Let's Get Down to Business
Today we heard from Mary Boyd-Director of the Economist, Edward Dai-President of the Canada China Business Council, and several trade commissioners at the Consulate General of Canada in Shanghai.
To get to our meetings we of course took the most efficient means of travel, the subway. Let me tell you, we all learned a new definition of capacity. When we got on the subway it was packed and before we disembarked, 4 stops later, still more people crammed on! It was like the reverse clown car at the circus, every time you think “okay no more people can get on here” another group pushed on!
In the morning, our conference room was set overlooking the city. The view was impressive, sky scrapers gleaming in the sun, blue skies above, and flora lining all the streets. The city stretches on farther than the eye can see. As a prairie girl it was bizarre, being unable to see the horizon.
One common thread that we learned from the presentations is that China is a bit like a teenager. As an emerging market economy China is in that awkward limbo stage between developing and developed. This is one of the major challenges for countries trying to build relationships with China. The middle class is growing, but the gap between the upper class and lower class is also increasing. The manufacturing sector is decreasing and the service sector is increasing which is a sign of a maturing economy. The Private Sector is on the rise however State Owned Enterprises still make up 70% of the economy. There is a policy reform agenda but implementation is temporarily stalled and many protectionist policies remain in place.
Did I mention China is extremely tech savvy? Example: Most people do not carry cash at all. They don’t carry credit cards or debit cards either. They have WeChat. Think Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Apple Wallet, Apple Pay combined into one, with immunity to the Great Firewall of China. It is The King of apps in China. EVERYONE has it and they use it for communication and to pay for everything. And we (Canada) thought we were so great with tap to pay cards and twitter. LOL!
China’s development is complex and it makes it a challenge to determine how to work together. But we can’t let that scare us away. There are still great opportunities for Canada and China.