 "robots, machine, technology, automation, digital, digitisation")
Speak to China experts these days and you typically get one of two contrasting views on its outlook. The prevailing wisdom is that an unreformed state-industrial sector and rising debt mean it is on an unsustainable path, with a financial crisis on the not-too-distant horizon. The optimists acknowledge that debt is too high, but hold out hope that a growing services sector will fuel stronger consumption, reducing the need for credit-fuelled investment and putting the economy on a sustainable path for the medium-term.
What if they’re both wrong? That’s the possibility suggested by the rapid automation of China’s factories. In 2016,
