Cheng Shi: I love China-X

Cheng Shi is the Chief Economist and Managing Director of ICBC International and a director of the China Chief Economist Forum

This article is a series of articles written by Dr. Cheng Shi on music and economic essays "Music born from the heart"

Seeing this title, I believe that all readers will be able to smile, yes, I am an investment bank economist who works and lives in Hong Kong, and I love China. But why add a "-X"? At this time, the real good readers can high-five and celebrate, yes, this article is to write Xu Mengyuan. As the pride of Chinese electronic music (electronic music), Xu Mengyuan's most famous series of tracks are all titled "China-", such as "China-Y", "China-M" and "China-Dragon". "China-X" is one of the most prestigious songs, and many electronic audiophiles even compare it with the famous track of the internationally famous electronic music hall of fame band "The Chemical Brothers".

Xu Mengyuan's fans are very large, and after reading my articles and books about music, a classmate once asked me: "Why don't you write about Xu Mengyuan?" "In fact, I have always wanted to write, but most of Xu Mengyuan's songs are pure music, there are no lyrics, and I am often used to cutting from the lyrics and finding the resonance of music and economy, so it is difficult to write Xu Mengyuan." It turns out that I am still too superficial, and no lyrics can still touch people's hearts, which can only show that Xu Mengyuan's music is more universal and infectious, or, here we change a word, a sense of identity.

What is identity? Simply put, it is like, willing to accept from the heart, how abrupt is not disgusting. For music, it's the kind of good that touches you through the bones. NetEase cloud music "China-X" under the song, netizens "Jia Caizi" comments have 127,000 likes, he said: "Today take my grandparents out of the tour, the car is the same color of China, when I returned to the city, Grandpa suddenly came up with a sentence That your music is full of good sounds, Grandpa is 91 today." It can be seen from this that Xu Mengyuan's music is warm and pleasant, suitable for all ages, and it is even more difficult for the electronic music that has always given people a rebellious and noisy impression.

Where does Xu Mengyuan's sense of identity come from? It's not about the amazing electronic sound technology, but about the wonderful cultural heritage. Xu Mengyuan's music is full of Chinese elements, guqin, flute, pipa, Xiao, erhu, guzheng, alpine flowing water, xiaoqiao people's homes, accompanied by the rhythm of electric music and modern drums slowly flowing, staggered without noise, the aftertaste is long and rigid. In his own classification, this combination of Chinese and Western style is "Ancient Chinese Wind Wind Sound". Before hearing this style of music, I never thought that the melodious sound of silk and bamboo could be interpreted so fashionably and dynamicly, and now as soon as Xu Mengyuan's spring water clanging in my ears, I couldn't help but shake my head, shake my legs, and truly understand what is called "the national is the world." ”

I think that Xu Mengyuan's innovation and great deeds lie in using inspiration to open the music aging hidden in the depths of history, and to use rhythm to open the door of the Chinese heart that has been closed in the world for a long time. The sense of identification with Xu Mengyuan is actually a sense of identification with Chinese culture in the final analysis. Listening to Xu Mengyuan's "China" series, there is always a sense of relief and national pride that comes back to the source. Just like the netizen "so-called world" commented under the NetEase Cloud Music "China-X": "Some people ask whether they will do Chinese in the next life, of course, why?" By virtue of my knowledge of Chinese characters, I can appreciate poetry, and I can send wind and moon. ”

As an investment bank economist, I sincerely feel that the sense of identity is not only a musical attribute that turns into gold, but also a precious investment attribute. Activating the sense of identity is the key to the success of Xu Mengyuan Music now, and it is also the key to investors' future pride in the market. The great changes we are facing in a century are undoubtedly an era that is more harmonious and different than in the past. Trade frictions and the COVID-19 pandemic have toppled the dominoes of global protectionism, islandism and populism, and we have seen and will continue to see more great power games and geopolitical instability. In the chaos, the sense of identity is scarce, because it is scarce, so it will be diagnosed and sought after. The crowd gathers firewood and the flame is high, and the recognition of the sense of identity will bring certainty and stability in the sense of investment, and ultimately help the allocation of large-scale assets to be invincible in the storm.

In the context of populism, few countries can maintain a sense of identity, in my opinion, the United States and Japan have a sense of identity, the Sense of Identity of the United States comes from the strong hegemony of the global order, and the sense of Identity of Japan comes from the natural endowment of a single nation power, which is a different interpretation of the past and present dollar assets and yen assets as safe-haven assets. As far as the future global market is concerned, the most important target for the activation of identity is China. As an investment bank economist in Hong Kong and shuttling between China and abroad, I have recently felt this change in this sense of identity in global capital flows, and more and more foreign institutional investors are quietly laying out China, compared with domestic investors, especially small and medium-sized investors, who seem to have some hindsight.

China's sense of identity stems from both internal and external levels. Internally, the sense of identity stems from the rediscovery of values in Chinese culture. If the theme of today's world is the clash of civilizations, then the most enduring Chinese civilization obviously has strong vitality and quietly bursts out of the vitality of the times. Especially in the context of the endless populist events around the world, the profound and profound Chinese culture is guiding us to reconcile with history, to reconcile with ourselves, and thus to lay down our burdens and run more confidently towards the common goal of national rejuvenation. Every Chinese and every Chinese enterprise is engraved with the genes of Chinese culture, and this self-identity will stimulate micro-potential, which in turn will be condensed into a fundamental driving force for the continuous improvement of china's total factor productivity.

Externally, the sense of identity stems from the natural laws and historical experience of economic and financial development. China is special and not so special. Human nature is similar, and the selection patterns of economic individuals under established constraints are similar, so there are always some universal economic laws and market experiences. In the economic development dimension, all market economies are facing the challenge of model transformation in the process of overcoming the middle-income trap, from extensive growth to intensive growth, from catch-up development to endogenous development, from factor consumption to innovation-driven, and the successful can obtain long-term returns from the people's wealth and the country's strength. China is now at such a critical juncture, and China's endogenous development and policy orientation are undoubtedly pouring all their efforts in the right direction, which makes people confident in the future of China's economic deceleration without stalling and increasing quality and acceleration. In the financial market dimension, the stock market has never been a barometer of "economic growth", but a barometer of "economic growth", whether it is the capital market of the United States, Germany or the four Asian tigers, it has performed dimly during the period of rapid economic growth, and recorded rich long-term returns during the period of economic growth. After the beginning of its existence, China's capital market is gathering momentum for the long-term rational prosperity caused by "deceleration and quality increase" by accelerating financial opening up and consolidating institutional design. I think this is the fundamental reason why foreign investors continue to increase their holdings in Chinese assets, after all, as people who have come here, they have seen an economic vision that we have not yet seen, and they have experienced market changes that we have not yet experienced.

In short, the sense of identity is the biggest highlight in the macro chaotic era, such as music, and so is investment. I love China, I love China-X, we should never choose because of anxiety, always invest because of hope, this is the way of life that I believe.