future of P2P societies may not be a one-size-fits-all model, but a diverse range of models, tailored to the specific contexts and needs of different regions and cultures. This is a challenging but exciting prospect, and one that we should embrace with open minds and hearts.

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Part 2: David Li on Industrial Commoning as the Secret to China’s Success

Introduction: A New Paradigm Emerges

While my exploration of the Chinese P2P Paradox has illuminated the unique trajectory of China’s socio-economic evolution, the insights of David Li, a prominent expert in capital markets and corporate governance, offer a compelling framework to understand its underpinnings. Li argues that industrial commoning—a decentralized, collaborative approach to production and innovation—may be the hidden engine driving China’s success. This section delves into how this paradigm, rooted in grassroots innovation, has scaled to global significance.

For the basics of Shanzhai, see https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Shanzhai .

For the basics of Gonkai, see https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Gongkai

From Shanzhai to Gongkai: The Roots of Industrial Commoning

China’s economic miracle is often credited to top-down state policies, but a parallel story unfolds at the grassroots level. The shanzhai movement—where small firms produced affordable, often counterfeit goods—initially drew criticism for bypassing intellectual property norms. However, as open hardware pioneer Andrew “bunnie” Huang has documented, this evolved into gongkai, a system of open-source collaboration that blends shared knowledge with practical ingenuity.

Li emphasizes that shanzhai served as a proving ground for gongkai, where engineers and entrepreneurs freely exchange designs and insights. Unlike the West’s rigid intellectual property regimes, this network-driven approach has fostered a dynamic ecosystem, particularly in technology and manufacturing. Industrial commoning, as Li defines it, emerges from this culture, where collective ownership of ideas fuels rapid innovation and resilience—key factors in China’s industrial ascent.

Scaling Globally: The Gongkai Advantage

What started as a localized practice has rippled across the globe. Li highlights how gongkai has empowered Chinese firms to outpace Western competitors in fields like electronics, renewable energy, and telecommunications. By leveraging informal networks to pool resources and expertise, these companies have shortened innovation cycles, bypassing the bureaucratic hurdles that slow Western R&D.

This global scalability is reinforced by China’s vast human capital and infrastructure investments. According to the World Bank’s 2024 projections, despite a forecasted growth slowdown to 4.8%, China’s economy remains robust, driven by export-led manufacturing—a sector deeply influenced by gongkai practices. Internationally, this model is inspiring supply chain innovations, with firms worldwide adopting open-collaboration strategies to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

Implications for the Future

Li’s vision positions industrial commoning as a cornerstone of China’s ascendancy, challenging the West to reconsider its reliance on proprietary systems. This paradigm suggests that fostering environments where knowledge is a shared resource—rather than a hoarded asset—could unlock new pathways to economic vitality. For policymakers and businesses, the takeaway is clear: embracing collaborative models may be essential to thriving in the 21st century.

As China’s influence expands, gongkai and industrial commoning offer a blueprint for a more interconnected global economy. This shift invites the West to move beyond individualism toward a networked approach, potentially bridging cultural and economic divides.

References:

The original series #BauwensInChina Diary series on X:

The Chinese P2P Paradox (1)
https://x.com/mbauwens/status/1984472954697105450

The Chinese P2P Paradox (2)
https://x.com/mbauwens/status/1985211537540440484

The Chinese P2P Paradox (3)
https://x.com/mbauwens/status/1985219746980368648

The Chinese P2P Paradox (4)
https://x.com/mbauwens/status/1985224969438298341

My series on David Li:

David Li on Industrial Commoning as the secret to China’s success
https://x.com/mbauwens/status/1987677775751508074

David Li on Industrial Commoning (2): From Shanzhai to Gongkai
https://x.com/mbauwens/status/1987679552974491739

David Li on Industrial Commoning (3): how Gongkai scaled globally
https://x.com/mbauwens/status/1987680282871509333

Key Materials by David Li:

• The Essential Lecture: “From Open Source to ‘Gongkai’ Innovation”

  • Summary Article (O’Reilly): https://www.oreilly.com/content/how-shenzhen-became-chinas-silicon-valley/

• In-Depth Podcast Interview:

  • Waves of Innovation - David Li: From Shanzhai to the Maker Movement: https://thewavesofinnovation.com/david-li-from-shanzhai-to-the-maker-movement/