Road To China

#1 · December 13, 2017, 9:30 PM

They keep popping everywhere you go: China is eating the world. Some big numbers courtesy of Fortune Newsletter:

China now accounts for a whooping 42% of global commerce – more than France, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. combined.
Mobile payments are now used by 68% of China’s Internet users and totaled $790 billion last year — 11 times more than in the U.S.
China’s venture capital industry has exploded from $12 billion, or 6 percent of the global total, in 2011–13, to $77 billion, or 19 percent of the worldwide total, in 2014–16. China leads the U.S. in fintech venture investment.
The BAT companies – Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent – provide 42 percent of the venture funding in China, compared to the 5 percent provided in the U.S. by the FANG companies – Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google.

Then a research fellow in an American university put this one for Chinese tech.

Chinese technology companies are now among the most valuable—and innovative—in the world. Facebook’s Chinese competitor Tencent eclipsed it in market capitalization in November, crossing the $500 billion mark. Tencent’s social media platform WeChat enables bill payment, taxi ordering, and hotel booking while chatting with friends; it is so far ahead in innovation that Facebook may be copying its features. Other Chinese companies, such as Alibaba, Baidu, and DJI, are racing ahead in ecommerce and logistics; artificial intelligence and self-driving cars; and drone technologies. These companies are gearing up to challenge Silicon Valley itself.

The question now is: what is the road to China?

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#2 · December 14, 2017, 1:50 AM

Quite true and very revealing. China was nowhere in the beginning of 21st century and all of a sudden rose to become a giant in commerce. 9 out of every 10 products in the global market is probably made in China.

The road to China or rather put this way - what lead to China's emergence as a global powerhouse in commerce?. I think innovative ideas and resilience could have brought them this far.

Uche Ahaiwe

#3 · December 14, 2017, 2:35 AM

This is awesome .

Albert

#4 · December 14, 2017, 5:35 AM

Uche: I will take that. Thanks

"The road to China or rather put this way - what lead to China's emergence as a global powerhouse in commerce?. I think innovative ideas and resilience could have brought them this far."

#5 · December 14, 2017, 6:38 AM

What make nations great are not found on the pages of books or taught in classrooms in any institution in the world. The theories and postulations usually come when the deed has been done. We shout and scream about birth control and population growth, yet China has proven that actually you can do much by having more human heads walking about within your territory. Also, these cliches like 'international best practices', 'human rights violation' and the ultimate erroneous belief that democracy, as the West view it is the greatest form of government, should be do away with. None is universally applicable for obvious reasons. Many things were designed to keep some people where they were, while those who had been enjoying huge advantages continue to do so. Globalisation is only in the name, just find out what works for your own people and put all your mind and energy in it. Europe is not making much progress, both in population and innovation, interestingly it still thinks that many countries there would be relevant in the grand scheme of things in the coming decades. Well, the road to China: do not listen to activists and media commentators, just look within and see where your people have strength and strong value proposition; then mobilise everyone to key into that!

#6 · December 14, 2017, 10:10 AM

Mr Francis Oguaju has said it all

China looked inwards and dwelt on their area of strength, whatsoever the western world could manufacture they also produced with their own resources not minding if it was "substandard". As long as their people loved it, they were satisfied, the rest of the world can either accept them for who they were and what they do or let them be. Today it's paying off.

Here in Nigeria, we prefer to look outwards, nothing makes sense until there is a foreign input and verdict. We have enslaved our innovative abilities, as little as KuliKuli (mashed groundnut) can be our own "Pringles" to turn our fortunes around if only we appreciate what we have.

Let's look inwards, the solutions we seek lies beneath

#7 · December 14, 2017, 10:27 AM

Quote from Guest on December 14, 2017, 10:10 am

Mr Francis Oguaju has said it all

China looked inwards and dwelt on their area of strength, whatsoever the western world could manufacture they also produced with their own resources not minding if it was "substandard". As long as their people loved it, they were satisfied, the rest of the world can either accept them for who they were and what they do or let them be. Today it's paying off.

Here in Nigeria, we prefer to look outwards, nothing makes sense until there is a foreign input and verdict. We have enslaved our innovative abilities, as little as KuliKuli (mashed groundnut) can be our own "Pringles" to turn our fortunes around if only we appreciate what we have.

Let's look inwards, the answers we seek lies within.

Chuks Anyah

#8 · December 14, 2017, 10:58 AM

Brilliant one Francis - that is a solid insight by itself.

#9 · December 14, 2017, 4:47 PM

Brilliant discussion here indeed

#10 · December 14, 2017, 4:58 PM

There's something China is NOT saying. China is undergroundly very corrupt. Perhaps corrupt in the proportion of the Nigerian government. But trust the Communist party to cover things up. I believe it's lack of transparency is burying a bubble that will surely burst in no small magnitude. They seem to be doing a whole lot especially in the technology sphere and infrastructure. The question is, at what cost? Just like the bad deals of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, I posit that we shall see the 'shady deals', 'bad loans', 'currency manipulation', come to the light of day. I still think her non-performing loans in Africa may show up its ugly head one fateful day.

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