Jan Dehn, head of research at the London-based Ashmore Investment Management
The Chinese economy has the largest consumption potential of any economy in the world. Chinese consumption will be the world's main growth engine for the next 30 years.
To realize this potential, China must continuously reform its economy, most of all shift from growth due to simple factor accumulation to growth from technical progress, for example, making better use of existing capital and labor resources.
All the signs we see coming out of China suggest that the Chinese leadership understands this completely. I am therefore very comfortable with the outlook for the Chinese economy.
China is moving towards high quality growth with special emphasis on both economic sustainability and environmental sustainability. This strategy has huge implications for the lives of ordinary citizens in China and globally.
China's investment into cutting edge science, green technology and healthcare technology, among other high value added sectors, is transforming China's entire economic base. This is also the story of China's transformation from relying on old economy sectors, such as manufacturing, to new economy sectors, such as green energy, and this transformation upgrades China's industrial structure.
As a businessman in the UK, I work closely with many Chinese companies and I can see this direction reflected strongly in their business activities. For example, one Chinese company I'm helping with currently is taking its pre-fabricated construction technology to overseas markets, especially to the Belt and Road countries. By constructing pre-fabricated building units in a factory setting, the end impact on the environment is far less costly than traditional construction methods. I can see many similar Chinese companies working in these areas going abroad in the foreseeable future to help both developed and emerging economies develop smart cities and connected cities.
