STRAIGHT TALK
MARK BARNES: China’s powerful mix of technology and state intervention works
I was a delegate at the third meeting of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) communications ministers in Hangzhou last week. It was my first visit to mainland China. I expected to be critical of what I found there; instead I was impressed. China has a population of 1.4-billion, 25 times ours. China reproduces our population once every three years. I expected chaos. Instead I found order, extraordinary order. Calmness. Nothing seems frenetic in China, not even the taxis. When these kinds of numbers are in play, you need a plan. China has a serious set of plans. Although still classified as a developing country, it is well on its way to being a (if not the) global player. The sense of determination and common cause is palpable. Everything works. China’s unemployment rate is 4%.We have comparable circumstances in SA. Similar solutions could be applied — spaza shops become connected and data from their trading patterns become the basis for funding — initially credit extensio...
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