Episode 20: Discussion with Glenn Luk on China's investment priorities over past 30 years

I welcomed back Glenn to talk about something that he knows far better than me. How has China prioritized investment in different industries over the reform period since opening up.

China started off by getting investment and investing its own money in export factories to get wealthy through exporting to global market. After the great financial crisis hit, China shifted toward growing its economy and invest in economy through more emphasis on the real estate and infrastructure. This had actually started after liberalization of housing ownership in the late 90s but was really accelerated with many shovel ready projects in second half of 2000s. Eventually, this was shifted to new productive high tech industries as Chinese businesses continue to get more competitive in the global market. Every phase of development made a lot of sense given where China was in terms of development, economic size and demographics.

As we head toward the 15th Five Year Plan, we should see continued focus on investment in areas like grid toward more clean energy (State Grid is investing 4B RMB over this period) as it seeks more energy and technological independence.

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