New Delhi
CNN Business
—
indian billionaire Gautam Adani says China “will feel increasingly isolated” and that the “first champion of globalization” will struggle to bounce back from a period of economic weakness.
Speaking during a conference In Singapore on Tuesday, Adani said “growing nationalism, mitigating supply chain risks and technological restrictions”, as well as resistance to Beijing’s massive “Belt and Road” initiative, would have impact on China’s global role.
Asia’s richest man says ‘housing and credit risks’ in the world’s second-largest economy ‘also draw comparisons to what happened to Japan’s economy during the ‘lost decade’ of years 1990″.
Adani was speaking less than a month after the business mogul became the third richest man in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He is the first Asian to take this place.
The founder of the eponymous Adani group controls companies ranging from ports to electricity.
Although pessimistic about China, Adani remains optimistic about his own country, saying India is “one of the few relatively bright spots from a political, geo-strategic and commercial point of view”.
It predicts that India will become the world’s third largest economy by 2030, with “the largest consumer middle class the world will ever see”.
Some tech companies looking to reduce their reliance on Chinese manufacturing already see India as an attractive alternative.
On Monday, Apple announced that it has started manufacturing its new iPhone 14 in India, as the tech giant seeks to diversify its supply chain. While the company manufactures most of its products in China, it has decided to start producing its latest devices in India much earlier than with previous generations.
Companies may have to leave China not only because of its strict Covid restrictions, which have been hurting supply chains for months now, but also because of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan.
The US government has ordered two of the best chip makers stop selling high-performance chips to China earlier this month. And, last week, the heads of the largest American banks declared that they could go out China if it ever attacks Taiwan.
Adani also mentioned the challenges facing the UKand countries of the European Union, because of the war in Ukraine and Brexit.
“While I expect all of these economies to readjust over time — and rebound — the friction of the rebound seems a lot tougher this time around,” he said.