Jian Lian is an expert on China's political economy, industrial development, and technological development. He graduated from Peking University with a bachelor's and master's degree in economics. Starting out as an industry analyst at a Chinese investment bank, he participated in the "Made in China 2025" initiative as a Chinese venture capitalist, working for a state-owned fund. He is the author of "The Truth About Capital" 资本的真相 (2016), which contains major predictions about technology, economy, and society in China, most of which have since come true.

Jian and Steve discuss the origins of the industrial party movement (discussed in an earlier episode with Kyle Chan), which culminated in the "industrial maximalism" view of development adopted by the PRC government. They also discuss the development of supply chains in China, and the role that US sanctions had in accelerating the Chinese semiconductor industry.

Kyle Chan episode:

https://www.manifold1.com/episodes/kyle-chan-on-the-future-of-us-china-competition-94

Chinese industrial maximalism:

https://www.high-capacity.com/p/chinese-industrial-maximalism

(00:00) - Introduction
(00:49) - Jian Gaokao score was 23rd in all of Fujian = Econ at Beida, not Genomics!
(05:21) - China's Industrial Policy and Innovation
(24:19) - Domestic supply chain strategy; How Huawei became a national champion due to US sanctions
(34:13) - Venture Capital in China
(36:13) - Hard Tech Investments
(37:40) - Regulations of Tech Giants
(44:28) - Future of China Technological Development

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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU.Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

The Truth About Capital

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