China’s strategy in global power transitions – Kaiser Kuo

 

Kaiser Kuo

China veteran Kaiser Kuo,  host of the renowned Sinica Podcast, moderates a debate on China’s strategy in the global power transitions for the Ukrainian Platform for Contemporary China. Some of the key questions: How does the Russo-Ukrainian War affect China’s relations with its key partners? How has the Russo-Ukrainian War reshaped China’s economic capacity?

He is joined by

• Klaus Larres, Distinguished Professor of History & International Affairs, University of

North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, U.S.

• Qiang Liu, Secretary-General of the Global Forum on Energy Security, Chinese Academy

of Social Sciences, P.R.C.

• Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova, Director of the China Studies Centre, Riga Stradins

University, Latvia

• Dmytro Yefremov, Board Member, Ukrainian Association of Sinologists, Ukraine

Kaiser Kuo is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Would you like him at your meeting or conference? Contact us or fill out our speakers’ request form.

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How far is China’s tech ahead of the US – Winston Ma

 

Winston Ma

China’s tech industry seems ahead of the US, especially now that DeepSeek has come onto the playing field. Tech and finance adjunct professor at NYU Winston Ma discusses how the US restrictions on tech might have hampered US-China trade relations at CNBC’s Squawk Box.

Winston Ma is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request list.

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Ups and downs in China’s 2024 Hurun company list – Rupert Hoogewerf

 

Rupert Hoogewerf

The 2024 China company list for non-state companies has seen a large number of newcomers and a drop in traditional companies, says Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Research Institute, at the China Daily. Companies on industrial products, semiconductors, and software services went up, while medical devices and consumer goods went down.

The China Daily:

Commenting on the economic trends that can be observed from the appearance of new faces on the list and the companies that have dropped down in the rankings, Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Research Institute, said that the industries on the rise are mainly in the fields of industrial products, semiconductors, and software services, reflecting advances in smart manufacturing and the digital economy.

“The growth in AI can be seen from the growth in both the hardware and software (sectors),” he noted, adding that AI startup DeepSeek is not on this year’s list because it came onto the global market after the cutoff date.

However, healthcare — especially medical devices — and consumer goods experienced a downward trend, signaling the challenges presented by intensified market competition, industry restructuring and changes in the external environment, Hoogewerf said.

For example, self-driving startup Pony.ai from Guangzhou and home appliance maker Midea Group from Foshan have each had “a good year”, but the value of Shenzhen-based Excellence Group in the real estate market fell by 32.3 percent.

The total value of the list surged by 13 percent to $7.8 trillion, with the average value increasing to $15.4 billion. About 290 companies saw their value increase, while the value of 184 companies decreased.

“The Hurun China 500, the backbone of China’s economy, is worth 60 percent more than in 2019, showing how China’s economy has grown,” said Hoogewerf.

More at the China Daily.

Rupert Hoogewerf is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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What does Xi Jinping’s meeting with China’s tech giants mean – Shaun Rein

 

Shaun Rein

China’s President Xi Jinping met last week with the country’s major tech leaders, for the first time he did so since 2018. Business analyst Shaun Rein, author of The Split: Finding the Opportunities in China’s Economy in the New World Order, discusses the importance of this policy change after the country’s tech industry suffered from a major crackdown in the past years, he tells at the Thinkers Forum. China’s industrial leaders heard it is ok to make money again after a long time, he added

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Would you like him at your meeting or conference? Contact us or fill out our speakers’ request form.

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China is back in business in next 6,12 months – Shaun Rein

 

Shaun Rein (right)

According to Shanghai-based business analyst Shaun Rein in The Global View, capital is moving back to China, and the country will be back in business in six to 12 months. In the short run investors in the stock markets have to be careful, as China’s stock markets behave more like volatile retail markets where institutional investors have little influence. He adds that the tech markets will especially be booming again now Xi Jinping showed his full support for the sector.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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How Huawei developed from an obscure brand into a national champion – Kaiser Kuo

 

Kaiser Kuo

China expert Kaiser Kuo kicks off a wide-ranging debate on Huawei and describes how it developed from a rather obscure brand with no government support into the national champion it is today, at the Asia Society. Now it appeals to nationalistic feelings among consumers in China, but that trajectory was not so obvious at its humble start, he says.

Later, the debate focuses on whether Huawei can have its own “DeepSeek moment” in the semiconductor industry.

Kaiser Kuo is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Would you like him at your meeting or conference? Contact us or fill out our speakers’ request form.

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China consumers turn to local brands because of costs and patriotism – Shaun Rein

 

Shaun Rein

China’s consumers turn to local brands because they tend to be cheaper than international brands, and because of patriotism because of the US-China trade war, says Shanghai-based business analyst Shaun Rein to CNBC. Anti-US sentiment was already virulent under Biden because of anti-Chinese measures. Under Trump that has not yet improved, adds Shaun Rein, but the Chinese hope Trump is more transactional than Biden was.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Get in touch or fill out our speakers’ request form.

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Consumer spending disappoints during lunar new year – Shaun Rein

 

China’s lunar new year is usually the time of the year consumers spend their money, but business analyst Shaun Rein, author of The Split: Finding the Opportunities in China’s Economy in the New World Order, saw this year consumer spending was low, very low, he tells CNBC. An exception is investing in China’s tech companies, who are successfully fighting US sanctions, he adds, at least among the movers and shakers in China.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Get in touch or fill out our speakers’ request form.

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How China sets the pace in innovation – Alvin Wang Graylin

 

Alvin Wang Graylin

Innovation expert Alvin Wang Graylin, Global VP of Corp. Dev., HTC Global VP of Corp. Dev., HTC and co-author of Our Next Reality: Preparing for the AI-powered Metaverse, discusses China’s progress in innovation in a wide-ranging interview with Dr. Wake, and how the country has become a global leader in IT.

Alvin Wang Graylin is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Get in touch or fill out our speakers’ request list.

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The innovation battle between China and the US – Shaun Rein

 

Shaun Rein

Business analyst Shaun Rein looks at the nervewracking few weeks for the global IT industry, starting with the DeekSeek moment of fame, proving that China was way ahead of the US competition in AI. Also, TikTok, Trump’s curtailing of Nvidia, RedNote’s success, censorship in the US, and Silicon Valley get his verdict on East-West Investment opportunities.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Get in touch or fill out our speakers’ request form.

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Three trends shaping China’s development – Kaiser Kuo

 

Kaiser Kuo

China expert Kaiser Kuo attended this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos and wrote up the three trends shaping China’s development for the Weforum. Including how China is managing multiple transitions, its role in the global industry, and the country’s latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.

Kaiser Kuo:

The electric vehicle sector emerged as a prime example of China’s evolving role in global industry. Pan Jian, co-chairman of Chinese EV battery giant CATL, emphasized the need for global collaboration: “It’s not going to be a one-country effort in terms of EVs. It’s going to be a global effort.” He highlighted China’s success in fostering a robust EV ecosystem through what he called a “perfect marriage between the public and private sectors,” while noting that software integration has been crucial to China’s EV success: “In China, we no longer call them EVs; we call them EIVs — where the ‘I’ stands for ‘intelligent.’ The ‘I’ is what truly makes the difference. Without the intelligence aspect, EV penetration in China would never have exceeded 30%.”

More trends at the Weforum.

Kaiser Kuo is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Get in touch or fill out our speakers’ request form.

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How Hurun Rich list survived 25 years in China – Rupert Hoogewerf

 

Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf, founder and compiler of the Hurun China Rich List, looks back at the 25-anniversary of his Hurun Rich List and explains how his company survived all the twists and turns in China’s recent history.

Rupert Hoogewerf is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Get in touch or fill out our speakers’ request form.

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While banning Tiktok might be fair game, it’s not smart domestically in the US – Victor Shih

 

Victor Shih

Political analyst Victor Shih, author of  Factions and Finance in China: Elite Conflict and Inflation and director of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy tells at UC San Diego Today. “From a pure competitive technology perspective: I don’t think the ban is optimal, but at least it’s fair game,” he says.

Victor Shih:

What’s the relationship between TikTok and the Chinese Communist Party?

TikTok is a private company, and it’s now registered offshore from China — but, of course, historically most of its operation has been in China. As of five or six years ago, maybe even a bit longer, the Chinese government has required large, private companies to have branches of the Chinese Communist Party within the company structure.

For the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, Douyin, there’s a party committee in the company. And the parent company, ByteDance, which is located in China, also has a Chinese Communist Party branch. Most of the people in the party committee would not be full-time government officials — they’re just workers or executives who had already belonged to the party. That’s actually a common thing to happen. You will soon be recruited into the party at a university or in the workplace, and a lot of people do it just to advance their careers.

There are certain requirements for joining the party, and the No. 1 requirement is that you have to obey the party no matter what. I think that’s where a lot of U.S. lawmakers and people in the government really have an issue.

More recently, within the past four years, the party has demanded top tech companies to give part of their shares to entities of the Chinese government. So China has sovereign wealth funds. Through that mechanism, the government becomes a minority shareholder of these tech companies, so then it can send members to the management boards of these tech companies, and these board members are full-time Chinese government officials.

How has this relationship between ByteDance and the party played into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s larger goals?

Xi Jinping recognizes the power of social media and the internet in general — not really as something to control people’s minds with, but certainly something to use to sway people’s opinions. He has ordered internet companies in China to work for the party on behalf of the party. It’s very well known that the Chinese counterpart of TikTok is ordered by the Chinese government to convey propaganda to users within China all the time, even if TikTok claims that it doesn’t do that for audiences outside of China.

Xi has also said that he wants users around the world, not just in China, to use Chinese technology. And of course, TikTok has been the most successful case of this, certainly on the software side: it’s used by over a billion users worldwide.

Is there reason for the U.S. to be legitimately concerned about how TikTok might make users’ personal data available to the Chinese government?

I don’t buy the argument that we should be alarmed how the Chinese government can get all this data on users from TikTok — because all the other internet platforms active in the U.S. already sell user data to data brokers, and China can obtain it that way. To be clear, I’m sure TikTok is feeding some data to the Chinese government; I’m just saying that it’s probably not that much worse than what they could do already using all the other sources of data.

The other worry is that TikTok is so powerful, and that it’s used by so many people that the people behind the app can bias the politics within the United States. I think that TikTok does have the potential to do that. But then, compare that with other people who are influencing opinion on social media. You have to ask yourself, “Who has done more damage to the quality of American democracy: Elon Musk or TikTok?”

Is the ban a wise move? How could it affect relations between the two countries?

It’s really difficult to assess because former government officials, sometimes at 21st Century China Center events, will say, “If only you knew what we knew, you would definitely support the ban.” But we don’t know what they know.

One consideration is that the Chinese government has banned pretty much all of our social media and search platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Google.

From a pure competitive technology perspective: I don’t think the ban is optimal, but at least it’s fair game. But of course, TikTok has great currency in the United States: people make a living off of TikTok, so a ban is going to affect them, and as a result, for domestic political reasons it may not be the smartest thing to do.

More at UC San Diego Today.

Victor Shih is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Get in touch or fill out our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more political experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

What makes China’s apps different – Sharon Gai

 

Sharon Gai

Former Alibaba employee Sharon Gai, author of Ecommerce Reimagined: Retail and E-commerce in China, is an expert on how Western apps and those from China differ from each other. Now that Rednote, formerly known as Xiaohongshu, has become an alternative for Tiktok, she takes the opportunity to dive into this issue again in her vlog.

Sharon Gai is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Get in touch or fill out our speakers’ request form.

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The contentious future of CATL – Kaiser Kuo

 

Kaier Kuo

The international march forward of China’s EV producers profoundly influences the supply chains. China veteran Kaiser Kuo looks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, especially at CATL, the market leader for batteries in China, and a magnet for geopolitical tensions, he writes at the WEForum.

Kaiser Kuo:

China’s rise as a superpower in the electric vehicle (EV) industry has reshaped global supply chains, and at the centre of this transformation is Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL). As the world’s largest EV battery maker, CATL has become a critical player in the clean energy transition – and a lightning rod for geopolitical tensions. Co-chairman and co-founder Pan Jian of CATL, speaking recently at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, underscored the global nature of the EV revolution: “It’s not going to be a one-country effort in terms of EVs. It’s going to be a global effort.”…

The road ahead for CATL is strewn with obstacles. The Trump administration’s tariffs on Chinese EVs and proposed bans on Chinese software – the very thing Pan credits for China’s edge in EVs – in US-sold vehicles are likely to complicate CATL’s operations. Furthermore, the Pentagon’s designation could deter US automakers from deepening partnerships with CATL, despite the company’s importance to their supply chains.

Yet CATL’s leadership remains confident. Pan’s optimism reflects a broader belief in the inevitability of EVs and the necessity of global collaboration. “It’s a massive cultural shift,” he said, referring to the transformation of the auto industry, “but it’s going to happen.”

As the EV revolution accelerates, CATL’s ability to navigate these geopolitical and market complexities will shape not only its future, but also the contours of the global energy transition. Its story is emblematic of a world grappling with the contradictions of competition, cooperation and the urgent need for sustainability.

More at the WEForum.

Kaiser Kuo is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Get in touch or fill out our speakers’ request form.

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How is the EU-China relationship moving on – Shaun Rein

 

Shaun Rein (left)

Business analyst Shaun Rein, author of The Split: Finding the Opportunities in China’s Economy in the New World Order, dives into the future of EU-China relations, as Trump is getting settle for his second term as US president. He discusses the currently hostile relationship between some of the EU leaders and how the European continent can move ahead with a better relationship with China, more independent from the United States, he tells Volker Friedrich.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Would you like him at your meeting or conference? Contact us or fill out our speakers’ request form.

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