China uses foreign firms to turbocharge its industry

>>>>> But there are some countries, like India, that might seem well-positioned to use this same strategy. Yet when I spoke with people familiar with India’s effort to build its first high-speed rail line, for example, they were frustrated that India didn’t do more to get technology and know-how from their Japanese partners. <<<<<

For 2 reasons. 1st: Ours is financed by Japan with long term loan. 2nd: We value good relations with many countries. Afterall, for complex projects such as High Speed Rail, there are many disciplines involved. Civil, Mechanical Traction, Electrical, Signaling and so on. No need to learn all of them in one go. There are 10+ projects coming up. We will get the technology eventually, voluntarily by competitive bidding among players. A good chunk of our High Speed rail projects are being executed by Indian contractors. They are really learning and gaining the experience.

PS: My employer had the opportunity to oversee some of the domestic contractor's execution based on Japanese specifications. We learned quite a lot.

Wait... they're catching on to this in 2024? It was glaringly obvious at least 20 years ago that the joint venture model was specifically implemented to transfer know how. It worked quite well for China.

I'm sure many (if not all) developing countries with a significant market are doing the same. The difference is how serious the receiving country is with that knowledge transfer process.

I've worked as an expat in Malaysia and now in my home country, Indonesia, alongside expats in a local company. The message is more or less the same, "market access in exchange for technology." But the transfer never happens :) I understand this is individual, but I don't think it's any different at the institutional level.

"Bring in technology, absorb it, then re-innovate" A great strategy!

Chinese competition is needed to keep domestic manufacturers from becoming complacent.