De-risking, China + 1, Friendshoring

Whatever you want to call it, multinationals are on the move.

Good evening. Earlier this year, Elon Musk said, “I think India has more promise than any other large country in the world.”?He’s not alone. Some projections say India’s economy could overtake Japan’s by 2030. Our cover story this week looks at the tremendous opportunity in India for multinationals — and what that means for China. Elsewhere, we have infographics on the so-called Li Keqiang index to assess China’s economy; an interview with Bob Gates on the military’s relationship with China; a reported piece on Chinese companies’ failure to list; and an op-ed about why de-risking matters.

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Tomorrowland

A long line of multinationals are now knocking on India’s door. But if there’s any chance of them successfully diversifying away from China’s highly skilled workforce and well-oiled logistical machine, they’ll need to learn from the industries and companies that came before them. Luke Patey reports.

The Big Picture: Li Keqiang: A Premier Measurement

Instead of relying on the country’s official GDP numbers, the former premier used a three-pronged proxy measurement for growth, the so-called ‘Li Keqiang index’. This week, infographics by Aaron Mc Nicholas look at what the index is telling us about China’s recent economic performance and assesses whether it’s still a relevant measure, 16 years after the ex-premier first proposed it.

A Q&A with Robert Gates

Robert Gates has held the most senior national security positions in government under Republican and Democratic administrations. He was CIA Director under George H. W. Bush. Later, George W. Bush named him Defense Secretary and Barack Obama kept him on the job. Gates’s experience with China dates from the?normalization of U.S.-China relations under President Carter and continued through decades where the U.S. sought engagement. In this week’s Q&A with Bob Davis — part of our series, “Rules of Engagement” — he talks about Xi Jinping’s relations with the PLA, Taiwan and how the U.S. should deal with China and Russia.

Failure to List

It’s getting tougher for Chinese companies to enter the country’s stock markets as state scrutiny rises. Eliot Chen reports.

Why De-Risking Matters

Companies and governments need a better mutual understanding of how they view each other’s approach towards China, argues Andrew Cainey in this week’s op-ed.

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