Below are some of our expectations for 2021, China’s year of the Ox
- China’s economy – bigger than that of the EU – is expected to grow more than 8.5% or even 9% in 2021.
- China takes the next steps to become the world’s largest importer. It sits as a spider in the world’s largest economic blocks– the new Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership ( RCEP), the BRICS, the Belt & Road with a new China – African Union deal, the African China FOCAC, the China-EU Investment Agreement. It may conclude another deal with the UK and smoothen the trade war with the US.
- China is not waiting for a digital, supply chain or any other global divide to happen. It is pursuing an industrial sino-ecosytem, whilst keeping a close tab on the global trade. China will take the lead towards a new global governance, leaving the WTO and parts of the UN as organisations of the good old times of the West.
- The blockchain-based digital version of the yuan will start to eat into the monopoly of WeChat and Alipay, now good for more than 80% of all payments in China.
- China will break monopoly positions of Alibaba, Tencent, and Meituan, like the US with Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet and Apple. And China doesn’t hesitate to have their corporate leaders bleed by example. Warnings may also go out to other monopolies in the telecom and energy sector.
- China will be one of the market leaders in the EU in sales of electrical vehicles after having introduced in Europe the electrical MG – through London based MG Motor, a China state-owned company through SAIC Motor Corporation.
- China will leapfrog on foreign sensor technologies and 2021 may see your blood pressure measured by a smart watch, making China self-reliant in yet another technology area.
- 2021 will be China’s space year: After the 2020 moon missions, China will erect its own Sky Palace or Tiangong space station, China’s rover TianWen or Heavenly Questions will land on the red planet Mars and China launches two satellites to start observing the sun.
