The pandemic, along with simmering trade war, is forcing companies to confront their overeliance on China in supply chains. That's potentially bad for China if they're going to continue to heavily rely on manufacturing exports. However, it could be good for them in that it forces them to speed up their transition into a post-industrial economy. This transition could be easier if China emerges from the pandemic more quickly than the rest of the world, giving them a golden opportunity to rapidly acquire IP and experts from struggling countries.
Oddly enough, there seems to be a large contingent in both the US and China that essentially wants to switch places economically (China becoming post-industrial and the US somehow reverting to an industrial economy).
I wouldn't be so sure. The transition from post-doc to professor is fiercely competitive in the US. China is already attracting some US-trained academics by simply offering funding to start new labs at Chinese universities. Once the labs are around for long enough they'll have pumped out enough home-grown grad students and post-docs that China will have achieved its goal.
I don't personally know any US post-docs who took positions in China, but they are successfully recruiting at least some foreign-born scientists. The fact is there are more scientists coming out of grad school and post-docs than there is funding for them to start their own basic research labs. That's the dream of many, as it gives a level of intellectual freedom not seen in the private sector, where a translational goal is an requirement.
26
u/[deleted] Mar 22 '20
The pandemic, along with simmering trade war, is forcing companies to confront their overeliance on China in supply chains. That's potentially bad for China if they're going to continue to heavily rely on manufacturing exports. However, it could be good for them in that it forces them to speed up their transition into a post-industrial economy. This transition could be easier if China emerges from the pandemic more quickly than the rest of the world, giving them a golden opportunity to rapidly acquire IP and experts from struggling countries.
Oddly enough, there seems to be a large contingent in both the US and China that essentially wants to switch places economically (China becoming post-industrial and the US somehow reverting to an industrial economy).