World Economic Forum (WEF) came to China again. This year, it established a permanent office here in Beijing. The summit took over two floors in China World Hotel and lasted 2 days. Like all good conferences, those events not on the programme are more interesting. WEF organized those into private events. Then you have the spontaneous meetings in the lobby bars or nearby restaurants. Those are the truly invigorating.
In two closed sessions I participated the discussions on venture investment and global competitiveness. Sharing the table are smart, well-informed, and influential people from around the world. These topics are important to Sun. The venture industry worries about moving capital, cultivating innovations, and the state of the talent pools — the same topics that keep Sun's executives awake at nights. The other forum focused on using technologies to improve the country's competitiveness. That's exactly what Jonathan's “digital divide” message is about.
WEF does not do keynote speeches. Instead, it invites luminaries on stage for debates that are engaging and entertaining. In the opening plenary session, I was shocked to hear Shiozaki Yasuhisa's (ç›å´Žæä¹…: Japan's Senior Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, a professional diplomat) sharp words on China's policies. He asked for friendlier Sino-Japan relationship, administrative transparency, enterprise independence, and improvement on social openness and democracy. That sparked a round of exchanges on various aspects of this fast-moving society. China's key representative from National Development and Reform Commission (I thought it was JIAN WeiXin 姜伟新, but the programme said it was CHEN DeMing 陈德é“) responded gracefully and diplomatically.
The 2nd day's session touched on IPR —
digital contents, patents, copyrights, and technology standards. WANG JianZhou (王建宙), Chief Executive, China Mobile, and YANG YuanQing (æ¨å…ƒåº†), Chairman of the Board, Lenovo Group, delivered consistent yet complicated messages.
- China respects IP now. It is no longer just lip services. Greg Shea of USITO observed that 90% of the IP disputes are among Chinese entities. China will respect IP for itself.
- China will not tolerate IPR that handicaps the country, gives foreign entities unfair competitive advantages, or prohibitively expensive for the enterprises. Lenovo put it bluntly. If Microsoft did not agree with a license price that is affordable to the society, they wouldn't have the pre-installation deal.
- The conventional wisdom, or the established practices, are dangerously narrow-minded. Web2.0 made content creation and delivery far more complicated than existing laws were designed for. Here we have new business models based on paradigms in which current IPR concepts are irrelevant.
Augusto Lopez-Claros, Chief Economist and Director of Global Competitiveness Network, will soon publish the global competitiveness report that places China lower than what people expect. After all, how can this country be less competitive and demonstrates the fastest growth for 10 years in a row? Isn't that the very definition of competitiveness?
He explained that weak institutes — juridical systems, sound banking systems, etc. — will hinder the country's productivity. Few participants, myself included, begged to differ. Innovations can change the rules of the game and should matter more. Also, Dr. Lopez-Claros may have chosen the wrong metronome to meter this country that marches to its own drumbeat. Justices are swift and fair, but not carried out through the court system that westerners are accustomed to. Businesses got sufficient fundings to operate, but not through the banking systems. This society has been in existence for thousands of years. After the session, few of us exchanged stories on how things are “really” done. Very enlightening.
Once again, I walked away tired, full of ideas, much educated, carrying a thick stack of business cards, and with many new friends