The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
China Decode: Why China is Sorting Kids into “Genius Camps”
10 Feb 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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I believe China may be more meritocratic today than America is. Given this system, given the way in which education and scholastic intelligence are lionized, I would say that China today is probably more meritocratic than the U.S. Welcome to China Decode, I'm Alice Han.
And I'm James King.
In today's episode of China Decode, we're discussing digging inside China's genius pipeline, Trump accusing China of secret nuclear testing, plus the revival of China's underground club scene and Bad Bunny topping the charts in China. That's all coming up, but first, let's do a quick check-in with how the Chinese markets are starting the week.
On Monday, the Shanghai A-share index and the Hang Seng H-share index closed up 1.4% and 1.8% respectively, as investors shipped back to risk-on mode after last week's sell-off. Potmart, the company behind the Labubu, rallied about 6% on news of strong growth expectations and expansion overseas. And tech giants Alibaba and Tencent both closed up over 2%. How are you feeling, James?
I know it sucks to be sick.
kind of getting there sorry about this my voice is not great but you still got the voice for radio all right let's get right into it there's been a viral narrative floating around about china running some shadowy all-powerful genius factory but the reality is both less conspiratorial and way more interesting china isn't mass producing prodigies it's running a small brutally selective pipeline that spots extreme talent early and pushes it fast
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Chapter 2: What are China's genius camps and how do they work?
whose parents were so poor, who would read by the moonlight that was reflected off the snow, again, because his family couldn't afford candles. So there is this incredible ancient culture of studying despite adversity and getting ahead, using the education ladder to correct for society's injustices and somehow to rise to the top, even despite your fate as belonging to an impoverished family.
So there's a real big amount of mythology around all of this stuff that makes this such a poignant story for me.
I would even hazard a statement, which is that I believe China may be more meritocratic today than America is, given this system, given the way in which education and scholastic intelligence are lionized. I would say that China today is probably more meritocratic than the U.S.
And one last point about the gold call, which you rightly mentioned, James, is that it's a system that's predicated on your score during the exam. It's unlike any other, I think, exam in the world. Certainly unlike the Australian exam system I went through or even the American system I went through as well.
where in those models, you have a hybridized scoring of your exam scores, your essays, your extracurricular activities. In the Chinese scenario, it really comes down to what score you get on the day of the exams.
And it's also true, I think, Alice, that every Chinese person knows their Gaokao score and remembers it forevermore. I mean, even 20 years after the event, if you ask them what was your Gaokao score, they can tell you immediately.
Yeah, it's emblazoned on their memory, either as a badge or as a scar. Yeah. All right. We'll be back with more after a quick break. Stay with us.
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Chapter 3: How do genius camps contribute to China's tech and AI breakthroughs?
And certainly there isn't a bilateral agreement like we've had in recent years between Russia and the US that also curtails China from doing these nuclear tests. The timing couldn't be more interesting because obviously on February 6th, we had the expiration of the last major nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia.
And a lot of, if you go back to the Cold War, the relationship between Moscow and Washington was built around strategic arms controls. So the question that is then begged is, you know, we've got two months until the April potential meeting between Trump and Xi. Will both sides make a big deal about this?
Certainly, it seems like the Americans are very concerned, but could there be some kind of a framework? I'm a little bit skeptical. But this, I think, is going to be one of the, I would say, difficult issues between Beijing and Washington to discuss this year. Add that to the list of other things that China is unhappy about. The Panama deal, for instance.
Also, Japan, which we haven't mentioned, where Takeuchi has had a landslide victory that could have massive implications for U.S.-China relations as well. So I see a lot of rocky obstacles to this April meeting. I don't think it's going to be smooth sailing between now and when Trump and Xi are supposed to meet in China and Beijing.
And one last thing that I'll end on is it's interesting to note that China is still very, very much behind on its nuclear weapons arsenal. Russia has the most, which a lot of people actually don't know. It's got 5,500 nuclear weapons, followed by the U.S. at 5,300. And China only has 600. Now, the Pentagon says they predict that that arsenal will grow beyond 1,000 operational warheads by 2030.
But from China's point of view, they want to continue to build its nuclear stockpile because they're quite a bit behind. And if we think about the timeline to a Taiwan showdown, having a nuclear war chest is going to be critical.
Completely agree, Alice. I think, you know, the idea that China is going to sign up now to a regime which is led by the U.S. and which would restrict China from building new warheads and testing the warheads it needs to test in order to make sure that its nuclear arsenal is operational is for the birds. I really don't think China is in any mood to do that.
China is, as we often discuss on here, on course to become the leading superpower. That is its aim. It wants to present an extraordinary level of military prowess so that it can achieve its strategic aims such as eventually take back Taiwan or take back the first island chain. This is what Xi Jinping's program is all about. It's a security-first vision for China's place in the world.
And therefore, I don't think that the U.S. really has much hope of inveigling China into some kind of a negotiating situation ahead of the April meeting between Trump and Xi. I just don't see that happening. I would say that China would be highly resistant to this type of nuclear arms control in the foreseeable future.
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