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00:00Now, in your book, The New China Playbook, you argue that China's economic model is misunderstood. Why?
00:06Well, first of all, people think that China's an extremely centralized country and everything, all the decisions are made on the top.
00:15The more accurate way to describe it is that it's political centralization, but coupled with an extreme form of economic decentralization.
00:24The mayor economy, which I describe in my book, really showcases how radical reforms were implemented, but also currently how the most important dominant strategic technologies arise in China.
00:40They're not just a centralized decision. For instance, EVs or solar panels, they're spread around 80 cities across China, and everybody's competing.
00:50Local governments are competing with each other like they are in a beauty contest to buy for the best private companies.
00:58So this kind of model is very difficult to replicate elsewhere.
01:01There's a political and economic incentive because local government officials want to be promoted.
01:06So it's in their interest to do a good job in the economy and in technology.
01:11But this is really what has driven China's growth model.