Have you ever been in China?<p>1. KFC? McD? Yes, they have this. But they also have their own chains. That you did not hear about them, does not mean they don&#x27;t exist. I actually really like the (Japanese) chain Yoshinoya here but there are enough Chinese alternatives. Starbucks? Yes, they have this. But they have their (I assume) own chains (I assume for example Holyland and 85 degree are Chinese brands).<p>Technology? Yes, the rich kids love Apple products. But they have Haier, huawei, Hisense, Xiaomi. Your ignorance won&#x27;t make this brands disappear. And if you don&#x27;t want to buy them, there are billions of people and the world that will. And don&#x27;t forget. &quot;Made in Germany&quot; was a label forced upon products by England to suggest &quot;inferior technology&quot;. How did this turn out?<p>Instead of Paypal they use alipay, instead of Whatsup they use the much superior WeChat. Yet, Baidu is very inferior to google. They have Alibaba and Taobao.<p>Yes, they have their BMW, Mercedes and VW. But they also have their Chinese brands like BYD etc.<p>They may have a recession&#x2F;depression for some years but it won&#x27;t stop the rise of the East. The world GDP has already shifted back to the East after it shifted to the west due to the industrual revolution. The economic future lies in the Eurasian continent with Russia&#x2F;CIS, India and China. Europe has two options - associate with the US or with the Eurasian continent. The US is very eager to prevent this (e.g. TTIP). Don&#x27;t forget, Chinese think very strategically and long term.<p>The long term problems are likely different. Besides over aging (which can be seen in the West too), believe of cultural superiority. While it has it advantages not to be flooded with criminal &quot;refugees&quot; like Germany, the closed society in China also keeps talent out. Most superpowers (Rome, UK, USA) were very open for talent and it was easy or at least possible to become a citizen. This is a problem. Corruption? This can be fixed. But the deeper tendency to be dishonest is likely the cultural problem. Similar to Arabs, Chinese don&#x27;t trust each other.