Mr. China

Fülszöveg

The idea of China has always exerted a puli ofn the adventurous type. There is a kind of entrepreneurial Westerner who just can't resist it: red flags, a biliion bicycles, and the largesé untapped markét on earth. What more could they want? Ajier the Jirst few visíts, they start to fed more in tune and experience the Jirst stirrings of a fatal ambition: the seóret hope of becoming the Mr. China of their time. • \ In the 1990s, China went through a miraeulous transformation from a ciosed backwater to the workshop ofthe world. Many smart young men saw this transformation coming and mistpok it for their destiny. Not a few rushed East to gain strategic footholds, plánt their flags, and prosper. After all, the Chinese had nmnbers on their side: a seemingly endless pofJulation, a thirst for resources.^nd the tíde of history. What they needed was Western knowledge and lots of capital. Ör so it seemed ... Mr. China telis the rollicking story of one man s encounter with the Chinese. Armed... Tovább

Fülszöveg

The idea of China has always exerted a puli ofn the adventurous type. There is a kind of entrepreneurial Westerner who just can't resist it: red flags, a biliion bicycles, and the largesé untapped markét on earth. What more could they want? Ajier the Jirst few visíts, they start to fed more in tune and experience the Jirst stirrings of a fatal ambition: the seóret hope of becoming the Mr. China of their time. • \ In the 1990s, China went through a miraeulous transformation from a ciosed backwater to the workshop ofthe world. Many smart young men saw this transformation coming and mistpok it for their destiny. Not a few rushed East to gain strategic footholds, plánt their flags, and prosper. After all, the Chinese had nmnbers on their side: a seemingly endless pofJulation, a thirst for resources.^nd the tíde of history. What they needed was Western knowledge and lots of capital. Ör so it seemed ... Mr. China telis the rollicking story of one man s encounter with the Chinese. Armed with* .hundreds ofmillions of dollars and a strong sense that he and his partners were-like missionarr les of capitalism-descending into the iiidüstrial past to bring the Chinese into the modern world, ¦ Clissold got the education of a lifetime. The ordínary Chinese workers, business own^rs, local bureaucrats, and party cadres V Clissold encountered were somé of the most í pómmitted, resourccful, and creative operators he would ever meet. They were happy to take
the foreigner's money but resisted just about anything else. At every turn, the locals seemed one step ahead of Clissolds crew threatening to take the Westerners for all they were worth. In the end ~Mr. China isri't a tale of business or an exgatriate's love for his adopted land. It's one man's cgming-of-age story where he learns to respect and admire the nation he sought to conquer. TIM" CLISSOLD was born in England and graduated from Cambridge University witK degrees m physics and thooretical physics ih 1982. He then joined Arthur Andersen and worked in London and Australia before moving to Hong Kong, where he developed a fascination with China. He- moved tó Beijing and studied Mandarin Chinese for two years before cofounding a priváté equity group that invested four hundred millión dollars into China. He has been working in Chirja for seventeen years and has traveled to almost every part of the country. He lives in Beijing with his wife and four children. Don't miss the next book by your favorité author, Sign up now for AuthorTracker by visiting www.AuthorTVacker.com. Jacket design by Andrea Brown for Mucca design jacket photographs: coins © Alamy Images; mari and chopsticks © Getty Images Author photograph © 2004 by Christian Clissold ( HarperBusiness An Imprint ofHirperCollinsPublishers www.harpercollins.com Vissza