Today the Financial Times asks a key question: “Is China winning the innovation race”. The short answer is that they probably are. Whether it is the number of PhD’s or the number of registered patents, China is ahead of the USA.
And – as the FT notes, this is at least in part due to strategic state initiatives.: “Beijing is trying to develop a new system for funnelling capital into strategic industries across the country, but with the central government keeping a tight grip.”
The FT also makes clear that China is not very interested in anything that the West makes.
Europe and China won’t make a grand bargain on trade, largely because their trade is increasingly one way. Europe’s “China market fantasy”, which dates back to Victorian British cotton barons dreaming of clothing the Chinese, is dying.
This is a return to a relationship from a previous era. As the Chinese Emperor made clear in 1793 in a letter to the British King. It is worth reading to understand this dismissive attitude, but it is summarised in the Emperor’s rejection.
“As your Ambassador can see for himself, we possess all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country’s manufactures.”
Martin Plaut 