The late Charlie Munger never had much patience for dressed-up explanations. While plenty of economists tried to frame China’s rise as something complex or elusive, the late Berkshire Hathaway vice chair saw something else entirely.
In a resurfaced 2019 interview with Yahoo Finance, then-Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer put the question directly to him, asking what the secret to China’s success was. At the time, Munger had already spent years backing that belief in the real world through Berkshire Hathaway’s early investment in Chinese EV maker BYD, and his answer pulled together policy, leadership, and behavior in one continuous explanation.
Don’t Miss:
“They copied Singapore,” Munger said, before grounding that idea in the mindset he believed made it possible. “Remember? The Communist leader said I don’t care if the cat is black or white. I care whether it catches mice,” he said, referring to former Chinese President Deng Xiaoping and the results-first philosophy that shaped China’s reform era.
That thinking, in his view, led China to look outward for what worked and apply it at scale. He pointed to a specific influence that stood out to him, adding that China “copied a very wonderful, famous Chinese man in Singapore” and found “the right Chinese leadership outside of China,” which amused him because “he was Chinese.”
Munger didn’t leave it vague. “If you ask me who is the one man who did the most for China, it was Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore,” he said, referring to Singapore’s first prime minister. “They copied him.”
Trending: Skip the Regrets: The Essential Retirement Tips Experts Wish Everyone Knew Earlier.
From there, Munger moved into what made the outcome so unusual, tying that borrowed framework to what actually happened on the ground. “In the whole history of the world, no nation that big has ever advanced that fast,” Munger said in the Yahoo Finance interview. “And they did it by having a bunch of poor people save half their income.”
He made a point of separating that growth from a common assumption. “They did not use the wealth of the rich world to get ahead. They used the savings of poor people,” Munger said, emphasizing that the engine was internal, not imported.
That wasn’t a side detail to him. It was the mechanism. “I am a huge admirer of what the Chinese have accomplished,” Munger told Serwer.
Munger didn’t ignore the uneven parts. He acknowledged that a system of that size would come with setbacks and mistakes, and that progress wouldn’t always be smooth. “They have ups and downs, and they make mistakes as well as good decisions,” Munger said, before returning to what mattered most in his view. “If the average amount the Chinese are getting ahead, they’re not moving backward.”
See Also: Don’t risk buyer’s remorse — ask these critical questions every homebuyer should know.
That same logic carried into how he viewed the relationship between China and the United States. “It is stark raving madness on either side not to make a friend of the other really powerful nation on Earth,” Munger said, framing cooperation as common sense rather than strategy.
Munger died in 2023 at age 99, leaving behind a record of blunt assessments that often cut through more complicated narratives. Since that Yahoo Finance interview, China has faced its share of challenges, including a prolonged property crisis and weaker domestic demand. Even so, the country still posted 5% GDP growth in 2025 and set one of its lowest targets in decades, around 4.5% to 5%, for 2026.
Berkshire Hathaway, which once backed China’s rise through a highly profitable stake in BYD, fully exited that position in 2025. But Munger’s broader point was never tied to a single investment. It was rooted in a system he believed worked, one built on pragmatism, scale, and behavior that, in his view, kept moving forward even when conditions weren’t perfect.
Years later, that perspective, and his warning about cooperation between the world’s two largest powers, still hangs in the air.
Read Next: Thinking about ETFs? See what investment risks you should be aware of before you buy.
Image: Shutterstock
UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets.
Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga:
This article Charlie Munger Said ‘No Nation That Big Has Ever Advanced That Fast’ — China Got Rich By Having ‘A Bunch Of Poor People Save Half Their Income’ originally appeared on Benzinga.com
© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Source link
