The Valdai International Discussion Club is launching a new analytical product: weekly analytical commentaries on topical subjects contributed by respected researchers.
What Asia Wants or the "Four C's": Consumption, Connectivity, Capital and Creativity
is the first report prepared within the framework of a research program of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club. The subject of the first report was chosen for a reason. Over the past few years, Asia has come to aspire to the role of a new economic and political global center, and its role on the international stage has grown increasingly more significant.
The authors of the paper point to the need to abandon stereotypes, the biggest of which is the label, Made in China, which used to indicate poor quality of goods produced in China and neighboring developing countries. Asia is no longer the global workshop supplying the world with consumer goods. It is learning to enjoy life and to produce goods for its own consumption. The authors analyze four vital conditions for this change in the quality of the region’s internal development: consumption, connectivity, capital and creativity.
The paper was contributed by Timofei Bordachev , Assistant Professor, Faculty of World Economy and International Relations, Department of International Relations, National Research University – Higher School of Economics (HSE); Director, Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CCEIS) at the HSE; Director of Studies, Council on Foreign and Defense Policy (from 2003); Anastasia Likhacheva, Junior Researcher, Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CCEIS) at the HSE, Master’s Degree in International Relations; and Zhang Xin, Faculty Fellow, School of Advanced International and Area Studies, East China Normal University; Visiting Professor, National Research University – Higher School of Economics.
Download Valdai Paper #1 in English (PDF)
