China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World

The material is slightly dated but better than any other that I've read recently. Provides insite into the history, past development, current development, and planned future development. In addition, it really draws on the human element - a factor largely left out of most books regarding the growing presence of China in the marketplace. You begin to see similarities to other emerging nations of the past but not on the scale of China's population. A great addition to any business persons library.

The book was very well writtem with great information on the amazing economy of China. The book is a must read for anyone interested in business or economy fields.

This book is similar to China Shakes the World, although the latter is better written - which is also why China Shakes the World has won the 2006 FT/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.

So, if you are a general reader and want to understand how China is and will be impacting the rest of the world, read China Inc, which, I would say, contains a bigger amount of information than China Shakes the World (which is more entertaining because it does the job largely through stories).

If you are a business person and want to understand how to succeed in China, however, I would recommend Dr Wei Wang's The China Executive: Marrying Western and Chinese Strengths to Generate Profitability from Your Investment in China. I have found that The China Executive is simply the best book in this field and, with it, I am not puzzled by China any more.

On this side of the Pacific, we are seized every 20 years with a sublime terror, as we watch the rise of another monster in the East. In the land of rising suns, tigers and dragons, the Dragon is on the rise and, it seems, will remain so throughout the next century.

The "revolution against the Revolution" of course refers to the entreprenerial and state power of the Chinese economy working in tandem to dismantle the Communist edifice in Red China. So far, it is a peaceful revolution weaving its way invisibly into the fabric of our global economy. Every family in America knows that China's influence has been beneficial to our standard of living. Although we complain about the rising oil prices caused by China's hunger for oil, we don't complain about the cheap clothes we buy at the Gap, the cheap, but beautiful furniture we buy at Pottery Barn, or the million-dollar houses we can afford thanks to low mortgage interest rates (due to China buying our Treasuries).

This revolution will not be televised, because the MSM has no way of tracking it in gross visual images or commenting on it without resorting to over-the-top scare tactics. Fishman's book is not a nuanced book -- he does overstate his point once too many points -- but it does alert us to the amorality of it all. China produces in large quantities, while we consume in large quantities. We may not "feel" it, but this cycle of supply and demand is having a profound effect on our way of life. It can end badly for us. Fishman seems to say: Don't blame China, unless we are willing to look honestly at our own behavior.
Highly recommended, and well-written book!

For those that are avid readers of journalistic works such as this one, you would absolutely enjoy every moment rummaging through the pages. Statistics are provided but never to the point of being too dry and too boring for the readers to read through. The writer endeavours to shed lights for us ramifications of China and its muscle power. Instead of branding China as a villain, we need to understand that without support from purchasers who are looking for the cheapest bargains, China wouldn't be where it is now. Wal-Mart is covered in detail. The writer gives us a projection that if car manufacturing industry is heading the same direction of products manufacturing, it's only a matter of time before prices for cars would plummet quite considerably in the future when China has perfected its manufacturing bases just as Japan and South Korea had done before it. Then, there's another discussion about the shifting of population from countryside into urban centres where manufacturing bases are located, and how China is able to sustain the supply of cheap labour. China's progress isn't simply detrimental to other countries. On contrary, it benefits them as well. For example, Australia is having a boom right now due to exportation of natural resources to China. With increase of living standard in China, Chinese needs more nutritious food. As China couldn't provide enough, United States particularly the Middle States are enjoying a boom in supplying food to the Middle Kingdom. Then, there are also discussions about other foreign powers keeping United States in check by siding with China, and also the love and hate relationship between USA and China of controlling the currencies so as to keep the interest rates at an attractive rate to facilitate growth in China and so forth. Whilst nobody knows for certain the exact figures of information provided (since China has this tendency to manipulate figures since the beginning of time), suffice to say that the book explains how the mechanism works and allowing us to have an insight of how international trade ticks. Yes, some reviewers are fastidious and highly critical of figures provided by the writer but ultimately, I think they are missing the points. What's crucial from this book is that we need to understand better about China and learning how to work alongside it in order to share the gains it would garner over the years to come. Highly recommended!