You’ve probably heard people say, “Don’t wait for a ship at the airport.”

But if you ask me, maybe you should wait a little while.

It’s like the past decade at China Merchants Group: from the days when “everything we picked was good,” to today’s focus on “measuring success by output per acre.” The difficulty of the work hasn’t changed much, but the country has truly grown stronger.

Look at myself ten years ago: my hair was still thick, my beer belly wasn’t quite so noticeable yet, and I wasn’t clutching a thermos.

Tsk, that’s the taste of time.

A thousand-mile romance is tied by a single thread

Who is helping the market economy “reach new heights”?

Over the past decade, a group of people has been particularly active: venture capitalists.

Their presence has spurred the emergence and innovation of China’s new economy industries, while also driving a transformation in local governments’ investment promotion models. In recent years, governments at all levels have actively participated in establishing venture capital guidance funds, leading to a flourishing array of specialized industrial funds.

This clearly demonstrates the profound influence of venture capital firms.

Thanks to the connecting role of capital, a group of entrepreneurs—primarily from the post-80s generation—have achieved a remarkable online-to-offline turnaround.

To attract internet companies to establish their headquarters, localities are competing fiercely, offering an endless array of diverse preferential policies.

Local governments’ eagerness for “new growth drivers” is plain for all to see.

In the manufacturing sector, the need for transformation and upgrading has merged with the “Internet Plus” trend, giving rise to a group of entrepreneurs who have made significant strides in both business models and technological innovation.

At an awards ceremony in 2013, Dong Mingzhu and Lei Jun made a 1 billion yuan bet to see whose revenue would be higher five years later.

In recent years, amid the shift from “technology application” to “technology manufacturing,” internet companies have continued to play a vital role.

For example, the founders of "Wei-Xiao-Li" all have backgrounds in the internet industry.

The rapid rise of these new automotive forces would not have been possible without the strong support of local governments. The stories of the Hefei government partnering with NIO and the Xiamen government partnering with Xpeng became widely celebrated.

In 2021, after Lei Jun announced Xiaomi’s entry into the automotive industry, more than 10 cities—including Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Xi’an—successively extended olive branches, determined to secure Xiaomi’s automotive project.

The competition to attract investment has reached a fever pitch.

More importantly, technology companies such as BYD, CATL, LONGi Green Energy, DJI, BGI, and iFlytek are maturing, representing another direction for industrial exploration.

From unregulated growth to orderly development, our strategic emerging industries are continuously expanding and strengthening.

Stepping onto this new track, China has already taken the lead globally.

A towering edifice rises from the ground

Who is uniting regional economies into a single force?

The past decade has been one of rapid growth for central and western China.

In terms of GDP growth rates, the top 10 spots were largely dominated by central and western regions.

Chongqing took first place four times, Guizhou took first place four times, Tibet took first place once and second place five times, and Yunnan took third place five times.

Central provinces such as Hubei, Hunan, and Jiangxi have also been regular contenders.

Investment-driven growth and industrial relocation have been key drivers of development in the central and western regions.

Since 2012, the central and western regions have accounted for nearly 70% of the nation’s new railway mileage and nearly 80% of new highway mileage.

The continuous improvement of infrastructure—including transportation, healthcare, and education—has not only enhanced the quality of life for residents but also cultivated fertile ground for industrial development.

Over the past decade, the eastern coastal regions have continuously intensified their innovation efforts, accelerating industrial transformation and upgrading.

In contrast, traditional industries have gradually shifted to the central and western regions.

The most typical example is Foxconn’s establishment in Zhengzhou, which has not only provided employment for more than 100,000 people in Henan but also generated 60% of the province’s total import and export volume.

Zhengzhou has built an electronics manufacturing industrial cluster to support Foxconn, with an industrial scale now exceeding 500 billion yuan.

Meanwhile, the boom in emerging industries has brought new opportunities to central and western China.

Take Guizhou, for example: leveraging its competitive electricity rates and using the construction of big data centers as a breakthrough, the province has attracted a large number of upstream and downstream enterprises to set up operations there, thereby polishing the “golden brand” of the digital economy.

Take BYD’s Xi’an plant, for instance, which has become the company’s second-largest production base.

In this process, investment promoters have played an indispensable role.

China has more than 2,800 districts and counties, each with vastly different natural conditions, resource endowments, and industrial foundations.

Even with a map in hand, entrepreneurs would struggle to distinguish these differences. Conducting on-site visits one by one is simply not feasible.

Relying solely on stereotypes or hearsay to make location decisions would likely result in missing out on the most suitable option.

Countless investment promotion officers have connected these 2,800-plus districts and counties with innumerable entrepreneurs. Through sincere visits and tailored solutions, they have eliminated information asymmetry.

As investment promotion models continue to evolve and the business environment keeps improving—the healthy competition among districts and counties has fueled China’s economic takeoff.

Some say that the rapid development of central and western China is due to transfer payments.

However, from a national perspective, national-level projects such as the West-to-East Coal Transport, West-to-East Natural Gas Pipeline, and West-to-East Power Transmission have allowed the eastern regions to develop rapidly while shielding them from the backstab of an energy crisis.

Through fiscal transfers and industrial relocation, the central and western regions can also share in the fruits of the East’s development, building momentum to catch up and surpass it.

This undoubtedly represents a trend toward common prosperity, where those who have become wealthy first lead the way for others to follow.

In May 2021, with the establishment of the “Common Prosperity Demonstration Zone” in Zhejiang, the well-being of hundreds of millions of people will continue to improve, and the superiority of China’s system will attract global attention.

A storm is brewing

Who will bring “timely rain to a parched land” in this chaotic world?

Today, humanity is entering an era of disorder fraught with risks.

There are economic fluctuations stemming from geopolitical rivalries, as well as the profound impact of the virus on daily life.

Globalization and world war are two sides of the same coin when it comes to humanity’s destiny. One side represents the pinnacle of development; the other, the ultimate in destruction.

And China is precisely the greatest beneficiary of globalization.

In 1979, China’s GDP was a mere 0.41 trillion yuan, accounting for approximately 1.8% of the global total. By 2021, that figure had reached 114.4 trillion yuan, representing 18.5% of the global total.

Our nation has grown strong.

In 1979, even the per capita disposable income of urban residents was only 387 yuan. By 2021, this figure had reached 47,400 yuan.

Our people have grown wealthy.

You may not have noticed, but some Russian soldiers, among the “goods” they looted from Ukraine to send home, actually included washing machines.

Because they didn’t have one at home.

In fact, we didn’t have them back then either.

Thanks to reform and opening-up, those once incredibly luxurious home appliances, cell phones, and cars have found their way into millions of households. Countless young people have left the countryside, moved to the cities, pursued higher education, and become white-collar workers.

In a single generation, we’ve achieved a social mobility that took the West over a century to accomplish.

In the pot of peace and development, China holds the bowl of a market economy and eats the rice of globalization.

Now, it is our turn to tip the scales.

Following the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the General Secretary proposed the “Belt and Road” cooperation initiative, guiding globalization toward a more open, inclusive, mutually beneficial, balanced, and win-win direction.

Over the past decade, the Belt and Road Initiative has evolved from a proposal into action, from a concept into practice, from a vision into a concrete tool, and from a dream into reality, resonating across the globe.

Now, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is imminent.

A stable, clear-headed, united, and dynamic China will inject the greatest certainty into a world in disarray.