Managing The Dragon

It was supposed to be history in the making when representatives from 192 countries met in Copenhagen to formulate a global solution to what some believe is the biggest problem facing mankind. Instead, it degenerated into a sometimes tawdry display of finger-pointing and trading of barbs between representatives from the developed countries of the world [...]

The flow of good news out of China continues, but there are some clouds forming on the horizon which are important to keep in sight. First, the good news. Last week, we highlighted car sales, which increased by 19.2 percent over last year during the first six months of the year and are likely to [...]

When I was starting up in China, many experts cautioned me on what I would encounter. “It’s not a free market and there’s no rule of law, they told me. “The government controls the courts, the companies and the banks. Central planners in Beijing, not the marketplace, decide what goods to produce and which companies [...]

China’s construction machinery industry is an interesting one to study in some detail because it illustrates many of the trends in China that we have highlighted at various times on MTD and that I identified in my book, Managing the Dragon. Construction machinery is yet one more industry where China is leading the world in [...]

Last week, China rendered its long awaited verdict: it blocked Coca-Cola’s bid to buy one of China’s largest juice companies for $2.4 billion on antitrust grounds. In case you haven’t been following the story, Coca-Cola made its offer to acquire China Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd. in early September 2008. Building upon the momentum it gained [...]

Ted Fishman, author of the best seller China, Inc, told me once that there are approximately 85 million private enterprises in China. The absolute number shocked me, but I was even more shocked when he told me that there are more than three times as many private companies in China as there are in the [...]

With the United States and Europe facing recessions in 2009, many are looking to pass the baton as “growth engine of the world” to China. In order for China to assume this role, private consumption in the country has to expand, and the country has been doing all that it can towards this end. While [...]

  In a recent CNN interview, I was asked why the Chinese have such a high savings rate, leading to the obvious follow-up question as to whether the Chinese government will be able to change saving habits and encourage more consumption to stimulate its economy.   I explained that there are several underlying reasons for [...]