Zak Dychtwald

China Expert, Millennial Explorer, & Cultural Futurist
Zak Dychtwald Speaker
  • Author of the highly-praised book, Young China: How the Restless Generational Will Change Their Country and the World
  • Founding CEO of Young China Global Group – a think tank and consultancy designed to create understanding about Eastern and Western millennials
  • Analyzes how the rise of Young China will impact your marketplace, your workplace, and your life, defining opportunities in technology, consumption, and branding

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Zak Dychtwald is a sought out strategic advisor and frequent global keynote speaker, with expertise in global cooperation, the emerging East and West youth mindset, and the interactions of rising China and the world. He is the Founder and CEO of Young China Group, a think tank and consultancy which works to deepen understanding of the effects of the evolving identity of China’s young generation on the marketplace, workplace, and international politics. 

Zak is also the author of the critically acclaimed Young China: How the Restless Generation Will Change Their Country and the World, which explores how the country’s young generation, born after 1990, feels about everything, from money and sex, to their government.

A frequent contribute to Harvard Business Review and sought after expert, Zak has been invited to speak on six continents including Harvard University, The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council Summit, Google’s Next Billion Users Initiative and the Aspen Ideas Festival, among others. He has been named an Asia 21 Next Generation Fellow and recently elected Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai Future Leaders Committee.

 

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China’s New Innovation Advantage

Zak Dychtwald Speaker Reel

Zak Dychtwald: The Impact of Chinese Millennials

Zak Dychtwald On Young China

A Boomer/Millennial Smackdown With Ken and Zak Dychtwald

China’s New Reality. China faced repeated lockdowns during the pandemic, reducing travel in and out of the country to a trickle. Meanwhile, the government was also shifting its longer-term economic and social policies. As China reopens, how much has society and the country’s approach to the rest of the world changed?

Post-Covid Young China - The New State of Chinese Consumption, Collaboration, and Competition

Come March, it will be time to take stock of what this Post-Covid chapter for China will look like.

Will Young China be the consumer engine they were before COVID? For areas like travel and luxury, it less a question of “what?” - an enormous release of pent up demand - and more a question of “when?” For other consumer sectors, the answers are less obvious after a year of an on-again-off-again economy that has left more young people counting their RMB than getting ready to splurge. 

March also marks the newsworthy National People’s Congress, where the political agenda for the next stretch will be defined and Xi Jinping will likely be fully confirmed as China’s next General Secretary.

Potential questions to address:

  • What do these protests mean and how has COVID impacted Young China’s view of their government?
  • How has China’s middle class fared during this extended restrictive period?
  • How is consumer confidence after the last year of shut- and slow-down?
  • What are young people craving after nearly three years of COVID restrictions?
  • How will the National People’s Congress this March define the regulatory 5-year future for China?
  • What new workforce considerations are there, and will young people return to the high-pressure 1st tier city lifestyle they sought before?
  • How are new competitive dynamics and “re-globalization” impacting China’s prospects?

 

Young China Rising in a Complex World: Consumer, Competition, Collaborator. While much of the Western world remains mired in a half-on/half-off limbo, offices, restaurants, retail spaces, and even night clubs are filling up in China. But not all sectors have rebounded equally, and the young generation’s outlook on consumption, work, and government has been impacted to its core. In this keynote, Zak explores how young China – the engine of China’s consumer and innovation economies – has reacted to recent events and how they are shaping up as global consumer, competitor, and collaborator.
 
This Session Will Explore:
  • Was it seen as "worth it" in this new world? How has young China's financial outlook, retail, travel, and education been impacted by the pandemic? What habits changed in the short term, and what shifts might become the new normal?
  • How resilient were young Chinese entrepreneurs in reacting to the "New Normal"? Case Studies. 
  • How have attitudes towards government both their own and the US – changed as China looks toward the future? Is nationalism still a social and consumer theme? How has it evolved?
  • What lessons can we learn from the "near future" of China's reopening for the global consumer?

 

The Young China Opportunity: Myths and Realities Impacting All Global Business. China is nearly impossible to know from the outside, and most organizations are limited by stereotypes around ‘old China’ and a focus on government. In this keynote, Zak pushes audiences to get past the headlines and really get to know Chinese millennials on the ground level. Outnumbering American millennials by 5x, Young China is redefining every market they touch. Zak’s insight into the people, culture, and systems are a must-understand for global businesses and Investors.
 
This Session Will Explore:
  • Key myths that blind investors and media to the realities of China's biggest consumer class. 
  • How growing up at "China Speed" influences spending habits, attitudes toward new technology, family society, and government. 
  • What Chinese Millennials want that is different in their products and workplace. 

 

From Imitation to Innovation: How Will Young China Compete with the US? Can China’s young people be innovative? This is the question defining China’s future. Zak debunks the stereotypes of ‘Copycat China’ and provides a deep dive into China’s emerging innovative firepower. In this keynote, Zak focuses on the social psychology of innovation that could tip the scales in China’s favor in the coming decade. Based on his upcoming Harvard Business Review feature, Zak takes you to the trenches of the country’s tech and investment scene to look at how China is becoming a world-class innovator.

This Session Will Explore:

  • How China today stacks up as a global engine of innovation. 
  • For China's Millennials, how a lifetime of rapid growth leads to a hyper-adaptive and adoptive innovation ecosystem. 
  • The cutting-edge companies and ideas that are coming from China today. 
  • Innovation education and shifting systems of thought in China. 
  • How China's generation gulfs impact world perception. 

“Collaboration Across Boundaries:  Navigating global business amongst change, culture, and conflict” for companies who work between the US and China

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