The HSUHK School of Business congratulates our School Advisory Committee Chairman, Joe Ngai, Senior Partner and Chairman of McKinsey’s offices in Greater China, on the launch of the book in June, “The Next China Is Still China: An Insider’s Playbook for Winning in the New Era.”
Synopsis of the book
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Joe Ngai noticed the conversation one evening kept returning to the same question: Should companies rethink their China strategies? Many executives wondered whether China’s era of dominance was ending—and which country might become the “next China.” When someone put the question to Ngai directly—What is the next China?—the answer was immediately clear. Despite its challenges and uncertainties, the next China is still China.
China’s growth is expected to be 4–5% annual GDP over the next few years, slowing from its double-digit era, but still producing staggering numbers. In addition, its unique ecosystem has proven difficult to replicate. Despite the challenges, China possesses unrivaled prospects for growth and entrepreneurial opportunity. But, will companies understand the “next China” and successfully adapt?
In THE NEXT CHINA IS STILL CHINA: An Insider’s Playbook for Winning in the New Era (Scribner; June 16, 2026) McKinsey senior partners Joe Ngai and Nick Leung reveal what the future will hold for businesses that can redesign their strategies—moving beyond merely selling into China to partnering and building within its innovative ecosystems. Based on decades of helping companies navigate the region, they share their on-the-ground expertise, combining it with real data. Ngai and Leung reveal the rewards for doing business in China remain significant and discuss:
- Why “next China” growth will not come from manufacturing
- The five attributes that make China unique: its massive scale, speed, supply chain, as well as an enormous consumer base and intense competition
- The pressures facing China’s economy and its institutions: slowing growth, rising debt, intense competition, a demographic cliff, and complex global relationships
- While some businesses rethink or pause their activity in China, why Ngai and Leung say the better answer may be to pivot
- How Chinese competition can create involution–which produces stronger supply chains, deeper engineering capabilities, faster iteration cycles, and genuine innovation
- While overall economic growth seems modest, how companies can find untapped pockets of business growth and opportunity
- How China’s AI sector is evolving along a different trajectory, leading globally in several key categories including image-to-video, text-to-video, and image-editing models, and
- The next step for AI—robotics—and why it sits squarely in China’s “sweet spot” of strengths.
The book also features case studies from some of the world’s most prominent brands, including Louis Vuitton, Mercedes-Benz, and AstraZeneca, illuminating how they have approached doing business in China. It also highlights Chinese firms on the rise, like electric vehicle company BYD and Pop Mart, known for the Labubu phenomenon.
THE NEXT CHINA IS STILL CHINA is an insightful read that can help people better understand the world’s second-largest economy, why it’s not one they can easily ignore, and how it’s changing. I hope you will consider an interview with Joe Ngai and Nick Leung so they can share their unique insights with your audience. I’ll be in touch soon to discuss ideas for coverage.
Joe Ngai is a McKinsey senior partner and chairman of the firm’s offices in Greater China. He has led large-scale transformations for Chinese and multinational organizations and advises many of the top corporate leaders in the region. Frequently seen on media such as CNBC and Bloomberg, he has been named one of Forbes China’s 100 Most Influential Chinese Leaders, and he has also appeared on Bloomberg Businessweek China’s “Person of the Year 2025” list. He has an AB, JD, and MBA from Harvard University.
Nick Leung is a McKinsey senior partner and member of McKinsey’s global board of directors. He is also a lead-director of the McKinsey Global Institute, the firm’s independent research arm, where he directs research on macroeconomics, global trade, and geopolitics. Based in Asia since 1997, Nick served for twelve years as chairman of McKinsey’s offices in Greater China, where he led the region through its fastest growth period. He has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the London School of Economics.
—Oliver Bäte, CEO of Allianz
“Deeply informed and urgently needed. This book dismantles the clichés that still dominate business thinking about China.”
—Dominic Barton, Chairman of Rio Tinto
“Delves into the unique advantages and transformation challenges of China’s business in terms of scale, speed, and innovation…highly valuable.”
—Peter Ma, Chairman and Cofounder of Ping An Group
“Clear-eyed and compelling, essential reading for Chinese business.”
—Yuanqing Yang, CEO of Lenovo
“An insight-packed, rigorous guidebook…Readers will come away with an understanding of what remains durable, how to spot opportunity, and how to efficiently operate in situations of daunting complexity.”
—Bai Chong-En, Dean of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management
“Eloquently makes the case for why multinationals need to double-down on China. It’s not just about leveraging awe-inspiring scale…Rather, it’s about how battling in a hyper-competitive market makes everyone better prepared for the pivots to come.”
—Phyllis Cheung, CEO of McDonald’s China
“A must-read. This eye-opening journey into the intricacies of how certain Chinese firms manage to prosper offers a window onto the country’s likely future.”
—Laura Cha, former Chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and non-executive Deputy Chairman of HSBC
“Sharply written and compelling in argument, The Next China is a navigation guide to the country that no business leader can ignore.”
—William C. Kirby, Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and TM Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University