Mr. China: A Memoir
by Tim Clissold
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Book Summary Information
Author: Tim ClissoldEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-02-28
ISBN: 0060761407
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: HarperBusiness
Book Reviews of Mr. China: A Memoir
Book Review: A book worth reading
Summary: 3 Stars
The last three decades witnessed the dramatic change of Chinese society. Mr. China is an interesting book in a sense that it reflects a unique perspective about China. It is unique in the following aspects:
1. It is a book written by a foreigner who has extensive experience in China. As an outsider, he is in a position to see a lot of things that insiders would take for granted and easily overlook. For example, his description about the issue of "internal policy" is interesting. Insiders are used to it and don't feel the inconvenience when dealing with it. But as an outsider, what he needs is a clear set of rules so he would know what he is supposed to do and how he can take advantage of the system. The flexibility of rules is a serious obstacle for him.
2. Also as a foreigner, he showed his lack of sufficient understanding about the underlying scripts of Chinese people's behavior patterns. An example is about his descriptions of the personalities of the major characters he dealt with. It is clear that he did not have the interpersonal sensitivity which is so normal in Chinese people's daily life. When he fired Mr. Chen in Hubei, he regarded his silence as a sign of passive acceptance but in fact it's a moment of re-evaluating the situation and re-amassing power.
3. More significantly, the book is unique because it is a book about investment. All the cross-cultural experiences serve one purpose: making money by using money. It teaches some lessons the investors and money managers need to know. For investors, the common understanding is that money is supposed to bring sufficient amount of returns when it is put in use--"money is born from money." For money managers, they want a smooth context, an institutional construction that enables them to easily locate the profitable business and gain profit. For both of them, the logic is "whoever owns and controls money conquers the world". The indicator is simple: show me the money! It is true that in the well developed capitalist society, the society as a whole has long been shaped by the dominance of capital (money), all institutions are constructed to satisfy the need of investment and the obstacles are largely smoothed out. The rules are clear and the returns are predictable and stable. However, as Mr. China highlighted, Chinese society does not work that way--its institutions are not constructed to satisfy private investors, at least at the time when the author was in China. Therefore, the book showed a significant clash between the capitalist drive for profit and the societal institution that serves other purposes. In this sense, this book is not only about culture, it is about clash of social institutions as well.
Despite all the interesting uniqueness of the book and its helpful insights, this book might not be particularly helpful for anyone who is thinking about doing business in China at this point. The rationale is as follows:
First of all, the author's arrogance is clearly shown between the lines in the book. It is clear that he firmly believed whatever he did was right and anything different was wrong. He was the only hero in the whole story. However, the fundamental issue is: he brought money to China for a purpose of making money. This was hardly a noble cause to begin with, so he cannot simply expect everybody to open door for him and make his process of money making smooth. Although it's legitimate to make profit through investment, it's also legitimate for the others to ask for understanding and accommodation; it is also legitimate to require the money managers to put in extra efforts if they want to make extra money.
Secondly, the author did not mention clearly, by the end of the whole story, did he or the investors he worked for make money or not. How much money they made or lost? By how large a margin? It is my sense that they bought the properties for cheap, very cheap. If they hold on to the properties until today, I am sure they can make huge amount of profit. You have to deal with difficulties everywhere if you want to make profit--even in the US or UK where you would have to deal with the unions, the local concerns, the environmental issues, etc. If your purpose is to make money and you did make enough money, what's the complaint?
Thirdly, their investment strategy--investing in joint ventures-- might not be so effective in today's environment. China has opened its door to the foreign investment for many years. As practical as the Chinese people are, they have dramatically reshaped their culture and social institutions over these years. In this type of context, direct investment in the form of global corporations is the recommended and most profitable way of investment. For sure, you still need to overcome some extra difficulties, but the return and profit is more than enough to compensate the efforts. The key for success in a cultural sense is to become a dignified Chinese yourself--do what the decent, upper level Chinese would normally do and try to be an acceptable member of the Chinese upper class. The key success in a business sense is that you must be able to bring technology to China--the Chinese have money now but they really need the technical know-how and the right equipment, as well as the leading elite to implement the more efficient system. If you can do the items above, China is the place you want to go. There is huge amount of money to be made, if you do it right.
Summary of Mr. China: A Memoir
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.
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