Zhang Wei, Chairman of Cornerstone Capital: The foundation of China's economic prosperity has not changed, and the development of hard technology has ushered in a double window of opportunity

China Fund News, Liu Ming

Recently, the 2024 Chinese Artificial Intelligence Empowering New Quality Productivity Development and Innovation Conference hosted by Cornerstone Capital was held in Wuhan, with the theme of "Institutional Reform and Technological Innovation". At the conference, Zhang Wei, Chairman of Cornerstone Capital, gave a keynote speech on the topic of "Hard Technology Development and Institutional Innovation".

Zhang Wei said that China is currently catching up with the double window of opportunity of technological change and domestic substitution, the fourth industrial revolution has given late-developing countries a comparative advantage, and at the same time, traditional domestic substitution is evolving to a new type of domestic substitution, grasping this important development opportunity, the hard technology industry represented by semiconductors is likely to achieve corner overtaking.

Zhang Wei said that China's industrial revolution has lifted 1.4 billion people out of poverty and achieved great development, and now it has passed a period of rapid growth, but with the intelligence, diligence and enthusiasm of the Chinese, in the environment of market economy, respect for the entrepreneurial spirit, the foundation of China's economic prosperity has not changed.

In the current new energy vehicle industry, which has attracted much attention due to the "price war", Zhang Wei also expressed his views again. He said that the electric vehicle industry is an investment of up to 50 billion yuan, a long-term industry of more than 10 years, compared with the new forces of car manufacturing, traditional car companies, technology and consumer electronics giants have more opportunities, such as Huawei, Xiaomi, these companies have industrial production experience, product sales experience, and most importantly, have a strong and continuous capital investment ability.

Zhang Wei's speech photo

Technological revolution + domestic substitution opens a double window of opportunity

Zhang Wei believes that due to the gap between China and the United States in the innovation system and the capital market, the United States is currently clearly ahead in the field of hard technology such as semiconductors and AI (artificial intelligence). However, the fourth industrial revolution and domestic substitution have opened a double window of opportunity for the development of domestic hard technology.

Zhang Wei said that the famous evolutionary economist named Carlotta Perez has studied the catch-up of late-developing countries from the perspective of technological revolution, and in the first stage of the technological revolution, there will be a window of opportunity for new technologies, and new technologies will pull all participants to a unified starting line, giving late-developing countries that want to enter independently and have the opportunity to step on the top of a new wave.

In the fourth stage, there will be a window of opportunity for mature technology, and late-developing countries can achieve growth in a certain period of time based on their comparative advantages, on the introduction of technology and industrial transfer. However, Perez believes that there is no chance of catching up in mature technology, because its innovation potential has been exhausted, leading countries have established extremely high industrial barriers, and it is difficult for late-developing countries to achieve a jump in the industrial value chain.

However, Zhang Wei believes that China is not the same, the United States has a strong ability in the hard science and technology industry, and the blockade of China's science and technology industry "forced" China to go through the road that the United States has not completed the third industrial revolution, mainly embodied in industrial software and semiconductors. Therefore, even if the third industrial revolution is a mature tool, semiconductor EDA software, China has to do it again, which means that we have ushered in the opportunity of the third industrial revolution, and we are moving forward with the fourth industrial revolution, which is a place where double opportunities occur.

Zhang Wei believes that now from the perspective of investment and industrial development, the pressure on the development of hard science and technology is very great, the entire semiconductor industry in the past is to participate in the global cycle, and now it is suppressed by some external forces, we should seize a double opportunity of technological revolution and domestic substitution, from the traditional domestic substitution to the evolution of new domestic substitution, more need to pay attention to independent innovation. From the perspective of technology investment, we still have a huge opportunity.

Zhang Wei said that there are two main departments in the investment direction of cornerstone capital, one is hard technology such as semiconductors, and there is still a generation gap between us and foreign advanced technology. The other is the emerging manufacturing industry, including new energy vehicles, solar energy, display screens and other industries, and there is no generation gap with foreign countries, and we also provide solutions to foreign countries to go ahead of them.

Zhang Wei said that China's economic and entrepreneurial environment encourages the development of the private economy. In response to the call of the times and market demand, Cornerstone Capital also has an intensive layout in the field of hard technology, investing about 80 companies in the semiconductor field, with nearly 10 billion yuan.

Zhang Wei also said that the development of hard science and technology requires long-term investment and entrepreneurial spirit, an environment of innovation and freedom, and the continuous efforts of a generation.

Market economy X Confucian culture: China's economy has the opportunity to continue to prosper

Zhang Wei believes that the Chinese are diligent and intelligent, and the Confucian culture formed over thousands of years, combined with the market economy, can fully mobilize enthusiasm and promote economic development. It can also be seen not only in Chinese mainland, but also in the development process of South Korea and Taiwan.

Zhang Wei said that the combination of China's Confucian culture and market economy was the great Chinese industrial revolution. This is what really sets China apart from many other countries.

In Zhang Wei's view, China's industrial revolution has helped 1.4 billion people get rid of poverty, so it is "a light boat has crossed ten thousand mountains", and has achieved great development, but with the improvement of the economic level, the economic growth rate will inevitably slow down, that is, the so-called "peacock flies southeast, five miles and one wanders" development stage, "our concept of economic growth also needs to change, the future needs to pay more attention to the quality of development, we are very confident in the future of China's economy."

Let's talk about the new forces of car manufacturing, traditional car companies and innovative companies have more opportunities

The smart car and robotics industry is also a key investment direction of Cornerstone Capital. Zhang Wei once wrote an article about the new power of new energy vehicle manufacturers in 2019, and he believed that the new energy vehicle industry is easy to enter the high point of maturity, and many new car manufacturers will not survive for long, which has aroused attention and discussion in the circle.

Zhang Wei believes that the development of the new energy vehicle industry, the entry threshold is high, the investment cycle is long, the investment threshold of 50 billion yuan, the investment cycle of more than 10 years, even Tesla has taken many years to make a profit, and Tesla is unique, to achieve "from 0 to 1" innovation, the US capital market highly respects and tolerates such enterprises.

However, many new domestic car-making forces are following from "1 to 10", and the capital market will require large-scale financial statements and positive returns, which is more difficult for new car-making forces.

Zhang Wei believes that compared with the new forces of car manufacturing, some traditional car companies, technology and consumer electronics giants have more opportunities, such as Huawei, Xiaomi, BYD, Chery, etc., these companies have experience in industrial production, experience in selling products, and most importantly, they have a large and deep "pocket", that is, they have strong financial strength.

Editor: Captain

Review: Chen Mo