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They've been saying that since the Chinese economy opened up in the 80s, really opened up in the 90s, really really opened up in the 2000s. so far, nothing in

They've been saying that since the Chinese economy opened up in the 80s, really opened up in the 90s, really really opened up in the 2000s. so far, nothing in 35 years. Japan had so much innovations in way less time. meanwhile China's economy is crashing down, and no more free FDI to fuel any further progress

Gabriel_h 10y ago
I have a few anecdotal examples of innovations or ways in which China is 'ahead': Bike-sharing startups like MoBike: Use their app to find the nearest bike to you, scan a QR code to unlock it, and pay $0.15 for one hour. You can then ride and leave it anywhere. Admittedly, this is only possible due to v. high urban density (China has ten cities with populations greater than London and similar urban densities). I can order a lot from the same app/interface: takeaway, cinema tickets, hotels, flights, KTV, etc. I find this more convenient than UK. Mobile payment penetration here is very high here too. Almost everyone pays for almost everything with WeChat. Andrew Ng argues that AI progress in China is underreported due to the language barrier. I suspect this insight applies more generally to all the innovations happening here. *https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/02/china-artificial-intelligence/516615/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/02/china...
- gentro 10y ago
  The amount of information available to westerners about the Chinese economy is pretty pitiful. Here in the U.S. there's like four or five talking points that echo around the media about the Chinese economy and those are the only tidbits people bring up. I've seen a few NHK documentaries about China. Kudos to them for chasing down interesting angles.
- zhte415 10y ago
  Bike sharing apps are interesting in they can generate more income via interest on the deposits held by users with them than they generate in income.
- emiliobumachar 10y ago
  Wow, the bike rental app is awesome. Do you know how they prevent theft?
- KingMob 10y ago
  Ng may be right, and the article suggests a massive upsurge in papers in the last 3-4 years, but I'm dubious about quality, if the AI field is anything like neuroscience was. When I was back in grad school, I worked with a prominent Dutch researcher who routinely saw his papers translated into Chinese and re-published by Chinese authors as their own. At first, it drove him crazy, and he tried to get them to stop, issue retractions, etc. But he eventually learned to roll with it. The people involved may have had excellent careers at home, but were contributing no new knowledge, and just taking up resources.
kirashogun 10y ago
Maybe it's because Japan has been doing it since Meiji restoration which you might want note happened a tad earlier than post war. Looks like someone is still stuck on the first stage, denial. Please stay there since it has no relevance to reality.
da02 10y ago
You're right: there should have been more innovation by now. I withdraw my comment. (There should have at least been a few Akio Morita's by now.)
- kirashogun 10y ago
  Wow you are easily convinced. Still stuck living in the 80s? Japan is basically finished at the moment. When's the last time the Sony brand meant something other than meh. Heck even the Korean are eating Japan alive. Not meant to bash Japan as I like the country the food, literature and I speak the language but facts are facts. This is not saying China's success is guaranteed but to compare it to Japan while ignoring the fact Japan started about 120 years earlier give it take and didn't have a wildly arrogant and corrupt Qing government, didn't have incompetent woman at the helm such as CiXi, didn't go through stupidest human experiment on earth called communism while destroying a generation of intellectuals is a bit ignorant. Maybe if we extend a bit beyond Meiji and go for 4000 years, you will find Japan's history stops at 100 AD due to lack of a writing system until they imported Chinese. Now if I was a betting man, given what China has achieved since 1978, I would say there's a good chance China will surprise every western frog stuck in their well.

Gabriel_h 10y ago

I have a few anecdotal examples of innovations or ways in which China is 'ahead': Bike-sharing startups like MoBike: Use their app to find the nearest bike to you, scan a QR code to unlock it, and pay $0.15 for one hour. You can then ride and leave it anywhere. Admittedly, this is only possible due to v. high urban density (China has ten cities with populations greater than London and similar urban densities). I can order a lot from the same app/interface: takeaway, cinema tickets, hotels, flights, KTV, etc. I find this more convenient than UK. Mobile payment penetration here is very high here too. Almost everyone pays for almost everything with WeChat. Andrew Ng argues that AI progress in China is underreported due to the language barrier. I suspect this insight applies more generally to all the innovations happening here. *https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/02/china-artificial-intelligence/516615/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/02/china...

gentro 10y ago
The amount of information available to westerners about the Chinese economy is pretty pitiful. Here in the U.S. there's like four or five talking points that echo around the media about the Chinese economy and those are the only tidbits people bring up. I've seen a few NHK documentaries about China. Kudos to them for chasing down interesting angles.
zhte415 10y ago
Bike sharing apps are interesting in they can generate more income via interest on the deposits held by users with them than they generate in income.
emiliobumachar 10y ago
Wow, the bike rental app is awesome. Do you know how they prevent theft?
KingMob 10y ago
Ng may be right, and the article suggests a massive upsurge in papers in the last 3-4 years, but I'm dubious about quality, if the AI field is anything like neuroscience was. When I was back in grad school, I worked with a prominent Dutch researcher who routinely saw his papers translated into Chinese and re-published by Chinese authors as their own. At first, it drove him crazy, and he tried to get them to stop, issue retractions, etc. But he eventually learned to roll with it. The people involved may have had excellent careers at home, but were contributing no new knowledge, and just taking up resources.

kirashogun 10y ago

Maybe it's because Japan has been doing it since Meiji restoration which you might want note happened a tad earlier than post war. Looks like someone is still stuck on the first stage, denial. Please stay there since it has no relevance to reality.

da02 10y ago

You're right: there should have been more innovation by now. I withdraw my comment. (There should have at least been a few Akio Morita's by now.)

kirashogun 10y ago
Wow you are easily convinced. Still stuck living in the 80s? Japan is basically finished at the moment. When's the last time the Sony brand meant something other than meh. Heck even the Korean are eating Japan alive. Not meant to bash Japan as I like the country the food, literature and I speak the language but facts are facts. This is not saying China's success is guaranteed but to compare it to Japan while ignoring the fact Japan started about 120 years earlier give it take and didn't have a wildly arrogant and corrupt Qing government, didn't have incompetent woman at the helm such as CiXi, didn't go through stupidest human experiment on earth called communism while destroying a generation of intellectuals is a bit ignorant. Maybe if we extend a bit beyond Meiji and go for 4000 years, you will find Japan's history stops at 100 AD due to lack of a writing system until they imported Chinese. Now if I was a betting man, given what China has achieved since 1978, I would say there's a good chance China will surprise every western frog stuck in their well.