At the occasion of the approaching Chinese New Year I’d like to share some recent observations of parallels between China’s New Normals subject to resolutions at the March 2018 National Reunion and Chinese philosophy. It believes in five elements and how each relates to the workings of the twelve Chinese Zodiacs. These five elements of WOOD, FIRE, EARTH, METAL and WATER are associated with the five major planets in the Solar System: Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury respectively. Assigning one of the five elements to each of the twelve years actually creates 60 different combinations making the Chinese Zodiac a system of 60-year cycles. So the Lunar Year of 2018 will pass under the influence of Chinese Zodiac DOG dominated by the EARTH element. Being an even year, 2018 will further be a Yang Year.

The Chinese zodiac sign of the Dog stands for universal values of dialogue and solidarity. It promises that enterprises ensuring the welfare and health of their consumers, particularly through increased investments in the areas of recycling and renewable energy, will be rewarded with increased revenues. It also promises the birth of new ambitious industrial projects, completely remodeling the modes of production and exploitation of energy resources. Especially initiatives showing contribution to reducing pollution and improving the quality of life are encouraged and shall find favorable conditions for funding by most states, major industrial and financial institutions worldwide.

From a Carbotopia™ point of view all this almost seems too good to be true! But maybe some of the major undertakings being kicked off this coming year are a testimonial for China’s confidence in the right timing? For example the opportunity for all Pearl River Delta Bay Area cities to reinvent themselves! The confidence in Hong Kong to manage the coordination between the 9+2 cities and their 3 different currencies! Which in fact is opening the wall preserving its internal market. Environmental has already been key area for investments in the last two years. And although environmental is currently perceived to drive costs up in China, supply is considered insufficient. Although our IP is based in Hong Kong and we had been enabled to carry out some important R&D work within a Hong Kong Science and Technology Park Incubator Program, Hong Kong unfortunately hasn’t been very ambitious in offering anything for China’s new priority on sustainable technology, resource security and efficiency – which we would be!
China doesn’t want to repeat Eastern-block’s disruptive system-change. It primarily demands its SOEs to peer the qualitative growth of the country’s economy and further widen its middle-income population’s steady wealth increase. That’s what is meant, when speaking of organic comprehensive development. Because China also learned its lesson from the Middle Income Trap having been the root cause for Latin American Populism. Soliciting for local Circular Carbon Economy closed loop value adding chain consorts I noticed the authority’s preference to look at 3rd Tier cities, where people are more socializing focused and have a differentiated consumption philosophy than Tier 1-2 cities. They think to need this support by local mentality to better deal with so far perceived environmental Technologies‘ counterproductive dependence on subsidies. Although Carbotopia™ would work without, they want to go safe for a start. And that is also why I couldn’t entice China to stir-up Hong Kong to join our efforts.
Who knows, Hong Kong being part of China might under its new government perhaps review the issue under the patronage of star 9 and still join us on our Beijing level efforts, for the sake of its own prosperity opportunities in the Lunar Year 2018.