Dawn of the Digital Dragon Dynasty

Book excerpt: The Chinese Century is imminent and China is on the brink of global leadership. Understanding what will be the world's largest economy, its culture, and philosophy will be imperative to navigate the new world. China now is at the forefront of global innovation seen in the likes of AI, big data, e-commerce, social media, electric vehicles, fintech, and drones for example. New technologies of the future such as 5G, the IoT, autonomous vehicles, and blockchain will take China into the stratosphere however driven by its entrepreneurial flair, academic brainpower, public support, and hyper-speed consumption of the world's most powerful middle class. China led the world for much of global economic history pioneering the likes of the compass, paper, printing, silk, and gunpowder. Now it will lead again perhaps as early as 2025 and it will radically reshape the world in terms of technology, urbanization, rural transformation, culture, and the Belt and Road. History has come full-circle and the dawn of the new world has arrived; it is Asian but with a Chinese twist. Beijing is the new Chang'an. The future is being designed in China and the dragon's digital dynasty is ready to go global.