McKinsey on China

China's cities are getting big, but can they also be sustainable? The Urban China Initiative believes they can, as they highlight in their latest report, which assesses and ranks the sustainability of Chinese cities across four key dimensions. Nick Leung, Managing Partner of McKinsey's Greater China Practice, discussed this report with Jonathan Woetzel and Guangyu Li. Jonathan is a Director in Shanghai and co-chairs the Urban China Initiative, a think-tank run by McKinsey, Tsinghua University, and Columbia University. Guangyu is a Partner in Shanghai.

According to a new report by McKinsey, China now has the largest and most active population of social media users in the world. So what can companies do to leverage this channel to build their businesses – and protect their brands? Nick Leung, Managing Partner of McKinsey's Greater China Practice, discussed this report with Chris Ip and Ari Silverman. Chris is a Senior Partner in McKinsey's Beijing office. Ari is a Partner in Shanghai.

In our last podcast on electric vehicles in China, we discussed why they've failed to live up to expectations, and whether there's a future for this technology here. In this podcast, we take the conversation a step further and propose a solution. In a new report, published this week by McKinsey's China Auto Hub, we argue that China's auto industry can and should indeed go electric. But China's government policymakers and auto manufacturers should consider adopting a different technological solution, and target a very different set of customers. Nick Leung, Managing Partner of McKinsey's Greater China Practice, is joined in this conversation by Axel Krieger and Paul Gao. They're Partners who lead McKinsey's China Auto Hub.

China's medical equipment industry – which covers anything from surgical gloves and hospital beds, to heart stents and CAT scanners - is booming. Chinese companies are moving up the value chain, and are starting to capture market share in segments that were previously dominated by multinational players. A few Chinese companies are even establishing a presence in overseas markets. In this podcast, Nick Leung, Managing Partner of McKinsey's Greater China Practice, discussed this topic with Franck Le Deu, Yinuo Li, and Jin Wang. They're Partners leading McKinsey's Healthcare and Medical Products Practice in China.

New research by McKinsey shows that China's retail banking market is on track to become the second largest in the world by 2015, after only the US. For Chinese banks, capturing growth will require taking a different approach than they have in the past, one that focuses on implementing leaner cost structures and gearing service models around customer needs. Nick Leung, Managing Partner of McKinsey's Greater China Practice, discussed some of the highlights from this research with Emmanuel Pitsilis and Jun Xu. Emmanuel is a Director in Hong Kong who heads the Financial Institutions Practice. Jun is an Associate Partner in Shanghai.

Chinese consumers are changing – that much everyone can agree on. But how exactly are consumers starting to resemble their counterparts in the rest of the world? And in what ways will they continue to behave as they always have? Nick Leung, Managing Partner of McKinsey's Greater China Practice, discussed a new report that addresses this issue with Max Magni and Ming Zhang. Max is a Partner in Hong Kong who heads the Consumer Practice. Ming is a Partner in Shanghai.

Japanese companies have had their challenges in China, while Chinese companies have yet to establish a substantial presence in Japan. Recently, however, we have seen some promising examples of collaboration in both directions.

The government's recently announced target of 7.5% GDP growth for this year should be considered relatively good news for China's mayors. For it's the mayors who bear much of the burden of implementing economic policy in China. But things aren't getting any easier. In fact, they seem to be getting harder these days, as revenues from the sale of land shrink, and cities tackle a host of issues associated with rapid urbanization. Nick Leung, Managing Partner of McKinsey's Greater China Practice, discussed this topic recently with Haimeng Zhang, Guangyu Li, and Jonathan Woetzel. Haimeng heads McKinsey's Sustainable Urbanization Practice in China. Guangyu leads the Public Sector Practice. Jonathan is a Director and Co-Chair of the Urban China Initiative, a new think tank run in collaboration with Tsinghua University and Columbia University.

Just a few years ago, China's auto sector was gearing up for the roll-out of electric vehicles. Today, few electric vehicles can be found on China's increasingly crowded highways and city streets. What's holding the industry back from going electric, and when will China finally live up to the hype? Nick Leung, Managing Partner of McKinsey's Greater China Practice, discussed this topic recently with Axel Krieger, Paul Gao and Larry Wang. Axel is a Partner in Beijing who heads McKinsey's China Auto Hub. Paul and Larry are Partners in Shanghai who co-lead the Automotive Practice.

China seems to have an insatiable thirst for energy. McKinsey research predicts that China will drive as much as one-quarter of the world's incremental demand for energy through the year 2030. To keep up with this demand, China will be spending $130 billion a year over the next two decades on new power plants, an increasing number of which will be fueled by renewable energy sources. What changes to government policy, industrial structure and consumer behavior are needed to ensure that China consumes energy in a more efficient and environmentally sustainable way? Nick Leung, Managing Partner of McKinsey's Greater China Practice, discussed this topic recently with Michael Wang, Kevin Chan, and Jonathan Woetzel. Michael and Kevin are Partners with the Global Energy and Materials Practice in Shanghai. Jonathan is a Director in Shanghai and is Co-Chair of the Urban China Initiative, a think tank founded by McKinsey, Columbia University, and Tsinghua University.

Taiwanese businesses have long been attracted to China for its vast supply of low-cost labor and enormous domestic market. Over the past two decades, Taiwanese firms across a range of industry sectors have quietly established very successful businesses there. What's behind their success? And is there something that companies from other markets can learn from Taiwanese firms about operating in China? Nick Leung, Managing Partner of McKinsey's Greater China Practice, discussed this topic recently with Bill Wiseman and Tina Chen. Bill is the Managing Partner of the Taipei office. Tina is an Associate Partner in Taipei.

In China, domestic firms are capturing market share and profits by designing products that not only appeal to Chinese consumer tastes – but are also priced substantially lower than comparable offerings from multinational firms. As a result, more and more multinational companies are finding it necessary to rethink their approach to product design and development in China. In this podcast, Nick Leung, Managing Partner of McKinsey's Greater China Practice, discusses this topic with Bill Wiseman, Davis Lin and Changqing Zheng. Bill is Managing Partner of the Taipei office and heads McKinsey's Design to Value Lab in Asia. Davis is a Partner in Taipei with the High Tech, Telecoms, and Media Practice. Changqing is an Associate Principal in Shanghai.

It's official – China is now mostly an urban nation. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, urban dwellers now account for more than 51% of China's population of nearly 1.35 billion. That's 690 million people, a number the McKinsey Global Institute expects will reach one billion by the year 2030. Now that China has passed this historic threshold, what are some of the changes we should expect going forward? Nick Leung spoke with Jonathan Woetzel and Haimeng Zhang about what this milestone means for China. Jonathan is a Director in Shanghai, and is the Co-Chair of the Urban China Initiative, a think-tank run in collaboration with Columbia University and Tsinghua University. He joined the conversation by phone. Haimeng is a Partner in Shanghai who heads the Sustainable Urbanization Practice in Greater China. Nick is Managing Partner of McKinsey's Greater China Practice, and is based in Beijing.

Few sectors in the Chinese economy today are untouched by private equity. The sector is awash in capital, but competition for deals is intense. Well-funded, well-connected local players are posing a fresh challenge to foreign firms. And the battle for top talent is red hot. The sector is starting to take on characteristics of more developed markets, leading some to ask, "Is private equity finally coming of age in China?" In this podcast, Nick Leung discusses this topic with Bruno Roy and Joe Ngai. Nick is Managing Partner of McKinsey's Greater China practice, based in Beijing. Bruno is a Partner in Beijing and leads McKinsey's Principal Investors Practice in Greater China. Joe is a Partner in McKinsey's Hong Kong office and leads the Asset Management Practice.

2011 was a challenging year for the Chinese economy. Inflation, fueled by rapidly rising food prices, cooling property markets, and a series of fresh disputes with Chinas major trade partners, are just a few of the issues that have dominated news headlines over the past 12 months. As we move into 2012, questions remain regarding how these issues will play out, what kind of policy actions the Chinese government might take to address them, and what companies should do to prepare for the new year. In this podcast, Nick Leung discusses the outlook for the Chinese economy in 2012 with Jonathan Woetzel, Gordon Orr and Guangyu Li. Nick is Managing Partner of McKinsey's Greater China Practice, based in Beijing. Jonathan is a Director in Shanghai, and is the Co-Chair of the Urban China Initiative, a think-tank founded by Columbia University, Tsinghua University and McKinsey. Gordon is Asia Chairman of McKinsey, and is based in Shanghai. Guangyu is a Partner in Shanghai and leads the Public Sector Practice in Greater China.