Ian Bremmer: Will China's Tech Sector Be Held Back? | Quick Take | GZERO Media

Will China's new regulations make its tech sector less competitive? 

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take:

Hi everybody, Ian Bremmer here, and a happy post-4th of July. Spending a couple of days in Nantucket, back to New York in relatively short order. But a Quick Take to kick off your shortened week.

And I thought I would talk a little bit about what's happening between the Chinese and the Americans on tech. In particular, I think it's quite important that the Chinese government and their regulatory authority on cyberspace, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the CAC, has been focusing a cybersecurity probe on Chinese companies that have recently listed in the United States. It started last Friday with Didi, which is the leader for Chinese ride hailing. So it's basically like Uber or Lyft in China, $4 billion IPO in New York just a couple of days before the Chinese government announced that they were going to engage in serious scrutiny and regulation of the company. Their stock value went down like 20% almost immediately on the back of that.

Then you also saw broader announcements against a truck hailing app. This is called Full Truck Alliance as well as Kanzhun, which is a major online recruiter in China. And I think it's important because if you look at the Chinese tech sector, which is the most dynamic and innovative in the world aside from the United States, it has been driven significantly, I would say even mostly by the private sector.

And China is a communist country. They engage in state capitalism. So the state is the principal economic actor, but there is a vibrant private sector. And particularly when we talk about innovation and the ability to attract world-class talent that works really hard and could work anywhere, it's important to get that level of efficiency that it is private sector. Well, the Chinese government is increasingly uncomfortable with the independence of many of these firms. And the principal way, mechanism for many of these companies to become more independent was to list outside of China and increasingly outside of Hong Kong as well. And for many, that means IPO listings in the United States. Now to the extent that the Chinese government is now sending a message that there are going to be significant price to pay for Chinese tech companies that list outside of China, Mainland China or Hong Kong, that's going to put a very significant chilling effect on any Chinese tech companies that are thinking about so doing, which will mean much more alignment of those tech companies to the Chinese government model, becoming national champions more in line with, let's say Huawei, which is really state-directed, military integrated. And they try to make money, but first and foremost, it's really not about shareholders. It's really about what the Chinese government wants.

Now, in the United States, of course it is a vastly different landscape. You've got companies in the US that are more aligned with the government in the tech space. Anything from Oracle, to Microsoft, to Anduril, which is AI and drones together, for example, but then you have an awful lot of companies that are more traditional multinational corporations that are focusing purely on their shareholders. And Apple is not working closely with the government in any way, shape, or form. And you have a lot of individual CEOs, tech CEOs, that themselves increasingly feel like the most powerful individual actors in the United States and in the digital space increasingly on the planet, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk. Now, we know that the Chinese government isn't allowing any Elon Musks to emerge in China. One did, Jack Ma, and the Chinese government basically defenestrated him, but they hadn't been taking that position towards the Chinese tech firms. And now increasingly they are.

#QuickTake #ChinaTech #Didi

[pkwong]

China do not need advice from Ian Bremmer concerning its future tech development.

[hocheesiong]

tech sector should be regulated. it cannot be free for all. bringing back their best tech company to list on chinese exchange is a good idea

[ekaytan]

Ok, this is the second vlog I watched of this dude. He is spouting a lot of opinions without giving the facts, alternative arguments or research findings.

Blah, blab . . almost . . some of this . . blah, blah . . I think . . it is likely . . blah, blah . . it is possible . . Such nutrient-free words and all to give impressions of knowledge. Will he ever cite any well found data and conclusions and share them with us. O, you want us to take your word for it. Right, got it.

It is okay to think that China will never be as good or better than the US. But you are not putting your money where your mouth is. So if you are wrong in five years time nobody will remember you. Just as well.

The lack of meat in your argument makes it very digestible specifically for those who are seeking a quick confirmation of their biases. No need for facts, research or counter arguments. Such an easy diet of processed talking points that you have to beware of verbal diarrhea if you repeat what was said. Nuff said.

[richiesd]

I thought the United States might be happy about it. Didn’t Trump order some Chinese companies delisted? If Chinese tech is less innovative then it’s less pressure on the United States

[isaackys]

Either regulated by the Chinese government or forced to hand over the core technology to the US as in the case for TikTok. Its not a fair game for Chinese tech anyway.

[wenling]

Will USA do anything different on big data in terms of security?!

[EnthropyDelirium]

State control over tech companies that operate mostly in China will be accomplished by discouraging US listings? Have you considered capital flight implications instead? Is that uncomfortable a topic for you?

[lawrencesullivan]

is a ride-hailing company really "high tech"?

[kshen]

Your containment will surely help China to be a qualified rivalry or competitor, if not an enemy.

[yl]

As you said, China is state-run capital, not a capital-run state, as the U.S.

[edwingan]

A country of lawyers trying to hold back a country of engineers, what do you think?

[jocosus]

Hope Moose the dog is having a great summer. #WhereIsMoose

[billb]

Great discussion of an important topic that is almost never discussed.
Since the end of the Internet Boom and the beginning of globalization (there is a knee somewhere around May 2000), the US has been losing technology to offshore interests. The tech sector is largely made up of geeks who don't communicate well with the rest of society, so they often are ignored. However, the technology that they produce drives the rest of the economy.

The loss of jobs in the tech sector over the past couple of decades has had a ripple-down effect on the rest of the economy.

When the mainstream media discusses "jobs growth" or "unemployment rate", they mean that there are more minimum-wage jobs even though there are far fewer well-paying tech jobs.

[kshen]

Ian, you should worry about your country. Nowadays America not only becomes a war zone of pandemic, the fatalities have been increasing day and night, the whole America is also in the height of populism, nationalism, isolationism, neo-nazilism and dictatorship, instead of “held back” China.

[pikachusm]

Pot, kettle, black? US national security concerns re: Huawei, ZTE, TikTok etc.

[justinteh]

Ian just keep mouthing off the western narrative on big bad China despite not being stupid. Mind declaring your sources of funding, Ian?

[yz]

Ian’s IQ is not in conformity with so called “international geopolitical expert” and with a Stanford university graduates “ .

[KGold]

So much wrong with this take, even if Ian mixed in some facts.

[LecturaReading]

Mis servicios no son exclusivamente para tesla
Yo a ella solo la uso como ella y otros usan a mi gente … pues yo los uso a ellos …
Si tesla ella no pudo salvarme de que me
Violaran y me hagan bully en Lynchburg Virginia me imagino que no esta lista para todo lo que mi familia necesita y por esa razones … es importante dejar las puestas habiertas por la eternidad ilimitadamente a que cualquiera trate de mejoras la libertad de todos … por la eternidad sin que nadie lo pueda parar ✋ pues es igual que tesla es una hija o hijo más …

En mi mundo nadie es especial todos los somos a la misma ves o nada ❤️❤️❤️❤️✅✅✅✅