The Great Heist: China’s Epic Campaign to Steal America’s Secrets

by David R. Shedd, Andrew Badger

A definitive, headline-making exposé of how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has carried out the largest-scale theft of intellectual property, technology, and data in history—reshaping the global balance of power and redrawing the geopolitical map for decades to come

The Great Heist exposes China's unprecedented state-orchestrated espionage campaign to strip the United States and its allies of their economic, technological, and military edge. Through a coordinated “whole-of-society” strategy, the Chinese Communist Party has dramatically expanded its covert operations to acquire America’s most valuable innovations—stealing defense secrets and proprietary technology from companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Google, T-Mobile, and Tesla. By exploiting both human and cyber vulnerabilities, China has quietly looted the crown jewels of Western technology, saving itself trillions in R&D costs since the 1990s—with an ongoing brazenness fueled by decades of Western inaction.

Drawing on exclusive investigations and interviews with intelligence officers, corporate security teams, senior policymakers, and espionage victims, David R. Shedd and Andrew Badger reveal how industrial theft has fueled China’s meteoric rise from Third World backwater to global superpower—and present a bold strategic playbook to turn the tide in the greatest economic contest of our time.

Genres: China, Business, Nonfiction, History, Politics, American, Technology

Audible Audio

First published December 2, 2025

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chilling. I didn't realize the extent to which China has built their economy through theft and at the expense of western nations, primarily the United States. Besides the staggering scope of their espionage, what was most shocking is that any Chinese national can be obligated, by law, to spy or steal on behalf of the government - regardless of their location in the world.

I hope the US government, corporations, and universities adopt their recommendations.

[CatReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Shedd is a retired US intelligence officer whose most prominent posting was as Deputy Director, then Director, of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), under President Obama, and Andrew Badger is a former DIA case officer. Shedd and Badger's 2025 book The Great Heist is a very timely look at the bubbling-below-the-surface information war between the United States and China that has been percolating for the last several decades. This is a dense, intentionally alarming book that summarizes how the Chinese Communist Party works both in China and globally to capture intelligence to use for its own gain and goals.

As always with books about China, I'd recommend reading widely and from as many vantage points as possible. I've linked a short list of previous books I've read and would recommend below.

Further reading:
The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity by Amy Webb
Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future by Dan Wang
Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company by Patrick McGee
House of Huawei: The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company by Eva Dou
The Struggle for Taiwan: A History of America, China, and the Island Caught Between by Sulmaan Wasif Khan
China's World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict by David Daokui Li

My statistics:
Book 39 for 2026
Book 2345 cumulatively

[Johnwick brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read The Great Heist: China’s Epic Campaign to Steal America’s Secrets through the Millions and Edioak Reader Program, and it is a detailed, compelling account of cyber espionage and international intrigue.

The book is meticulously researched, blending investigative journalism with real-world examples that illustrate the scale and sophistication of modern economic and cyber espionage. The narrative makes complex geopolitical and technical subjects accessible without oversimplifying.

The pacing is engaging, moving smoothly between historical context, case studies, and analysis. The writing keeps the tension high, making the story feel almost like a thriller while remaining factual and informative.

This book is perfect for readers interested in global security, cybercrime, and international politics, offering both insight and suspense in a topic that is often overlooked yet critically important. The Millions and Edioak Reader Program helped me discover a story that is as educational as it is gripping.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading The Great Heist felt like sitting in a cluttered room with someone telling you the wildest spy tale you’ve ever heard. Some parts made me lean in, picturing the back-and-forth between China and the US intelligence world, and at times I got lost in all the jargon. I liked the pacing more than I expected, even when it got dense, and it left me thinking about how fragile secrets really are.

[Nathan Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received The Great Heist through Goodreads First Reads and am grateful for the opportunity to read and review this book.

While I have not been blind to China's rise to power and ambitions, I was shocked at the scale, depth, and history of China's intelligence operations, and how the Chinese government is facilitating a combined brain drain and economic takeover across numerous industries and research sectors. The book's use of specific examples helped demonstrate the level of threat that these interconnected plots impose. I also appreciated how the strategies have long ties to China's history, particularly with Sun Tzu. In addition, I am thankful that the author tried to take a neutral stance in politics, making it clear that everyone has been ignorant of China's pernicious tactics.

That said, while the book is fascinating, it has a few small weak points I wish to point out. First, because so much of the attention was focused on the United States and not other countries, I was unsure if this meant that China is primarily targeting America, or if this was a bias on part of the author; it would have been nice if there had been comparisons to Chinese operations on other continents such as Europe and Africa, giving a better idea of the bigger picture.

Second, I'm disappointed that, unlike a number of similar books, there wasn't a set of illustrative photographs midway through the reading. I find the include of pictures connected to the topics/events discussed helps me better visualize the stories covered in the book.

Third, I really felt that chapters 10 and 11 broke the pace of the nonfiction work by switching tracks to fictional narratives. While the narratives weren't necessarily bad on their own, it just didn't feel tasteful for them to be part of a nonfiction, research-based book.

But overall, this book has given me a greater awareness of China's global strategy, and how many different actions are part of a larger, organized objective.

[Kalyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Going into this book, I expected it to be dry and uneventful. After all, how much can really surprise us about China at this point? We already have a fair sense of what kind of country we are dealing with, its history, its present state, and its ambitions for the future. So my expectations were measured.
What the authors deliver is essentially a collection of well-documented case studies, each illustrating how China has systematically acquired trade secrets, intellectual property, and sensitive technologies, sometimes through deliberate espionage, and sometimes through more opportunistic means.
The key takeaway for me was the sheer scale of it. This is not a small operation. It is a coordinated, long-running mission, and as regular citizens, we are in no way equipped to counter something of this magnitude on our own. It reminded me to be careful, personally and professionally, and I think that applies to most people reading it. Whether the relevant security establishments around the world have truly absorbed these lessons over the past few decades, I cannot say. I hope they have.
As for the book itself, it reads exactly as expected. The writing style is functional rather than compelling, and the narrative tone is fairly flat. It is not an exciting read. However, it works well as background listening while driving, doing chores, or keeping yourself occupied with something routine.
If you are on the fence about this subject or have lingering doubts, this book will likely push you off the wall and firmly to one side. It does not offer groundbreaking revelations, but it delivers substance. The case studies are grounded in fact and give you a solid foundation for forming your own informed opinions.
If you have a genuine interest in geopolitics, national security, or economic espionage, pick this book up. Just do not expect to be thrilled by it.

[Tegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bottom line: China will do anything it takes to get ahead. After all, all is fair in love and war - and this, my friend, is a war for supremacy in all areas of DIME-FIL.

This book takes the reader all over the place, but the gist of the story is:
- If you do business in China, the CCP has every right to assume ownership of your IP without remorse
- If you hire an individual with connections to China, they are likely to share your trade secrets to the CCP out of a sense of duty
- If anyone on your staff has any red flags, the CCP will likely take advantage of their vulnerabilities to gain access/obtain your trade secrets if your product is special enough
- It is also unlikely that any guilty parties who violate US laws will be brought to justice
- Oh, by the way… the CCP is very good at getting what they want.

[Jack Janzen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book documents numerous cases of stolen technology by China. It concludes with a recommendation of policies and laws to prevent further theft of knowledge. The books points out many areas where China is ahead in key technologies so is this a lost cause? The book only hints at how to address that beyond stopping further theft.

It has been pointed out that China is not going away and we, in the West, are not going away either. Engaging in military conflict would be an enormous disaster for both countries and the world. Somehow, we need to figure out how to share the planet.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a detailed exposé arguing that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has orchestrated the largest-scale theft of intellectual property (IP), technology, defense secrets, and data in history. This "whole-of-society" espionage campaign—coordinated across government agencies (especially the Ministry of State Security or MSS), companies, universities, and even ordinary Chinese citizens (who can be legally obligated to assist)—has allowed China to leapfrog from a poor, agrarian nation in the late 20th century to a global superpower rivaling the U.S.

[Kris H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read. One of very few policy books that identifies a problem, assess its full implications and depth, then actually writes up a policy recommendation in an engaging, easy to read format.

If you want an aggregated account of Chinese industrial espionage across sectors, this is it.

[Boguslaw Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly gripping story. Honestly, I haven’t read such an engaging, well-written, high-quality book in a long time.

[Shriley]

There’s a reflective calm to the writing that made it easy to stay engaged.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book!

[Tanner Howell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would have been a five star review if it weren’t for the two final chapters, where the book deviates into fanfiction on how the US would mount a response. Frustratingly close to perfect