BBC covered President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai trade expo where he said China would be open to reducing tariffs and making it easier for foreign firms to get access to Chinese markets.
I know we have heard this story before, but each time it repeats the news media makes it into a glorifying moment. As the BBC points out, he did not say he was going to stop, or curb, stealing technology. that will make it easier for companies to get into China but won't change the consequence of being there. It goes to the rationale given by Steve Balmer, formerly of Microsoft, of selling software in a country where over 90% of the people who use it don't pay for it. The 10% who do are a big number and, in spite of losing $10B a year in license revenue, the money that does come in helps the bottom line. If they are going to steal it, we might as well benefit. They will steal it whether we do or not. Every businessman has some sympathy for that view, but it is one that keeps China ahead by stealing its way to success. Businesses cooperate.
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