The Chinese Century

Overview

The Chinese Century is a neologism about China's growing geopolitical and economic powers in the 21st century, akin to how the 19th century is called the British Century and the 20th the American Century. The phrase appeared online as early as the mid-2010s and was popularized in memes in early 2025 due to events like American users migrating to the Chinese app Rednote during the TikTok ban, the release of the Chinese AI company DeepSeek, China's "artificial sun" experiments, IShowSpeed's China Tour and memes like Get Ready to Learn Chinese Buddy. Discussions about the "Chinese Century" were further fueled by concerns about escalating trade tensions between with United States and China.

History

The Chinese Century is a term used to suggest that the 21st century will be dominated by China, much like the 20th century was called the American Century due to the U.S. global influence. The phrase emerged in the late 20th century as China's rapid economic growth, technological advancements and geopolitical influence expanded.^[1]

On December 4th, 2014, Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz wrote an article titled "The Chinese Century" for Vanity Fair,^[2] marking an early notable use of the term.

However, some analysts debate whether China's trajectory will lead to sustained global leadership or if challenges like demographic shifts, political constraints and economic slowdowns will hinder its ascent.^[3]

In early 2025, President Donald Trump's implementation of tariffs on Chinese goods intensified debates about the "Chinese Century," raising concerns about a potential trade war. In response to escalating U.S. tariffs during President Trump's administration, China, Japan and South Korea sought to strengthen their economic cooperation to mitigate the impact on their economies.^[4]

Online History

Soon after the results of the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election were announced, X^[5] user @TheSportProhet shared a China-themed fancam that gathered over 4,000 likes since November 6th, 2024.

On January 28th, 2025, the Instagram^[6] page @autistic.potato.v1 posted a Yes Sir, Glory to the People's Republic of China meme featuring Chad Xi Jinping, gathering over 2,700 likes in two months.

On February 14th, YouTuber^[7] Gattsu posted a video titled, "The Chinese Century," providing his humorous take on why he thinks American hegemony is faltering and why China is poised to dominate global politics in the coming years. The video gathered over 1.5 million views in over a month.

On March 2nd, X^[8] user @terminallyOL shared a Heaven But It's Chinese to joke, "no no, this century is fine, i just didn't think it'd be chinese." The tweet came in response to news that Elon Musk was pushing for the U.S. to rescind from NATO,^[10] gathering over 36,000 likes in a month.

On March 31st, 2025, X^[9] user @stylianos_k quoted a post by @mattyglesias that read, "For the first time in my life, I really just think America may be cooked and it’s gonna be the Chinese century 😬," to share a Two Guys on a Bus meme that gathered over 10,000 likes in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References