Dan Wang is a Canadian analyst and researcher who specializes in examining technological development and economic policy within contemporary China. Born in Yunnan province, China, Wang relocated to Canada with his family at age seven, where he spent formative years in Ottawa and Toronto. Wang subsequently pursued higher education in the United States, completing undergraduate studies at the University of Rochester in 2014 with dual concentrations in economics and philosophy.

Following graduation, Wang worked briefly in Silicon Valley before accepting a position as an analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, an investment research firm serving institutional clients including hedge funds and asset managers. From 2017 to 2023, Wang resided in China while working for the firm, maintaining bases in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai during this six-year period. His responsibilities centered on analyzing technological capabilities, semiconductor developments, and industrial policy for financial audiences. This position required evaluating complex questions about whether China’s political system could sustain technology companies, how manufacturing might function amid trade restrictions, and how economic challenges might influence foreign policy decisions.

During his residence in China, Wang established himself through a series of widely circulated annual commentaries that analyzed economic developments, technological progress, and cultural observations from his perspective as a foreign resident. These essays combined personal narrative with policy analysis and became required reading within Silicon Valley and technology policy circles. The commentaries addressed topics ranging from China’s infrastructure expansion to the impact of regulatory actions on digital platforms. Wang discontinued this series after his 2022 installment, coinciding with his departure from China in early 2023.

Following his return to the United States, Wang accepted a fellowship position at the Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, where he worked as a visiting scholar throughout 2023. He subsequently joined Stanford University’s Hoover Institution as a research fellow at the Hoover History Lab, his current institutional affiliation. Throughout his career, Wang has contributed essays to multiple publications, including Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, Financial Times, Bloomberg Opinion, New York Magazine, and The Atlantic. He has appeared as a guest on prominent podcasts including The Ezra Klein Show, Bloomberg’s Odd Lots, and Stratechery.

Wang’s debut book, Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future, was published in August 2025 by W. W. Norton in the United States and Penguin in the United Kingdom. Wang conceptualizes the book as an expanded version of his annual commentary series—specifically, seven extended essays examining six aspects of China and one focused on the United States. The central argument positions China as an engineering state characterized by technocratic leadership and prioritization of construction and manufacturing, contrasted with America as a lawyerly society where legal professionals dominate governance and emphasize procedural requirements over outcomes.

The book synthesizes Wang’s firsthand observations during a transformative period in China’s development, including the country’s three-year implementation of strict pandemic controls from 2020 to 2022. Wang experienced the Shanghai lockdown firsthand during spring 2022, providing him with direct insight into government enforcement mechanisms. His analysis draws on his background in both economics and philosophy, enabling him to examine policy decisions through multiple analytical frameworks. The book addresses infrastructure development in previously isolated regions like Guizhou province, the evolution of Shenzhen’s electronics manufacturing ecosystem, the implementation and consequences of the one-child policy, the zero-COVID approach and its abrupt reversal, and patterns of emigration among Chinese citizens across various economic classes.