Product Description

In the early nineties, China finally opened for business and Wall Street wanted to get in on the act. When the investment bankers arrived from New York with their Harvard MBA's, pinstripes and tassly shoes, ready to negotiate with the Old Cadres, the stage was set for a collision between Wall Street's billions and the world's oldest culture. The book tells the true story of a Wall Street banker who had climbed to the top but found that it wasn't enough. Looking for glory, he came to China to surf on the next new investment wave and teamed up with an ex-Red Guard and an Englishman living in Beijing. In less than two years, they raised four hundred million dollars and bought up factories all over China. But they learned the hard way that China plays by its own rules. Left sitting in their board rooms whilst the Chinese marched off in their own different directions, they looked on as their four hundred million slid towards the abyss. Faced with no option but to fight, they embarked on a series of desperate battles to regain control from powerful local Chinese. Their struggle in such unfamiliar territory provides a unique and amusing insight into the fallibility of Wall Street and the chaotic workings of modern day China. It reveals the human face of a vast and complex country struggling to modernise but determined to stick to its own rules.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25631 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

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

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'

Chris Patten, the last Governor of Hong Kong
Any visiting businessman should be obliged to buy a copy before
boarding the plane.

Customer Reviews

a Must-Read about China
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!!!

A terrific account of doing business in China
'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.

A must-read for all curious about doing business in China
Doing business in China is certainly not for the faint-hearted, as thebook tells, all so vividly. Don't expect order, as there is none. Anddon't expect to gain an advantage over the locals unless you've masteredthe art of thriving in utter chaos. Yet, at heart, the Chinese are justthe same as any other people in the world. I think this is what theauthor is trying to get across.
It's not about offering advice - as there's no panacea to success inChina, but it gives one an idea of what to expect and be prepared to seewhy things are done differently, though the situations described mightsomehow be more extreme than others as they relate to joint ventures,which are more or less a thing of the past.
Despite the seriousness of the subject, the book is very readable andhighly entertaining.
I would recommend it whole-heartedly to anyone who is interested in doingbusiness in China.