The Rise of a Superpower

Over the past two decades China has successfully transformed itself into a global technology superpower. It now accounts for 20% of total world R&D spending, publishes more academic papers than any country apart from the United States, and is home to the world’s most valuable unicorn.

Amidst China’s technology boom a list of titans have emerged including Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu. China’s Titans’, although dwarfed by the US Tech Giants in terms of revenue and users, continue to post exceptional growth figures with much potential still to fulfil. In this article, we explore China’s technology ecosystem, the infrastructure and how some of China’s most promising companies compare to those in the US.

Next year the consensus forecast for world growth is 2.6% and for the UK, 2.5%. We are optimistic about next year, however, there are plenty of risks to watch.

Here are our thoughts on the outlook for the UK economy in 2016:

 1. Oil Prices – Lower for longer

Oil has continued to tumble throughout 2015 as Brent crude and WTI crude are down close to 40% at 11-year-lows priced at $36 and $34 respectively. Forecasts for oil prices ranging from $25 - $60 per barrel; with Iran pledging to boost exports and OPEC holding a firm stance on their supply we believe that oil has lower to go before it starts to strengthen. 

"Scaling-Up" - Research shows that a large proportion of economic growth comes from a relatively small number of highly productive, fast growing firms. Here we share a link to Sherry Coutu's presentation on the importance of scaling-up for the UK economy.