Chinese companies can spearhead a new wave of globalisation

At a recent Singapore conference on Chinese companies going global, I spoke on deglobalisation and the emerging contours of Globalisation 3.0. Perhaps more than ever, we need to look ahead to new ideas and concepts to tackle whatever the future holds.

When China started its reform and opening up in 1978, its economy, shaped by autarkic experience and self-reliance, was still “in China for China”. In tapping world-changing market forces, the economy entered a period of “in China for the world” as the country was recast as the world’s factory.

Increasingly complex value-adding industries lifted 800 million out of poverty and boosted the material wealth of our modern world. By 2020, China accounted for 35 per cent of the world’s gross industrial output. Yet trade wars – which started in the first Trump administration in the United States – have once again realigned global dynamics.