How did China go from "financial repression" to the global leader in "fintech" in only a matter of years?
A visitor passes by a logo for the e-CNY, a digital version of the Chinese Yuan, displayed during a trade fair in Beijing, China, September 5, 2021. Credit: Ng Han Guan via AP
In January 2004, Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, made one of the most consequential decisions in recent financial history. The English teacher-turned-entrepreneur was at the World Economic Forum in Davos when he decided to take on China’s backward financial system.
Ma’s team back home in Hangzhou was nearly ready to launch Alipay, a payment system that would allow people to pay for what they ordered from Alibaba. Few Chinese at the time had credit cards, and a powerful state-owned comp
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The former Biden official and China scholar makes the case for the previous administration's approach and discusses why Beijing is content to watch the U.S. now dismantle its sources of strength
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