Mr. China: A Memoir

Author - Tim Clissold ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Hardcover Book item from Collins was reviewed on 15-Sep-2008.

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1) Hardcover Book Mr. China: A Memoir by Collins. "Mr. China" is a collection of vignettes of real-life misadventures by Wall Street in its drive to invest and profit from China´s production abilities in the 1990´s; attempts to make profit from investing in the "one billion three." Here, the author is the first person protagonist as he tries to supervise his many venture factories.

Every possible disaster ensued: flooding; national economic downturns; international incidents. Personnel problems topped the list. The Chinese directors manage to do everything possible to sink their own ships perhaps while making new ones: resist modern efficiency; embezzle; set up competing businesses; spend millions on fruitless unauthorized enterprises and to play the government and the courts against their foreign partners. The disasters drove the author, via stress, to near death.

The book is an effort to convey and to understand what happened. The surprising conclusion of the book is that the author believes the business mismatch of East and West, when looked at from the Chinese perspective, shows, in fact, the strength of the Chinese character: in times of trouble, to look to the short term and seize advantage when offered. In the end the author became life long friends with many of his adversaries.

The book seemed long on disasters and short on solid insight. But the book can serve well as a cautionary tale to today´s investors in China´s industries.¤

2) Hardcover Book Mr. China: A Memoir by Collins. Mr. China, with great humor, is what happens when direct investors become infatuated with (1) the ´development potential´ of a stable, intelligent, resource-laden emerging market country (particularly a communist one) and (2) their own messiah-like potential to bequeath prosperity to the country´s impoverned people. With a terribly poor understanding of Chinese law enforcement, politics/communism, culture and very limited Chinese relationships, they begin rapidly investing in China eager to beat others to the punch. Inevitably they learn that (1) ´controlling investor´ entails more than 51% equity ownership, (2) only enforceable rules count, (3) rules aren´t enforceable unless you´re better connected to the CCP, (4) communism isn´t just a theory; it´s a lifestyle, (5) if you are a well-intentioned humanist on the inside but look/act like a reincarnated imperialist, guess what people see, and (6) yes, all the normal precautions of private equity investing in fact cannot be ignored for the sake of speed, culture or quasi-charity.

Great read for anyone interested in direct investing / business management in China or simply emerging markets in general.¤

3) Hardcover Book Mr. China: A Memoir by Collins. This is a highly entertaining story of the early days of investing in China when every entrepreneur was trying to make as fast a buck as possible. Those were truely wild west days and they have largely passed but they make very useful reading for anyone investing there as it was not that long ago.¤

4) Hardcover Book Mr. China: A Memoir by Collins. Tim Clissold´s Mr. China provides an excellent view of how business was done in China in the nineties, and how rapidly China was building out through that period. It also provides background on common business and negotiating strategies used by Chinese JV partners in the period before China joined the WTO (World Trade Organization) in 2001 at the Doha round.

Tim provides one view of the deals, while Jack Perkowski´s book, Managing the Dragon: How I´m Building a Billion-Dollar Business in China, provides a different perspective. Perkowski is the Wall Street investment banker mentioned in Mr. China.

As someone who lives and works in China, I can attest to the truth of the many frustrations mentioned in the book. The trouble comes when westerners try to force change on the Chinese at a pace of the westerners´ choosing. The change is picking up speed, but only because the change is coming from within the China, and not being forced by external pressure.

Through it all, the author comes through as someone who although occasionally frustrated with his Chinese business associates, has a deep respect and affection for the Chinese people. This comes through in the final paragraph of the book:

"If by writing this book I can make the Chinese people seem more human, less mysterious or threatening, just flawed and beautiful like us, then the troubles of the past ten years have been worthwhile."¤

5) Hardcover Book Mr. China: A Memoir by Collins. Although he certainly never intended it as such (MR.CHINA is subtitled "A Memoir" and has a target audience of gung ho, wanna-get-rich-investing-in-China business types) this is probably the most accurate and the most devastating portrayal of authentic Chinese culture since Bo Yang´s THE UGLY CHINAMAN. For those looking at becoming better aquainted with Chinese business culure, or more precisely: Chinese business ethics, here´s a free starter lesson:

There aren´t any.

Foreigners shouldn´t take this personally. The Chinese have been cheating each other as a matter of course for centuries. What´s more, they have been so poor and so oppressed for so long that they will go to nearly any extent in order to make their bundle and head for the hills. In Taipei, Taiwan, in which I live and in which there is a free press, there are an immoderate number of newspaper articles that mirror the anecdotes conveyed by Tim Clissord in what is a very enthralling book. Scheming, swindling, duplicity, and general dishonesty are deeply, deeply ingrained aspects of the national psyche in China. And so, when some hopelessly niave Westerner waltzes into town with a suitcase full of cash and a bunch lofty ideas concerning efficiency and profit sharing, then, well, if the stars didn´t just align.

"Nonsense," cries the next Mr. China (a sentiment echoed in some of these reviews) "I´m a trained lawyer." Fine, but you´ll have to bribe the anti-corruption officials just to open up dialogue. "If I got suspicious of my Chinese partner, I´d have funds frozen." Great, if the bank manager (who might very well be your partner´s cousin) hasn´t emptied the vaults and flown to Hawaii. "My factory in Guangzhou is humming along just fine." For now, but are you sure the land title hasn´t been transferred, or the managers haven´t used your money to build an identical plant across town? "My business partner is a man of integrity." Read the book.

There´s a hitch to getting rich in China. Each and every one of the people you will have to deal with has the exact same idea.

Troy Parfitt, author¤

6) Hardcover Book Mr. China: A Memoir by Collins.

Mr. China tells the rollicking story of a young man who goes to China with the misguided notion that he will help bring the Chinese into the modern world, only to be schooled by the most resourceful and creative operators he would ever meet. Part memoir, part parable, Mr. China is one man´s coming-of-age story where he learns to respect and admire the nation he sought to conquer.

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 13-Oct-2008, 00607613939780060761394, 930-430-340-700-660-TCB-EGB-8

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