Miles ahead: impressions of a China visit

A visit to China is always an experience. My second visit, it was far more rewarding than the first one, as I was not only able to visit five cities, but also travel on the amazing Chinese expressways and view the countryside. More important, the meetings scheduled for the Ficci biotechnology delegation I travelled with gave some idea about the determined effort China is making to leapfrog into hi-tech industries and dominate the global market for knowledge products.

The visual impact of their cities and the sheer scale of economic activity and construction are mind-boggling. Beijing seems to have more high-rise buildings than entire India and the infrastructure and facilities seem as good as any in advanced countries. While the Delhi government struggles to complete building one ring road as a freeway, Beijing has already finished five ring roads with no-stops for vehicular movement and the sixth one is almost complete. It has a huge airport that can service many thousand passengers simultaneously and, unlike Delhi, has a modern cab service to transport them in comfort to their destinations, at very reasonable fare.

Shanghai is even more impressive. Hundreds (or thousands) of high-rise buildings glowing amidst a huge web of four to five-storey roads that make the city seem like a readymade studio for Star Wars. This urban universe makes India and Indians look puny. The twin city of Pudong and its special economic zone are superior to the new cities of California, such as Santa Clara or Irvine.

We drove 350 km west of Shanghai to Nanjing, and the notion that outside China?s big cities one would encounter under-development and dirt of the kind one is used to in India was quickly dispelled. Every single km on either side of the expressway was dotted by huge cranes that showed the rapid spread of new economic activity on a gigantic scale. Hundreds of villages along the expressway looked much cleaner and picturesque and with better amenities than Indian villages. Large-scale construction and spread of new settlements and factories are diversifying the economies of these villages, that are also benefiting from huge urban markets, such as Shanghai and Nanjing.

The shopping malls and bazaars provide a feel of China?s huge manufacturing base for all kinds of products, ranging from light industrial goods such as clothing and apparel, leather products, processed food and cosmetics to hi-tech products, such as all kinds of advanced consumer and office electronics. The prices are amazing and all of China seems like one big grey market for counterfeit products. One could buy a Hugo Boss tie for Rs 50, a Samsonite overnighter for less than Rs 1,000, a Polo shirt for Rs 100 and a Rolex wristwatch for less than Rs 200. Next time someone gifts you a Mont Blanc pen, you may want to know where it came from.

China?s ability to create infrastructure of high quality at breakneck speed and its huge capacities for mass manufacture of industrial products has been written about times without number. There is no doubt that China would continue to roll out this infrastructure and spread industrialisation to its western parts. However, the Chinese seem to be increasingly aware that there are limits to this model that relies on mass manufacture, particularly of light industrial products and copying of products made in the West. They know that if China has to dominate the global economy in the future, their organisations and companies must move towards creating leadership in creating and mastering new technologies. They?re now investing heavily to realise these goals.

In particular, the Chinese are focused on developing capabilities in information technology and biotechnology. And following a multi-pronged strategy to this end. There is awareness that in IT software, China has lost the race to India, and that in biotechnology, they must act fast to be leaders, at least among developing nations. They are convinced ?bio-industry will be the pillar of the global economy.? And are already miles ahead in creating the necessary physical infrastructure.

Our delegation visited five hi-tech zones in Beijing, Tianjin, Pudong, Nanjing and Nanchang. The scale of investments already made in these facilities is impressive. The Zhongcuangun Life Sciences Park at Beijing, when complete, will be one of the biggest of its kind in the world. With all facilities in one campus? companies, incubators, hospitals, animal houses, universities, schools, recreational facilities, manufacturing plants, R&D facilities, etc.

Indeed, the presence of all ingredients on one campus is common to all hi-tech and special zones scattered across China. Another common factor is the business facilitation services provided by administrators of these parks. At the Tianjin hi-tech zone, members in our delegation were offered rent-free accommodation for two years for starting a biotech unit. All the clearances were available in the main administrative building, which also housed a bank willing to give loans at 6%.

And, infrastructure and the presence of foreign investors from whom the Chinese can learn is just one aspect of their effort. They are also wooing back their scientists from the West and focusing on scientific and technical education and skill development in a big way. This has paid some dividend, as Chinese biotech firms have been able to copy most molecules developed in the West and also developed some of their own intellectual property. For now, China has acquired a good biotech lead over India. To enable India?s scientists and entrepreneurs to steal a march here requires a collaborative effort from our government and private sector.

The writer is an advisor to Ficci. These are his personal views