- Hardcover: 249 pages
- Publisher: HarperBusiness (Feb 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060761393
- ISBN-13: 978-0060761394
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 16 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 540,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Mr. China
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Product Description
Review
For those on Wall Street with their MBA certificates hanging proudly in the office, China is the last great economic frontier, theoretically readily for Westernisation and modernisation, fuelled by oodles of cash. Sadly for them, it's not quite like that. The thin veneer of novelisation is a threadbare cloak for Clissold's exasperated memoirs of his time as a frontiersman in China, trying to translate over USD400m of Wall Street-loaned cash into a viable, working business empire. But the combination of Red Party politics, an unwieldy government and generations of idiosyncrasy militates against the conqueror. Money goes missing, committees fail to be swayed, loyalties waver and the sheer size of the place deadens the possibilities. A country where the workers nibble rabbits' heads is not one where a Brooks Brothers suit cuts much ice in this cautionary tale, prosaically told. Clissold remains caught between a country that he loves and who's people fascinate him and the lure of big, big money, but, in its redemptive arc, its the love that wins through, though not without the rueful acceptance that if you play a game, its best if you know the rules first. --Kirkus
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Economist (UK), 27 Nov 2004
'Every foreign company in China should arm its executives with a copy of this shocking, funny and culturally sympathetic tale'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
FOR ANYONE WHOSE MOOD IS AFFECTED BY THE WEATHER, HONG Kong in October is heaven. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
FOR ANYONE WHOSE MOOD IS AFFECTED BY THE WEATHER, HONG Kong in October is heaven. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As a native Chinese, I was really surprised to see how much Tim has understood China after all these years. I think he was very honest and objective about his opinions about the Chinese and their culture. If there are any book you need to read before you conduct business with the Chinese or in China, this is the one!!!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
'This is the true story of a tough Wall Street Banker who came to China looking for glory. Determined to surf the next big investment wave...' as quoted from the summary of the book. Tim Clissold gives a GREAT account of this business (ad)venture.
Back in the early 1990's, everyone was trying to get in on China, the idea being to buy up the assets (factories, companies etc.), help them grow the business and cash in via a listing. Assets were found after a while and joint venture partners became available. Tim Clissold's description of touring Shanghai with a bunch of Wall Street bankers is an accurate account of this process and probably the most amusing I have read.
Eventually, contracts were signed and the funds disbursed. The problems started almost immediately. You as the western party may have a very clear idea what you have agreed to contractually, your domestic partner, however, often has a very different interpretation of the same contract, no matter how watertight you think you made it. Also you may find that you invest in something different than you thought you signed for.
Tim Clissold gives an excellent and very detailed account of some of these investments - and the day after. My favourites amongst these are the 'gearbox incident' and the investment in the brake pad factory. In many of the cases described in the book you feel that every time Tim gets on top of the situation, he finds himself ten paces behind the next minute. I was not surprised that his efforts eventually led to a heart attack.
All said and read, is there money to be made in China? There are indeed foreign companies in China which make money.
On the other hand, a lot of companies probably have to admit that doing business there is anything but easy. I would appear that investors are increasingly fed up with the rules changing all the time and having their products often pirated as soon as they hit the market, just to name a few business hazards. Nevertheless, the lure of 1.2bn potential consumers should keep them coming.
For any of these, Tim Clissold's book is a must. If you are keen on the subject yourself you will also want to have a look at Jim Mann's Beijing Jeep (A case study of western business in China) and Joe Studwell's The China Dream.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I worked in Hong Kong for an American news organisation from 1996-98, when many of the events in this book occur. During that time I heard countless anecdotes about the sheer impossibility of doing business in China. The trouble was this went against the official business news dogma of the time, i.e. doing business in China is great and we're all gonna be rich rich RICH! So the anecdotes were broadcast only on the dinner party circuit, and not across the media. Which was a shame.
If only this book was around then. What it does is to take the best (or worst, depending on your point of view) of those stories, weave them together, give them a narrative structure and then populate them characters you can identify with.
Despite being officially being a socialist country, there's no social security system for the unemployed in China. So what's nice to read is how the author resisted constant pressure from his Wall Street backers to carry out their panacea for ailing businesses: lay off the goddam workers. He preferred his companies to lose money in the short term, rather than destroy the social fabric of the villages he invested in by creating thousands of destitute unemployed.
Some scenes are laugh-out loud funny, particularly the final chapter at the Five Star Beer factory. Unlucky customers would buy totally empty cans of beer, whereas really unlucky customers would find their beer-bottles stuffed full of garlic bulbs.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Mr china
Very entertaining and insightful story. Whilst this covers a period in time long since past, it may well have some useful points that make it relevant to business today in china
Published 8 months ago by Richard m
Tim Clissold is eXpAt-tAcULar
Many a western author have written about their successes in, and "expertise" on, doing business with the Chinese. Tim Clissold just might be the first to exploit his failures.
Published 12 months ago by Xiamen Expat
So you thought you knew China...
Brilliant book taking place in China in the early 1990's. The Author is an english guy fascinated by China, who eventually teams up with a gung-ho American Wall Street type and a... Read more
Published 12 months ago by N. Jensen
Terrific start, falls a bit flat towards the end
Mr China starts fantastically with an account of disastrous visits to various antiquated factories in China, and then settles into a long (presumably painful for the author, but... Read more
Published 23 months ago by James C. Foreman
A fascinating insight into Chinese culture and business!
A fascinating glimpse of a frustrating but finally rewarding journey. An insight into another culture, and into the undercurrents of systems and processes that have been accepted... Read more
Published on 27 Nov 2009 by Jenny
Understanding China
This is a wonderfully-written book that shows how difficult it used to be to invest in China and get a return. Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2008 by S. Hemingway
A Gripping Business Book
I was asked to write a speech for a Chinese-American lady, and she recommended this book. I'd read it within four days of buying it. Read more
Published on 30 Oct 2008 by William Cohen
China for beginners
I met a German chap in Hong Kong once, who was a buyer in the Chinese markets for a consortium of European companies. Read more
Published on 28 July 2008 by Ulrik Jungersen Walther
What a book!
Is it a travelogue? Is it a business book? Is it an adventure book? Or is it a book for understanding a culture? I felt it is all of those. Read more
Published on 25 Mar 2008 by Sandeep Potnis
couldn't put it down
what a hilarious account. I read this on a plane on my way to canada and had to stifle loud laughs often. Read more
Published on 6 Feb 2007 by Turner
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