30-Year China Business Veteran On Misconceptions & What People Get Wrong When Comparing w/ The US

Peter Alexander is an entrepreneur who’s been living and doing business in Shanghai, China for nearly 30 years.

He reached out to me recently after hearing one of the ‘Macro Hang’ episodes, where we briefly touched on the subject of China, and in which I suggested that we should be careful not to oversimplify the differences between China and ‘The West’ / US, especially in terms of economic 'model'.

Peter agrees, and feels that the economic and social circumstance in China are, broadly speaking, being misrepresented, or at the very least lacking important nuance, by commentators in the bitcoin space (and beyond), and as a result contacted me to see if I’d be open to hearing a more informed and experienced perspective on it.

Of course I was interested, so we set up a chat.

Enjoy!

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Timeline:

00:00 - Intro & Background
09:57 - Peter’s First Memory In China & Some Major Changes That Stand Out Since
18:13 - John’s Experience Of The ‘Vibe Shift’ In Shanghai From 2009 - 2018
23:44 - Xi’s Anti-Corruption Campaign & How It Changed The Experience Of Living In China
32:20 - The Unceremonious Removal of Hu Jintao Recently
37:33 - Xi’s ‘Quality Growth’ Plan & ‘Common Prosperity’
45:40 - The Misconceptions Of China & The ‘Pragmatism’ Of The Chinese System
51:50 - The Lack Of Nuance In The Discussion On China & ‘Capitalism’ vs ‘Communism’
1:02:05 - The Ethical Considerations Of Living / Investing In China
1:05:11 - The Impact Of Ideology In Economic Success In China vs ‘The West’
1:10:07 - The Cultural Consideration Of Doing Business In China & Difference In Approach To Foreign Policy
1:22:32 - The Guiding Ethic (Or Lack Thereof) In China vs The ‘Judea-Christian’ Ethic (Supposed) Of The West?
1:30:38 - China Current ‘Macro’ Situation
1:43:20 - Bitcoin, CBDC’s & Social Credit System In China
1:51:16 - Why Would Governments ‘Adopt’ Bitcoin?
1:57:34 - The Speed Of New Technology Adoption In China
2:02:40 - Closing Remarks