Joe Ngai, McKinsey: Domestic rivalry drives Chinese firms

“More Chinese companies are put out of business by other Chinese companies. Chinese companies are not put out of business because of Western companies, so this whole competition is not, from a Chinese guy's mind, like a US-China competition. It’s more ‘how do I survive this gym?’ because it's damn hard to keep staying alive at home. That in turn makes you very competitive in the rest of the world.”

Maura Fogarty speaks to Joe Ngai, Chairman of the China region for global consulting firm McKinsey.

He advises senior management at Chinese and multinational corporations in the region which gives him a unique insight into the world’s second-largest economy.

Having written numerous books and reports on China’s economic landscape, Ngai’s expertise has been recognised by accolades from the likes of Forbes China and Bloomberg.

In this interview, we hear his thoughts about how the Chinese market has changed in the 25 years since the country joined the World Trade Organisation, and on how AI is developing and managing tensions with US competitors.

Thank you to the Asia Business team for their help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with tech billionaire Reid Hoffman, director Chloé Zhao, and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, head of the World Trade Organisation. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: Maura Fogarty Producers: Ben Cooper and Jaltson Akkanath Chummar Editor: Damon Rose

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(Image: Joe Ngai. Credit: Getty)