This week on Sinica, Kaiser talks with Dan Wang, a Shanghai-based analyst at research firm Gavekal Dragonomics, who also contributes a regular opinion column to Bloomberg. Combining firsthand knowledge of China’s tech sector with broad erudition and a humanist’s perspective, Dan offers a unique take on China’s innovation ecosystem, the country’s efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in technology, and the role of economic growth, fundamental optimism, and inspiration in China’s rise as a tech power.
13:53: The outsize importance of economic growth
25:02: An overemphasis on digital technology
33:55: Reciprocity and technological codependence
49:12: Technology is more than just tools and patents
Recommendations:
Dan: The works of Marcel Proust, and the ham and mushrooms of Yunnan Province.
Kaiser: The Netflix series Flavorful Origins and Great State: China and the World, by Timothy Brook.
Read Dan’s 2020 annual letter: http://danwang.co/2020-letter/
