In a 20-square-meter rented room, Hua Qianru wrote her first line of low-level code, determined to build industrial software made in China.
Foreign giants closed in with patents, capital short-sold and attacked, competitors followed suit and drove the market into a race to the bottom, and former partners went their separate ways.
Some urged her to compromise if she wanted to survive. Others waited to watch her fail and leave in disgrace.
When outsiders set the rules of the industry and its core tools are controlled by others, a group of engineers uses code to build its defenses and break through one obstacle after another.
There are no overnight victories on this road, only a long struggle, hard choices, and steadfast resolve.
