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Saturday, September 15, 2012

What's stopping China?

What's stopping China? It has a powerhouse economy, is the factory to the world and has billions in US Treasuries. But still Asia is seeing slower growth. And a large part of this is due to the dragon nation. According to an article in Business Insider, China's problems are two cultural genes that have passed through generations. The first is the Confucian proposal that intellectuals become loyal administrators. The second comes from the writings of Zhuang Zhou, another influential Chinese philosopher. He said that a harmonious society would rise from families that avoid exchange, conflict, and who shun technology.

The consequence is a society that discourages curiosity, challenges commercialization and collaborative technology. Thus, China's lack of innovation stems from its cultural system. This is in stark contrast to the US' entrepreneurial setting where anyone can chase the American dream. The problems that China is facing are pervasive and may take years to resolve. In the cutting edge world of technology time is money. Thus, China's technological edge may forever lag its western rivals. And a similar story is unfortunately playing out in India as well. Change is needed from within. Else the Apples and Googles of the world will continue to be housed in the west. ( By J Mulraj)

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