DAVID FABER: DO YOU THINK  CHINA  CAN BECOME A CONSUMER-LED ECONOMY? THE CHINESE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN BIG SAVERS. IT'S ONLY 34% OR SO OF YOUR GDP VERSUS TWICE THAT IN THE  U.S.  I MEAN, CAN YOU EVER APPROACH THAT--JACK MA: CHANGING SO FAST. SEE, I THINK THE-- I DON'T HAVE THE EXACT NUMBERS, BUT I WILL-- I WILL BET 90% OF THE BUYERS TODAY-- I THINK WE HAVE, LIKE, 200 MILLION—MORE THAN 200 MILLION BUYERS TODAY-- 80%, 90% ARE YOUNG PEOPLE. AND THEY'RE NOT-- VERY, YOU KNOW, RICH GUYS. BUT THEY START TO BUY, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT TAKES TIME. NEXT-- I'M ALWAYS-- YOU KNOW, WE ALWAYS HAVE TO BE PATIENT. NEXT FIVE YEARS, YOU WILL SEE. 'CAUSE-- 'CAUSE FIVE YEARS AGO, EIGHT YEARS AGO, PEOPLE DO NOT BUY-- SPEND A LOT OF MONEY ON.. THEY PROBABLY SPENT 200 RMB-- EVERY MONTH. NOW THEY SPEND 2,000 RMBIEVERY MONTH, SO TEN TIMES BIGGER.

David Fuller's view

I managed to catch this interview with Jack Ma as it occurred, and was very favourably impressed.  Unfortunately, the videos on the site are short and interrupted by commercials.  The transcript above is accurate but inevitably does not have the same impact as the live interview. 

Jack Ma, the former English teacher, is a thoughtful, modest person with a terrific business brain.  In terms of governance, I have no hesitation in giving him the benefit of the doubt.  Alibaba’s recent float in the USA and exceptionally rapid growth is clearly one of the big stories of this year, and probably the decade.  Also, his hard-earned success is a very good example of the entrepreneurial spirit that is developing within China. 

I have expressed plenty of reservations about the country’s political system but its business policies are clearly capitalistic.  This also indicates that China will continue to provide plenty of investment opportunities for international investors.  The Shanghai A-Share market remains cheap and is coming back into form, having reached its highest level since 2011.