September 2001
The China Dream
For 700 years, ever since outsiders first wrote about the place, the Western world has believed there are untold riches to be garnered in China. This obsession reached a peak in the last decade of the 20th century, when US$300 billion of foreign capital flowed into the country. The investment was of a different magnitude to anything seen previously, but it was still chasing the same end – the chimera of fat, fat profits.
In an extract from Joe Studwell’s book, The China Dream: the elusive quest for the last great untapped market on earth, the author describes the experiences of foreign investors from the late 19th century through to the emergence of Deng Xiaoping as China’s unchallenged leader.
Also in this issue:
Sports marketing: a business banks on an Olympic difference
Monkey King: Denis Simon