This episode of Inside the China Room with Jiang Jiang, I’m joined by Mike Liu (刘宏), VP & Senior Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, or CCG, a leading non-governmental think tank based in Beijing.
Mike is also an accomplished business executive with more than 30 years of experience in hi-tech industry with leading multinational corporations. His career has taken him across Greater China, the United States, Singapore, and India.
In this episode, Mike assesses the current state of China–India relations against the backdrop of this year’s BRICS Summit in India, and explains why the relationship matters far beyond the two countries. Drawing on his experience in India’s technology sector, he discusses whether India’s outsourcing-led IT model can adapt to the AI era and how the different strengths of China and India may shape their interactions in the field. He also talks about trade and economic ties, the visa imbalance, the need for more firsthand exchanges, and China’s engagement with South Asia and other neighboring regions.
Mike is the former Managing Director and Legal Representative of DXC Technology in Greater China. Before that, he served as Global Vice President, Country Head, and Legal Representative at Infosys, one of India’s largest IT services and consulting companies, in the Greater China region.
He is also the author of The Rise of India’s IT, a book that draws on his experience and and research to examine the factors behind the success of India’s IT industry in a global context.
Mike was also our guest three years ago, the last time we discussed India on this podcast show.
Highlights:
01:09 – Introduction: China–India relations ahead of the BRICS Summit in India
13:34 – Why China–India ties matter globally, and where trade and economic relations fit in
19:09 – Can India’s outsourcing-led IT model adapt to the AI era?
34:02 – Visa barriers, firsthand experience, and the importance of people-to-people exchanges
41:30 – China’s engagement with South Asia and other neighboring regions
46:50 – Book recommendations
54:33 – Closing remarks
Recommendations:
Mike Liu:
On China, by Henry Kissinger
The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World, by William Dalrymple
JJ:
The Rise of India’s IT (《印度IT的崛起：我的印孚瑟斯体验》), by Mike Liu
701 Days in India, (《我在印度的701天》), by Fei Guo
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This episode was recorded on Sept. 3.
