Ray Dalio: Approach competition with China 'like a chess game'

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio told "Sunday Morning Futures" host Maria Bartiromo that the United States needs to approach competition with China "like a chess game."

"I think you just have to see it for what it is and deal with it," Dalio said. "In other words, don't deal with it emotionally. Approach it like a chess game: if I make this move, it will have this implication."

Dalio noted that the Chinese government is a "worthy opponent" that should not be underestimated.

"It is highly capitalist," Dalio said. "The enterprise system is operating, meaning you go there and the innovation and the things are powerful and that's why you're seeing so many issues with competition."

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The comments from Dalio come days after Attorney General Bill Barr called on companies to stop appeasing the Chinese Communist Party.

“The ultimate ambition of China's rulers isn't to trade with the United States. It is to raid the United States,” Barr said during a speech on Thursday. "If you are an American business leader, appeasing the PRC may bring short-term rewards. But in the end, the PRC's goal is to replace you."

Barr warned that companies have become overly reliant on Chinese goods and services, including face masks, medical gowns and other protective equipment designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus. He also accused hackers linked to the Chinese government of targeting American universities and businesses to steal research related to vaccine development.

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"The People's Republic of China is now engaged in an economic blitzkrieg — an aggressive, orchestrated, whole-of-government (indeed, whole-of-society) campaign to seize the commanding heights of the global economy and to surpass the United States as the world's preeminent superpower," Barr said.

He added that "globalization does not always point in the direction of greater freedom" and that "a world marching to the beat of Communist China's drums will not be a hospitable one for institutions that depend on free markets, free trade, or the free exchange of ideas."

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According to Dalio, the best strategy for the government to prevent any potential theft of intellectual property is to crack down on individual companies doing business with the Chinese.

"If the government is going to do something that will have an effect, they will have to create laws and that those laws will determine what companies are going to do," Dalio said. "They'll behave according to those laws. Otherwise, you're going to have individual companies make their own assessments."

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.