China Inc: The Relentless Rise of the Next Great Superpower

“!http://farm1.static.flickr.com/223/501968764_f34e2fd69f_o.jpg!”:http://www.amazon.com/China-Inc-Superpower-Challenges-America/dp/0743257359/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-4163017-4181617?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179402305&sr=8-1 An interesting overview of China’s rising industrial might and how it came to be. Misses out on quite a bit, but throws a new angle on things. It is a bit alarmist, but than, any non-Chinese should be, the book points out – for what will the rest of the world do once China makes everything?

What’s interesting is that China has industrialized so far so fast because of it’s people, not so much the government. Another interesting aspect is that so many companies there operate illegally, or started with illegal financing, that circumventing rules is like breathing in China – the many years of breaking the law under communism just to survive has drilled it into the people. Hence the total disregard for intellectual property rights (and all other laws which they can get away with). The interesting aspect is that it’s not just the software companies who suffer – it’s all the other companies who buy the software and compete with China who also end up with the short end of the stick.


From Amazon:

bq. …Perhaps what I enjoyed most about this book is the phenomenal Chinese spirit to succeed. Nothing is more indicative of this spirit than piracy and one cannot help but marvel at a nation who can so quickly copy and produce everything from designer clothing to motorcycles.

China’s importance in the world is increasing exponentially – it is reaching a critical mass of a large enough domestic market that whatever the Chinese domestic market accepts the rest of the world will have to follow suit – for once China starts producing something, anything, no other country can compete.

The book concentrates mostly on the impact of China on the western world, but poorer countries like Pakistan have more to loose – their over protected fledgling industries are standing like bambi watching wide eyed the mack truck that is China bearing down on them.

The book is lacking in many places – it doesn’t touch on the many problems facing China today, like corruption, lawlessness and so on, but is still a good overview of today’s China from the western businessman point of view. _Critics may quibble, and not without reason, that the book is superficial, uncritical and naïve. Granted. But we counter: it’s a heck of a read._

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