Through a glass, dimly: Perceptions of China in the American business community

Problems of Post-Communism

Volumn 47, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 34-45

  Lubman, Stanley ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0034147508     PISSN: 10758216     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10758216.2000.11655875     Document Type: Article

References (44)

1. Examples include Harry Harding, A Fragile Relationship: The United States and China Since 1972 (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1992); Jerome Alan Cohen and Stuart J. Valentine, "Foreign Direct Investment in the People's Republic of China: Progress, Problems, and Prospects," Journal of Chinese Law 1, no. 2 (fall 1987): 161-216.
2. Examples include Harry Harding, A Fragile Relationship: Txe United States and China Since 1972 (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1992); Jerome Alan Cohen and Stuart J. Valentine, "Foreign Direct Investment in the People's Republic of China: Progress, Problems, and Prospects," Journal of Chinese Law 1, no. 2 (fall 1987): 161-216.
3. Randall E. Stross, Bulls in the China Shop and Other Sino-American Business Encounters (New York: Pantheon, 1990), p. 66.
4. Thomas W. Robinson, "The Private Sector China Specialists," in American Studies of Contemporary China, ed. David Shambaugh (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1993), pp. 202-3.
5. Ibid., pp. 206-7.
6. Ibid., p. 207.
7. Stross, Bulls in the China Shop, p. 111.
8. Ibid., p. 248. I differ with Rosen on the adequacy of Chinese courts in commercial litigation, a subject I discuss in Bird in a Cage: Chinese Law Reforms After Mao (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999). For an account of one company's patient efforts to deal with problems related to the poor quality of products obtained from local suppliers by disseminating quality-control standards, see "Foreign Companies Bring China More Than Jobs," Wall Street Journal (September 15, 1999).
9. Ibid., p. 248. I differ with Rosen on the adequacy of Chinese courts in commercial litigation, a subject I discuss in Bird in a Cage: Chinese Law Reforms After Mao (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999). For an account of one company's patient efforts to deal with problems related to the poor quality of products obtained from local suppliers by disseminating quality-control standards, see "Foreign Companies Bring China More Than Jobs," Wall Street Journal (September 15, 1999).
10. Ibid., p. 248. I differ with Rosen on the adequacy of Chinese courts in commercial litigation, a subject I discuss in Bird in a Cage: Chinese Law Reforms After Mao (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999). For an account of one company's patient efforts to deal with problems related to the poor quality of products obtained from local suppliers by disseminating quality-control standards, see "Foreign Companies Bring China More Than Jobs," Wall Street Journal (September 15, 1999).
11. James Harding, "Foreign Investors Face New Curbs on Ownership of Stores," Financial Times (November 10, 1998).
12. E. Anthony Zaloom and Liu Hongchuan, "Old Methods, New Terrain," China Business Review 26 (March-April 1999): 34.
13. Ray Heath, "Survey Reveals Secrets of Success in China," South China Morning Post (September 6, 1996).
14. Arnold R. Isaacs, "China Inc.," review of China: The Next Economic Superpower by William H. Overholt, New York Times (November 28, 1993).
15. Hamish McRae, "China's Long March Towards Economy Class," review of China: The Next Economic Superpower by William H. Overholt, The Independent (February 1, 1994).
16. William H. Overholt, "China After Deng," Foreign Affairs 75, no. 3 (May 1996): 63.
17. "Global Strategy and Economics: China! Report on Morgan Stanley's Tour of China," International Investment Research (August 1993): 13-16.
18. "Only Seven Weeks After Increasing His Weighting . . . ," South China Morning Post (November 19, 1993); "About-Face Is Not Surprising," South China Morning Post (November 21, 1993); "Morgan Stanley Looks Again at China," Financial Times (November 22, 1993); "Watchdog Clears Morgan Stanley," South China Morning Post (December 7, 1993).
19. "Only Seven Weeks After Increasing His Weighting . . . ," South China Morning Post (November 19, 1993); "About-Face Is Not Surprising," South China Morning Post (November 21, 1993); "Morgan Stanley Looks Again at China," Financial Times (November 22, 1993); "Watchdog Clears Morgan Stanley," South China Morning Post (December 7, 1993).
20. "Only Seven Weeks After Increasing His Weighting . . . ," South China Morning Post (November 19, 1993); "About-Face Is Not Surprising," South China Morning Post (November 21, 1993); "Morgan Stanley Looks Again at China," Financial Times (November 22, 1993); "Watchdog Clears Morgan Stanley," South China Morning Post (December 7, 1993).
21. "Only Seven Weeks After Increasing His Weighting . . . ," South China Morning Post (November 19, 1993); "About-Face Is Not Surprising," South China Morning Post (November 21, 1993); "Morgan Stanley Looks Again at China," Financial Times (November 22, 1993); "Watchdog Clears Morgan Stanley," South China Morning Post (December 7, 1993).
22. Excessive enthusiasm for China dies hard. In early 1997 a group of American pension fund managers visited Shanghai and were impressed by the vigor of the economic growth they saw there. Although most were reported to be cautious, one money manager declared, "I am absolutely overwhelmed by the degree of activity going on in Shanghai. We don't want to wait for the listed market to provide the kind of assurances we need; we want to get in now." See "U.S. Pension Investors Are Eager Pilgrims in Shanghai," New York Times (January 15, 1997).
23. "Why China Is Such a Mess," Euromoney, no. 310 (February 1995): 37.
24. "Examination of Technical Bankruptcy Issues Crucial for Gitic Creditors," China Law and Practice (February 1999): 67.
25. Jonathan Mirsky, "An Eldorado of 2 Million Armpits," New Statesman 128, no. 4420 (January 22, 1999).
26. John B. Lashbrook, "China Briefing," China Law Update 2, no. 2 (February 1999): 24.
27. Mitchell Silk and Michael Openshaw, "The Lessons of GITIC," China Business Review 26 (May-June 1999): 37.
28. Ibid., pp. 37-38.
29. Michael Hickman and Ma Chen, "Gitic Collapse: Bankruptcy in China and Creditors' Claims," China Law and Practice (February 1999): 78.
30. Silk and Openshaw, "Lessons of Gitic," p. 39. The Wall Street Journal has been more pungent . After Commerzbank announced that it was reducing its exposure in China after the collapse of GITIC and announcement by the Chinese government that it would not cover all the losses, it editorialized, "the moral hazard route having failed, an annoyed Commerzbank is now vowing to go back to responsible lending practices. Next time they will insist on collateral or proof of the borrower's ability to repay. Imagine that" ("Bank Shots in China" [9 February 1999]).
31. Silk and Openshaw, "Lessons of Gitic," p. 39. The Wall Street Journal has been more pungent . After Commerzbank announced that it was reducing its exposure in China after the collapse of GITIC and announcement by the Chinese government that it would not cover all the losses, it editorialized, "the moral hazard route having failed, an annoyed Commerzbank is now vowing to go back to responsible lending practices. Next time they will insist on collateral or proof of the borrower's ability to repay. Imagine that" ("Bank Shots in China" [9 February 1999]).
32. Joseph Kahn, "Market Place," New York Times (November 5, 1998).
33. James Harding, "End of the China Gold Rush," Financial Times (March 25, 1999).
34. See, for example, the statistics through 1997 in Daniel H. Rosen's Behind the Open Door: Foreign Enterprises in the Chinese Marketplace (Washington, DC: International Institute of Economics, 1999), p. 49. A survey of multinational corporations invested in China found that 62 percent of wholly owned foreign enterprises were profitable, compared with 42 percent of joint ventures. See A.T. Kearney, Global Investment in China: A White Paper on the Quest for Profitability (no date), p. 4.
35. See, for example, the statistics through 1997 in Daniel H. Rosen's Behind the Open Door: Foreign Enterprises in the Chinese Marketplace (Washington, DC: International Institute of Economics, 1999), p. 49. A survey of multinational corporations invested in China found that 62 percent of wholly owned foreign enterprises were profitable, compared with 42 percent of joint ventures. See A.T. Kearney, Global Investment in China: A White Paper on the Quest for Profitability (no date), p. 4.
36. See also Rosen, Behind the Open Door, pp. 56-58, 72-73.
37. Ibid., p. 32.
38. Edward Neunebel, introduction to PRC Joint Ventures: Drafting and Negotiating Contracts, ed. John Kuzmik and Donald Lewis (Hong Kong: Asia Law and Practice, 1997), p. 16.
39. "Low on Cash, Thai Concern Will Sell China Assets," New York Times (March 27, 1999). See also "Back to School," Far Eastern Economic Review (April 8, 1999): 10.
40. "Low on Cash, Thai Concern Will Sell China Assets," New York Times (March 27, 1999). See also "Back to School," Far Eastern Economic Review (April 8, 1999): 10.
41. "Sino-Singapore Bid Fails Test," South China Morning Post (June 30, 1999).
42. See, for example, Jonathan Kaufman, "On the Road Again," Wall Street Journal (November 19, 1996), describing a middle-manager for an American company in China as illustrating a "new breed" of managers "plunged overnight into an exotic world that is seductive and wrenching" because "they find that their office and home life can feel boring and claustrophobic."
43. U.S.-China Business Council, China Operations '98 (February 18, 1998), pp. 7-8.
44. "Oh Well, What the Hell: Despite Two Decades of Experience, 'Let's Give It a Whirl' Remains the Strategic Mantra for Far Too Many Companies in China," Business China 25, no. 12 (June 7, 1999): 5.