This is a partial, lightly edited transcript highlighting some of the most interesting discussions in our last podcast episode with Johnny Zou, the Head of Primavera Venture Partners春华创投. Johnny has a unique background. He worked at elite financial institutions and had impeccable Western training. At the same time, he is known to express views about China that may be considered a little unorthodox in his industry. At Primavera, Johnny mainly focuses on investments in AI, medical technology, cloud, shared economy, and cross-border opportunities. Johnny holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Yale University and a Master of Science in Economic History from the London School of Economics. Johnny is also a fellow Sub-stacker, and he writes at one of my favorite Chinese-language substacks
Thanks, very interesting conversation. On China’s median income, I was a little surprised that you were surprised China’s median income was lower than you thought. I think the data is in the World Bank, and perhaps it reflects how little China publishes its own data and makes it available to the Chinese public. Not sure who to “blame” for this, but maybe economic data just doesn’t get reported much in China.
But I understand China’s median income has been rising more rapidly than developed countries’ median income. So that’s something I celebrate and makes me feel optimistic about China.
It might be interesting to compare this report to China's EV makers compensation control, and what ways rent extraction for investors in China differs from USA.
Thanks, very interesting conversation. On China’s median income, I was a little surprised that you were surprised China’s median income was lower than you thought. I think the data is in the World Bank, and perhaps it reflects how little China publishes its own data and makes it available to the Chinese public. Not sure who to “blame” for this, but maybe economic data just doesn’t get reported much in China.
But I understand China’s median income has been rising more rapidly than developed countries’ median income. So that’s something I celebrate and makes me feel optimistic about China.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/06/musk-and-tesla-compensation-or-control.html
It might be interesting to compare this report to China's EV makers compensation control, and what ways rent extraction for investors in China differs from USA.