Trade, tech, geopolitics: A rising China tide isn’t lifting all boats

Synopsis: Every second Friday of the month, The Straits Times’ senior columnist Ravi Velloor distils 45 years of experience covering the Asian continent, with expert guests.In this first-ever joint episode of Asian Insider and Radio Davos, he is joined by the World Economic Forum’s Robin Pomeroy as they speak with Qian Liu, whose Wusawa Advisory helps companies understand China. It was recorded in late June at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2026 in Dalian, China.Ravi and Robin discuss with Qian about how a Chinese economy built on innovation and scale is impacting the world, the mainland’s internal worry lines such as high youth unemployment and lagging consumption, and why female power could drive China’s next growth phase.Highlights (click/tap above)4:00 Exports, joblessness, property in a slowing economy9:00 China’s property market prospects11:10 ‘Ageing concubine’ Europe ‘cooking up’ negativity15:00 EVs, cognac and bubble tea19:40 You don’t need to get fat on Chinese ice-cream23:10 ‘Involution’ and its imperatives25:00 Shrugging off Hormuz27:00 China’s watching US destroy itself33:00 Female power in ChinaMore at wef.ch/amnc26 and across social media using the hashtag #AMNC26Produced and edited by Radio Davos:Editing - Seamus Hart, Louie CarrollStudio production: Gareth Nolan---Read Ravi’s columns: https://str.sg/3xRPFollow Ravi on X: https://twitter.com/RaviVelloorSign up for ST’s weekly Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/sfpz Host: Ravi Velloor (velloor@sph.com.sg)Follow Asian Insider Podcast on Fridays here:Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7 Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8 Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaXYouTube: https://str.sg/rF3qRFeedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg---Follow more ST podcast channels:All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts---Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:The App Store: https://str.sg/icyBGoogle Play: https://str.sg/icyX---YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wef/podcasts