Why are East Asian countries like China, Japan, and South Korea living particularly tiring? When people talk about their dream life, they all think about Western countries, a leisurely and relaxed life.
Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, these are not all developed countries and regions,
Why is East Asia just tired?
From a young age, I have been comparing myself to studying. After graduation, I started comparing myself to working. After getting married, I started comparing myself to having children. As I grow older, I also have to work or help take care of my children.
It seems that there is never a moment in life when I can stop and rest.
So why are East Asians the most hardworking, yet their quality of life is so low?
Even in Singapore, with a per capita GDP of over 80000 US dollars and ranking 6th in the world, compared to European and American countries, life is still very difficult.
Some people say it's because there are few resources, no mines, no oil.
However, in reality, slightly larger economies are almost impossible to become rich by relying on resources. Even Nordic countries do not rely entirely on resources for survival, and countries like Germany, France, and China, Japan, and South Korea have insufficient resources.
The real reason is——
The industries in East Asian countries overlap too much, and everyone is doing the same thing.
In the context of significantly lower prices for factors such as labor, land, and capital than the global market average, the pursuit of cost leadership has led to the transfer of low-end manufacturing capacity to these countries.
The transferred industries are mainly focused on mid to low-end light industries, and every East Asian country starts with clothing and shoes, helping residents transition from poverty to basic needs.
Then we enter the stage of scale advantage, where various factor prices are not as low as before and have a certain competitive advantage in some industries.
Reducing overall costs through large-scale production leads to severe internal competition among enterprises.
Currently, China is still a production-oriented society. Taking electricity consumption as an example, data released by the National Energy Administration shows that in 2023, the total electricity consumption in society was 9224.1 billion kilowatt hours,
Residential electricity consumption accounts for only 14.66%, while the rest is mainly used for production (producing industrial goods and services). On the other hand, the United States across the ocean is used more for enjoyment and less for production. In 2023, the electricity consumption of American residents accounted for 36.5% of the total electricity consumption in the United States.
We all understand that excessive production has already led to overcapacity, and the past factor driven and scale advantages have made us both tired and competitive,
And those industries that truly make money are not allowed for you to touch,
Japan and South Korea have a high level of technology, right? Why don't they build airplanes? The most profitable product in developed Western countries is airplanes, and Boeing can still make a lot of money even if it has accidents every day.
Military industry is even more profitable, selling weapons is the most profitable business in the United States and Europe. Japan and South Korea, can we do it? The West simply does not allow them to participate.
So sometimes conflicts are irreconcilable, even if you want to be Japan in China, you can't be Korea.
For example, making chips may be high-end enough, but the global chip industry only has a combined market size of 500 billion US dollars. Starting today, the world will no longer make chips, and China will be the only country to make them. We can only get a share of over 300 US dollars per person.
The automotive industry is the largest, with a global market of 2.8 trillion US dollars. The world no longer produces cars, and all cars are made in China. Our per capita GDP can only grow by 2000 US dollars.
So this path of destiny for East Asian countries cannot be taken by China.
Our current per capita GDP is 12000 US dollars, and our goal is to achieve a per capita GDP of 20000 US dollars by 2035, which means that the per capita GDP will also increase by 8000 US dollars,
If we rely solely on a few industries like Japan and South Korea, it would still be insufficient to have all the chips, airplanes, and cars from around the world made in China and not in other countries. There's still a long way to go.
So we have no way
We must engage in competition throughout the entire industry chain.
For industries like military, aviation, artificial intelligence, and new energy, we really need to participate in all the most profitable industries in order to achieve our goals.
The population of developed countries in the world is only one billion. If China wants to become a developed country within ten years, then the path of industrial upgrading is the only choice.
It can be said that in the past 10 years, China has basically reached the threshold of technology driven development in most manufacturing industries,
Once China is unable to upgrade its technology and industrial structure, it is easy to fall into the so-called middle-income trap
And this is also the only way for everyone to live less tiredly.
To develop high-value industries, to develop all high-value industries, is the inevitable fate of China in the next decade.
This is a competition that cannot be avoided or conceded. Only when everyone is firm in this goal can it be achieved.
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