At a recent CEO dinner at the Harvard Club in New York, more than 20 senior executives from the U.S. investment, technology, and manufacturing sectors convened for a private dialogue on global economic shifts. The evening’s featured speaker, Patrick Zhong, Founding Managing Partner of M31 Capital, delivered a keynote that challenged conventional thinking on China’s evolving role in the global economy.
His keynote addressed structural changes in China’s economy, the resilience of its manufacturing base, the trajectory of emerging industries, and how global supply chains are being reconfigured in response to rising geopolitical complexity. He also discussed capital flows, the transmission effects of the U.S. dollar cycle, and bottlenecks in the industrialization of innovation—offering a framework for understanding the next phase of global asset repricing.
As one of the few global investors who can connect the dots between China’s industrial shifts and global capital trends, Patrick Zhong gave attendees a sharper lens to evaluate uncertainty, reassess China’s weight in global portfolios, and revisit how risk and return are defined in a fragmented and increasingly multipolar world. His insights sparked an extended discussion that lasted over three hours, with participants actively posing questions and pressing for deeper understanding on issues critical to their strategic decisions.
“Today’s talk made us realize that the old playbook—understanding China through financial models—is no longer sufficient,” remarked one CEO from the manufacturing sector. “We need a new analytical framework to reassess the logic of investing in or around China.”
Prior to the dinner, the event organizer also sat down with Patrick Zhong for an in-depth interview. In this pre-event conversation, he explored structural shifts in China’s economy and what they mean for global capital allocation. The full video interview is available below.
