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Joe Ngai, McKinsey: Domestic rivalry drives Chinese firms

Maura Fogarty speaks to Joe Ngai, Chairman of the China region for consulting firm McKinsey, for a high-level insight into how the world鈥檚 second-largest economy functions.

鈥淢ore Chinese companies are put out of business by other Chinese companies. Chinese companies are not put out of business because of Western companies, so this whole competition is not, from a Chinese guy's mind, like a US-China competition. It鈥檚 more 鈥榟ow do I survive this gym?鈥 because it's damn hard to keep staying alive at home. That in turn makes you very competitive in the rest of the world.鈥

Maura Fogarty speaks to Joe Ngai, Chairman of the China region for global consulting firm McKinsey.

He advises senior management at Chinese and multinational corporations in the region which gives him a unique insight into the world鈥檚 second-largest economy.

Having written numerous books and reports on China鈥檚 economic landscape, Ngai鈥檚 expertise has been recognised by accolades from the likes of Forbes China and Bloomberg.

In this interview, we hear his thoughts about how the Chinese market has changed in the 25 years since the country joined the World Trade Organisation, and on how AI is developing and managing tensions with US competitors.

Thank you to the Asia Business team for their help in making this programme.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the 麻豆社, including episodes with tech billionaire Reid Hoffman, director Chlo茅 Zhao, and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, head of the World Trade Organisation. You can listen on the 麻豆社 World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on 麻豆社 Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: Maura Fogarty
Producers: Ben Cooper and Jaltson Akkanath Chummar
Editor: Damon Rose

Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterview麻豆社 on social media.

(Image: Joe Ngai. Credit: Getty)

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