The Economist Magazine Cover For 08/03/2024

The Economist Read in browser August 3rd 2024 How we chose this week’s image SUBSCRIBER ONLY Cover Story How we chose this week’s image The Economist Edward Carr Deputy editor Our cover this week is unusual in that it does not appear on paper. Because we had our summer issue last week, this edition exists exclusively in its digital incarnation. As you will see, that gave our designers a rare opportunity. Our theme is how Chinese firms in industries from cars to clothing are expanding abroad. The scene is set for a grand battle between the rich world’s incumbent multinationals and their rivals from China. The arena is the fast-growing economies of the global south. The expansion of Chinese business is taking two forms. One is through globalised supply chains. New foreign direct investment by Chinese firms tripled last year, to $160bn. The other is the pursuit of the 5bn non-Chinese consumers who live in the developing world. Since 2016 listed Chinese firms have quadrupled their sales in the global south, to $800bn, and now sell more there than in rich countries. The billboard stands for Chinese business in general and it is being attached to an office building somewhere typical. It’s fine as far as it goes, but we wanted more bite. The backpacking businessman gives a sense of how far-flung Chinese business has become. Transsion, an electronics firm, produces half of the smartphones purchased by Africans. Mindray is the leading supplier of patient-monitoring systems in Latin America. Chinese makers of electric vehicles and wind turbines are expanding in the developing world, which also happens to be home to nine of TikTok’s ten biggest markets. In these images we recruit an octopus to evoke the threat to Western incumbents. Sales by Chinese companies in the global south have already overtaken those of Japanese multi­nationals. On current trends they will pull ahead of European firms and be on par with American ones by 2030. But this imagery, even in its more jocular form, is unfair to Chinese firms and too kind to their Western rivals. Once derided for turning out shoddy copycat products, Chinese firms have mastered the knack of producing goods for low-income consumers in a way that Western companies never did. Chinese firms are now at the cutting-edge of electric vehicles and batteries, precisely the sorts of industries rich-world governments coddle at home. The idea that Chinese brands lack global appeal has been shattered by companies such as Shein, a fast-fashion firm. We thought we could be more balanced—and take extra advantage of the colour possibilities that a digital-only cover creates. To explain that, I need to make a brief digression. This colour chart shows the difference between reproducing colours on the page with ink and on a screen with light. The inks—cyan, magenta, yellow and key (printers’ jargon for black)—combine in the CMYK colour model to produce a more limited range than the red, green and blue (RGB) pixels of a digital screen. Red pops especially well on screens, which just happens to be the colour of China’s flag. Our designers sensed an opportunity. The clocks say that Chinese business is going global—and that this does not mean London, New York and Paris. This image has a dry wit, but it fails to get across the good news at the heart of this story. Billions of lives will be enhanced by a wider choice of cheap, innovative and green goods. Transsion’s $100 smartphones mean that some of the world’s poorest people now have at their fingertips all the knowledge and services the ­internet has to offer. Affordable medical devices will save countless lives. Low-cost climate-friendly technologies make it more likely that developing countries will be able to keep their greenhouse-gas emissions in check even as they get richer and their populations grow. These incoming executives are much more lively—and the bright-red parachute catching the sun positively throbs with energy. It makes full use of this week’s digital-only opportunity. We were worried that the execs might look like paratroopers, so we dressed them in business garb and gave one a briefcase shedding papers. For decades the West was the world’s fiercest advocate for globalisation. The consequences of its decision to turn inward to shield itself from Chinese competition will take years to ­become completely clear. But the world is not standing still. Western multinationals have long been the main agents of cross-border trade and investment, and some of the biggest beneficiaries of openness. Today they are surrendering ground in the world’s fastest-growing and most populous markets. China is already reaping the rewards. Cover image • View large image (“Chinese business goes global”) Backing stories → Chinese companies’ global expansion holds lessons for Western incumbents (Leader) → Chinese firms are growing rapidly in the global south (Briefing) Also from The Economist Checks and Balance Subscriber only Stay informed with our weekly China newsletter Drum Tower will help you understand the challenges facing the country and the ruling Communist Party. Sign up today. We’d like to hear from you Share your feedback or send us an email below to get in touch. → Email newsletters@economist.com Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. This email has been sent to: ohomen171@gmail.com. If you'd like to update your details please click here. Replies to this email will not reach us. If you don't want to receive these updates anymore, please unsubscribe here. 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