Investors in the West are underestimating the scale of innovation, entrepreneurship and economic momentum happening in China, leading to missed opportunities, according to William Ford, chairman and CEO of US private equity firm General Atlantic.
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“Investors avoid investing in China at their own peril,” Ford said in an exclusive interview with the Post on the sidelines of the 2025 Family Business Summit in Hong Kong last week. “They’ll miss some tremendous investment opportunities.”
Ford noted that a new, ambitious generation of Chinese entrepreneurs was emerging, with companies spanning various sectors – from industrial automation to medical technology – pursuing a “China for global” strategy.
“They want to access global markets and really be global leaders,” he said, following a recent two-week trip to China.
While geopolitics may pose challenges, the easing of US-China tensions and the booming Hong Kong equity market presented renewed investment opportunities, according to Ford. “With the Hong Kong market becoming reactivated, it will make investing here very attractive.”
US-China relations appeared to improve after Chinese President Xi Jinping met his US counterpart Donald Trump during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea in late October, addressing issues such as trade tariffs, soybean purchases and rare earth export bans.