Chinese and Asian century: competition, finance, trade, politics, outsourcing, wealth, job

China, Asia, world competition and globalization : how many challenges and conflicts are ahead ?

Reviews of 2 new books:

1. China's Global Reach: markets, multinationals, and globalization

2. China and the new world order: how entrepreneurship, globalization, and borderless business are reshaping China and the world

by Sinomania China News Service

"Empty talk destroys prosperity," so goes the current wisdom in author George Zhibin Gu’s hometown Shenzhen in the booming Pearl River delta of Guangdong province, long China’s export powerhouse. But empty talk you won’t get from Gu’s insightful and timely discussion of the Chinese economic resurgence and its implications for the world.

This new book "China’s Global Reach : Markets Multinationals Globalization" is an at times urgent appeal against isolationism and protectionism. Critics of China’s "peaceful rise" argument will find most surprising Gu’s assertion that you cannot equate the business of China (export dominance, job outsourcing, etc.) with the government of China or China as a national entity. Indeed Gu emphasizes the essential importance of international involvement in the reform of China’s state sector and in ultimately untangling the knot at the center of China’s problems - the impasse between party-bureaucracy and private life and property at all levels.

Gu expertly dissects the reality behind the huge numbers of Chinese trade and economic performance and shows how hard it is to criticize China’s trade surplus with the USA, for example, in light of its impact on Wal-Mart’s (and numerous other American multinational corporations (MNCs) profits. There is a tremendous amount of information regarding MNCs in China throughout the book.

On one level, "China’s Global Reach" is a celebration of how far China has come in such a brief period by a son of the first post Cultural Revolution generation. On another level it fits into the "peaceful rise" line that is predominant in China today, that is that Chinese economic ascendancy is not the emergence of a new hegemony but benefits the whole world. And Gu’s book serves also as a good antidote to rising sinophobia, particularly in the USA, by contrasting the Chinese global reach with that of Japan.

It was not so long ago that the same criticisms leveled against China - trade deficits, job displacement and so forth - were directed at Japan. The bogeyman of the 1980s was "Japan, Inc." just as today many of the same voices (The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Economist, just to name very few) claim China aims to take over the world. However, Gu gives numerous examples of just how different China’s global reach is from that of Japan and how much more open the Chinese economy is compared to Japan where foreign involvement is still severely restricted. More significantly, Gu shows how global-minded the Chinese are themselves particularly with their embrace of foreign products.

The rise and success of consumerism in China is one of the main themes of "China’s Global Reach" and the book goes a long way toward explaining to a foreign audience (the book is available in English and Portuguese so far) how the ruling Communist party equates its political authority with unfettered materialist determination.

Capping Gu’s book off nicely is an Afterward by Andre Gunder Frank who died last year before finishing his sequel to the ground-breaking and influential "ReOrient : Global Economy in the Asian Age." Frank’s comments are a powerful encapsulation of China’s global impact and a reminder to Americans specifically that the only thing to fear about a rising China is the USA’s response to it.

A delightful read, full of useful information, and interesting anecdotes, "China’s Global Reach" belongs on the desk and bookshelf of anyone with a serious interest in what’s going on in China. Get your copy today !

Contents of "China's Global Reach"

CONTENTS

Introduction

Three New Lessons

Growing Up in China

Going International

Returning Home

This Small Book

The Big Picture

Acknowledgments

Part I China as a New Global Theater

1. Ambitions of Foreign Multinationals in China

Today’s Versions of Columbus and Magellan

International Rush

Why Are They Here?

Why China?

One Big Factory-Market

More Sectors, More Players

2. The Business of China Is Business!

“Empty Talk Destroys Prosperity!”

Foreign Bankers

Spouses and Children

Welcome!

3. Creation of a Global Manufacturing Center

Unexpected Contributors

Arrival of Indian Companies

A Crowded Market

Galanz: the Manufacturer of the World

Convenient Settings

Future Trends

4. The Ultimate Driving Force: Explosive Consumption

Unexpected Development

Impressive Outcome

Continued Consumption Surge

5. Sharp Rise of Private Sector

One U.S. Banker’s Discovery

40 Million New Businesspeople

Rural and Urban Entrepreneurs

Buttons Create a New Industrial Town

Jinjiang, Fujian: Biggest Exporting Center for Sport Shoes

Low-End Players

6. All Players Are Important

Competing International Players

Auto Market

International Banks

International Listings

Consumer Views

Part II Global Interactions, Business Dealings, and Job Transfers

7. Learning - A Big Industry

Demand for Education

A Top School

International Involvement

8. The Officials’ Global Reach

Officials Lead the Way

Guangdong versus Inland

Abolishing Bureaucratic Tricks

International First

New York versus Beijing

9. “Capital Is Not Enough”

No Shortcuts

Two Lessons to Remember

Volkswagen versus Beijing Jeep

“Capital Is Not Enough”

Ericsson’s Seven Mistakes

Bashing Carrefour

10. Global Job Transfers

One International Question

Hiring by Foreign Multinationals

New Era of Global Job Transfers

Job Worries around the World

Hiring by Chinese Players

Global Job Transfers: China versus India

Part III China’s New International Experiences

11. Price, Price, Price

A Chinese Edge

GE in China

Japan’s Global Efforts

Cisco versus Huawei

Microsoft in China

Global Price Reductions

12. When Can Chinese Companies Become Global?

Weakness at Home

Foreign Observations

Low Benefits for China

State Banks: “The Troublemakers”

A Long Way to Go

13. Chinese Multinationals

Some Sizable Chinese Companies

Buying Into International Markets

Overseas Operations

Creating More Partnerships

14. Bringing Foreigners In

Trade Fairs

Industrial Parks

Foreign Acquisitions



Part IV China’s Reform at Home: The Unfinished Task

15. Problems Outpacing Solutions

The Ownership Issue

State Assets and Death on the Nile

“Two Pockets of the Same Jacket”

Lack of Weapons and True Owners

16. How Can a Man Still Wear Baby Clothes?

Credit Crisis and Banking Problems

The Richest Man in Shanghai

Corruptive Partnerships

17. Crises of State Sector

Rapid Changes in the Managerial Class

Hiring Foreign Managers

Long Live Competition!

Reform Difficulties

Painful Layoffs

Government Trimming

18. When Can China Achieve Meaningful Restructuring?

A Saturated Market

Difficulties for a Rational Order

The CEO in China and Elsewhere

Who Is Responsible for Wealth Creation?

Buying Parties Ready?

Need for Greater Determination

19. Employment Traps

Resident Permits

Lives of the Migrants

Employment Difficulties for Other Groups

Death of a College Graduate

20. Bureaucratic Tails

Tails Everywhere

Lucky International Players

“The Red Building”

Part V Globalization in Light of History

21. An Unbroken Circle?

The British Isles as a Global Center

China’s Missed Opportunities

The U.S. Way: Dumping Losers

Expansion and Wealth Creation, Past and Present

22. Universal Companies and Global Expansion

Bigger and Bigger Multinationals

First Strategy: A Strong Home Base

Second Strategy: Creating a New Form of Dominance

Third Strategy: A True Global Reach

China’s Participation in the World Economy

23. More on the Circle

Who Has Affected Globalization the Most?

First Factor: Japan’s Global Reach and Retreat

What Is Going On in Tokyo?

South Korea: Glories and Bubbles

Second Factor: Asia’s Financial Crisis

Third Factor: The World Trade Organization

Unexpected Developments

Global Development Orbit

24. How Does China Achieve Sustained Growth?

A Great Paradox

Effective Government, Different Role

The Big Picture

A New Model

Getting Out of the Box

A New World Order

Afterword: China, United States and Global Development

by Andre Gunder Frank

Notes

Contents of "China and the New World Order"

This book consists of 26 chapters, which are organized into eight parts:

I. China’s New Role in the World Development

Ch 1. China's social changes vs tourism

Ch 2. Whose 21st century?

Ch 3. Go east, young man!

Ch 4. Everyone in the same boat

ch 5. Power and limits of later developers

II. The Yuan, Trade, and Investment

ch 6. China's competitiveness vs rising yuan.

ch 7. Where to invest your money?

ch 8. Behind a rising yuan

ch 9. Beyond textile trade wars

III. China’s Fast-Changing Society, Politics, and Economy (in light of Chinese and global history)

ch 10. Lessons from Shenzhen, China's new powerhouse.

ch 11. Hunan province: from red state to supergirl and superrice.

ch 12. A revolution of Chinese professions

ch 13. What is the Chinese bureaucratic tradition?

ch 14. Why does Beijing want to reform?

IV. China’s Banking, Insurance, and Stock Market Reforms

ch 15. The explosive insurance market

ch 16. Chinese banks on the move, finally.

ch 17. lessons from China's stock market.

V. Chinese Multinationals vs. Global Giants

ch 18. The coming of age of Chinese multinationals.

ch 19. Behind Chinese multinationals' global efforts.

ch 20. China's technology development.

VI. The Taiwan Issue : Current Affairs and Trends (federation as an alternate way for unity)

ch 21. Federation: the best choice for Taiwan and mainland China.

ch 22. Taiwanese businesses in the mainland.

a vibrant Taiwanese force.

Hightech.

Other sectors.

What is the next?

Will Spring follow winter?

VII. India vs. China : Moving Ahead at the Same Time

ch. 23. China and India: can they do better together?

ch 24. Uneven development: India vs China.

VIII. The Japan-China Issue : Evolving Relations in Light of History

ch 25. Japanese business in China.

ch 26. Japan's past aggressions vs current affairs.

About the Author

George Zhibin Gu, a journalist/consultant based in Guangdong, China. A native of Xian, he was educated at Nanjing University, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Michigan. He holds two MS and a PhD from the University of Michigan.

For the past two decades, he has been an investment banker and business consultant. His work focuses on helping international businesses to invest in China and helping Chinese companies to expand overseas. He has worked for Prudential Securities, Lazard, and State Street Bank, among others. He generally covers mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, business expansion, and restructuring.

Also, he is a journalist on China and its relations with the world. His articles or columns have appeared in Asia Times, Beijing Review, The Seoul Times, Financial Sense, Gurus Online, Money Week, Online Opinion, Asia Venture Capital Journal, and Sinomania, among others. He is also a member of the World Association for International Studies hosted by Stanford University.

He is the author of four books : 1.China and the New World Order : How Entrepreneurship, Globalization and Borderless Economy Reshape China and World, foreword by William Ratliff (Fultus, 2006) ; 2.China’s Global Reach : Markets, Multinationals, and Globalization, afterword by Andre Gunder Frank (revised edition, Fultus, 2006) ; 3. China Beyond Deng : Reforms in the PRC (McFarland, 1991) ; and 4.Made in China ( English edition forthcoming, Fall 07 ; Portuguese edition, Centro Atlantico, 2005).