The China Strategy

Book excerpt: China has hundreds of thousands of businessmen and women who are driving the fastest sustained national economic growth rate of any country in world history. After decades of being held back by their country's socialist history, the Chinese people are moving forward with the force of water bursting from a broken steam pipe. The intensity of their aspirations, joined with the plans of the government and the presence of the country's hundreds of millions of ordinary people, means that future developments in China will surpass even those of the recent past—and in an extraordinary manner. At the same time, the integration of Chinese business with global business is accelerating, meaning that no major enterprise or financial institution can avoid doing business with China, any more than they can avoid the United States. Success in China, either for a local entrepreneur or a global multinational, is now enough to transform a company's performance worldwide. This book explains the changing nature of China's business environment, its increasingly complex relationship with the rest of the world, and the global business. The China Strategy is uniquely positioned to help business leaders and other observers make sense of China. It provides a holistic view of the Chinese business environment, looking at consumers, competitive enterprises, the government, integration with the rest of the world, and the ways these elements interact. This book is thus the first to lay out a framework that puts together the different (and seemingly contradictory) trajectories of China's future. It shows how change is taking place in non-linear fashion: some factors (like Chinese entrepreneurship) are expanding exponentially, while others (like the value of China's labor arbitrage) may be reaching a plateau. And it shows how to build and execute a global business strategy in light of these changes. During the next few years, successful American and European businesses may have to move to become global businesses, incorporating China in particular into their core identity because it is the fastest-growing world hub of economic activity. They will need to become familiar with the Chinese financial systems, as well as its consumer markets, innovation capabilities, and labor force. These leaders could have no better guide than The China Strategy.