One fascinating account of this development, reported on by The New York Times,^[1] is the transformation of a paper mill in Old Town, Maine, U.S., by a billionaire Chinese recycling tycoon:

Nine Dragons is Asia’s largest producer of containerboard, which is used to make cardboard boxes and packing material. Its founder, Ms. Zhang, amassed her vast fortune by exporting recycling scrap from the United States, and then breaking it down to pulp that could be made into boxes. That business model was shaken in 2018 when the Chinese government sharply limited the import of American recycling scrap, in a policy known as the “National Sword.” Paper manufacturers began searching for new sources of virgin pulp, which can be exported under lower tariffs and mixed with lower-grade fibers from Chinese scrap to strengthen cardboard. And that decision had sent ripples all the way to Old Town, where Nine Dragons announced an initial investment of $45 million … Four hundred and fifty contractors began showing up daily at the mill, and a pizza shop opened on Main Street. When the company began interviewing candidates for 130 jobs, 1,200 people applied.