If you think Wall Street’s been scary lately, take a look at Shanghai’s stock market. The Shanghai Composite Index is down 46 percent since last October. The Shanghai Daily headline again today: “China shares nosedive… panic selling reigns.”
It takes a strong stomach to invest and do business in China. But a lot of Americans are doing it. And there is money here.
This hour, live from Shanghai: American business players in China on what it takes to crack the People’s Republic…
Has your company planted its flag in China? If so, how’s it going? Are you worried your job is headed for China?
You can join the conversation — both on the air, by calling 1-800-423-8255 between 10am and 11am ET, and here online by posting a comment below. -Tom Ashbrook
* * *
Guests:
With us from Beijing is Tang Jun, President until 2004 of Microsoft China, which under him had the fastest sales growth rate among Microsoft’s 82 global subsidiaries. Until this month he was President of Shanda Entertainment, a $340-million publicly traded entertainment company. Today he was named CEO of New Huadu, a $6 billion conglomerate with business in retail, mining, real estate and finance. His pay package is estimated at one billion Chinese yuan — $140 million — a record compensation package in China.
Joining us in our studio in Shanghai is Tom Doctoroff, Northeast Asia Director for JWT, one of the largest US-based advertising and marketing firms. He worked at JWT in Hong Kong from 1994-1998, and has been based in Shanghai since 1998. Some of the company’s clients in China include Ford, Kraft and Avon. He is author of “Billions: Selling to the New Chinese Consumer,” and blogs at The Huffington Post.
And with us from Boston is Malcolm Riddell, president and founder of the boutique investment bank RiddellTseng, which specializes in foreign direct investment in Chinese real estate. His clients have included MetLife, CIGNA and Fidelity Investments. He has lived and worked in China and Taiwan for more than 15 years. Before founding RiddellTseng in 1988, he was a CIA case officer in China Operations.
You can listen to the show live on WBUR starting at 10am ET. And we’ll have the full audio posted on this page later today.
Links:
How Microsoft Conquered China
Fortune magazine follows Bill Gates to China and describes his celebrity status there, how he attained it, and what it means about business in China.
FT.com: China
Business news on China from The Financial Times.
By the Book (Economist.com)
The Economist magazine offers recommendations for the best recent books on business in China.
Doing Business in China (World Bank Group)
The 2008 report from the World Bank Group’s DoingBusiness.com, which provides “objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement.”
The China Law Blog
China Law Blog focuses on law and business in China, but its topics range from China’s developing legal system to its society, culture, and current events. The site has won accolades from The ABA Journal and Business Week.
The Brand Preferences of Affluent Chinese (PDF)
Master Card’s detailed 2008 report on popular brands in China, with statistics and advice for Western companies.
China Briefing
The website of China Briefing magazine, based in Hong Kong, “covers legal, tax and operational issues from the position of the international investor.”
Thank you for this important subject, it IS possible for the US to do business in China, I was able to travel to China on a Federal Grant to assist small West Michigan manufacturers in exploring the opportunities in China. The wonderful people, overwhelming scope of opportunities, and changing business environment were inspiring to me.
As a long time volunteer for Jr. Acheivement I am worried about our lack of educational focus on language skills as well as cultural acceptance.
Learn Chinese - Learn Chinese business culture!!
Again - the passion, humor, and kindness of the Chinese people continues to inspire me.
Posted by Jeannie Jansma at 9:57 pm on April 15th, 2008During the program from China, one of the guests of Tom Ashbrook mentioned on 4/15/08 show, that America is the Innovation Economy and China is the Production Economy. It is like the Ying and Yang, each economy depending on the other.
The above comment often heard on many shows is too simplistic and to a large extent self serving for the few who are affluent and succesful. Such over simplification is a total disservice to the average working men and women - the middle class - of America.
It is true that the Innovation Economy alone can support the higher standard of living. Hence it applies to the USA. But, it is not an automatic or given for the USA. China happens to be the Production Economy simply because the Chinese Government subsidises a lot of investment cost for US Companies. US companies are able to leverage this using Digital Technology as a powerful aid for all Information and logistics tasks needed to beenfit from such an indirect gift from the Chinese Govt..
Chinese economy can not remain a production economy for long, and it is the intent of Chinese Government to transform theirs into an Innovation Economy, as soon as they can.
What is happening is an emergence of single bimodal economy - a steep and a flat world - enabled by Digital technology, that applies to all countries. Steep world (Innovation part of the economy) belongs to those with skills to create new solutions - with higher rewards for such solution creation - and a flat world (Production part of the economy) to replicate known solutions using DT applications.
Hence it is more of a moral and social imperative for all in the USA, especially those who are well off, to relentlessly move away from task oriented skills to create and foster skills needed for solution creation. This transition may or may not happen in the industrial world. Therein lies the future of America and the good standard of living the middle class America enjoys today.
I am aavailable to discuss more if you so desire and share with you some slides that illustarte the above reasoning.
Thanks.
I have made three trips to Yantai, China for coordinating factory production standards. The relationships I had with the people were outstanding. The NUMBER ONE factor was brought out in Mr Ashbrook’s report: Learning the culture as well as the language. It shows we are interested in them. It is the first step in a good business relationship.
John Newman
Posted by John Newman at 11:17 pm on April 15th, 2008One very telling statement about American companies in China was the statement about GM’s sale of a million cars, essentially all of which were made in China.
Sorry, sticking the name of a US company onto a product doesn’t make it “American,” in the mind of anybody except those who directly profit from the export of US jobs. A car made in China is a Chinese car, whether it says “Ford,” “Chevrolet,” or “Great Wall Motor.”
Unfortunately, US trade policy hasn’t quite figured out that a product’s nationality is better defined by where it’s made and by whom it’s made than where the corporation happens to be chartered.
Posted by E M Culver at 2:18 pm on April 17th, 2008With all the great sites on China out there, you really should not have listed China Briefing, which does nothing more than give a re-hash of one news item every day in an effort to draw attention to Chris Devonshire Ellis(who was debunked years ago for claiming to be a lawyer even though in real life he never even graduated university). Step it up guys!
Posted by Marcus Phillips at 2:20 pm on May 10th, 2008Please stay on topic, be civil and be brief.
Email addresses will not be displayed but is required for comment confirmation. All comments are subject to moderation.
Thank you Tom for bringing the show to China. This is definitely a better way of communication for the people both inside and outside of China. I wish this can be done during the Olympic games this summer.
Jia You!
Posted by Ming Wu at 8:49 am on April 15th, 2008