How Beijing's Tech and Business Bonafides are Withstanding the Trade War

Kyle Mullin | Jan 2, 2019 8:30 am | Add a comment | 1943 reads

At first glance, this year could be viewed in many ways as unexceptional, yet the first thing that struck us from conducting these interviews for The Year From Every Angle is that by and large 2018 was a year of progress.

The positivity and hope displayed among these seemingly disparate endeavors, including art, activism, mental health, and even the leisure pursuits have arisen from communities quietly coalescing around a number of shared and strengthening goals and beliefs. Though some of those objectives fell afoul of the authorities, advancements over the last 12 months have laid a solid groundwork for what looks to be a fine year ahead.

Before we gaze forward, however, it’s time to read back on Beijing’s 2018 from (nearly) every angle.

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Name: Andy Mok

Title: Founder, Red Pagoda Resources; CGTN Commentator
2018 in 5 words: Watershed, New Era, Strategic Rivalry

From investing in scrappy niche startups to commenting on tech, business, and world affairs for an audience of millions, Andy Mok’s purview is certainly wide-ranging. The founder of 12-year-old Red Pagoda Resources, an investing and consulting firm for startups in China, has recently become a fixture on the CGTN television network where he regularly discusses IT and entrepreneurship on a number of shows.

That has offered Mok unique insight into the tech scene in Beijing and China at large, which he sees as brimming with potential even in the face of turmoil. “To paraphrase Leon Trotsky, you may not be interested in politics but politics is interested in you. 2018 was the year that politics and geopolitics intervened in the world of tech startups and venture capital financing,” he says.

Mok goes on to describe how the trade war between China and the US, and the passage of legislation like FIRRMA (The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act), will deeply impact the flow of capital and cross-border entrepreneurship in the tech world.

Drastic as all that might sound, Mok is optimistic, saying, “Within an increasingly unsettled global environment, Beijing, as an engine of tech innovation and entrepreneurship, goes from strength to strength.” Mok chalks that up to increasingly affluent consumers and rising company valuations, adding, “the city and the tech companies based here have made significant advances in 2018.”

And that bodes well for the year ahead, a period in which Mok says, “Beijing will continue to attract the best and brightest from around the world. It will not just be a base for the large and fast-growing China market, but serve as a platform for identifying and capturing opportunities in third markets like Africa and India.”