Michael Melnick

China’s rapid rise as an economic power has given rise to a lot of mixed feelings about a country that should be a close ally.  One of the factors behind their extreme competitiveness is clearly a unique public-private partnership that for all its faults can turn on a dime and rapidly advance the country in strategic areas like alternative energy.  Another critical factor has been the unleashing of one of the most entrepreneurial cultures in the world.  

In the past in thinking about Asian competition, we in the US have often fallen back on the idea that while Asia has an advantage in terms of low cost manufacturing, the US still has the best scientific minds and a unique entrepreneurial culture.  That idea increasingly seems like a luxury we can no longer take for granted .  Clearly the Chinese are investing heavily in a first class R&D base, and have brilliant scientists, first rate engineers and an entrepreneurial culture second to none.  Fire in the belly doesn’t begin to describe them; the Chinese phrase “chi ku” or ability to “eat bitterness” comes closer in terms of how badly they want success and what they are willing to go through to achieve it.  And if they are willing to work that hard for it, they deserve it.  (more…)