08.28.08
Resources for Doing Business in China
This year’s Olympics were a triumph for China and awakened considerable interest in this rising power. Here are a couple of great resources for you to check out on doing business in China.
Song White, who has incredible experience in doing business in China, has developed Beijing Show and Go which provides a translation aid for in Mandarin and English especially for Beijing. While you’re there, check out her regular site, White Song Books, which also has telephone cards for China. It’s certainly much cheaper than paying for the international rate for phone call from your mobile phone when you’re just calling around the corner.
“The Little Red Book of Doing Business in China” is a great book which takes sayings from Chairman Mao to understand the how and why of doing business in contemporary China. The author, Sheila Melvin, spent seven years working in China, including for the Shanghai chapter of the US-China Chamber of Commerce. This is far and away the best guide for understanding the business culture of China that I’ve come across.
Another great book to help you understand the culture and thought processes of China is “China Road, A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power” by Rob Gifford. Rob, for many years the NPR correspondent in Beijing, writes about a trip he took from Shanghai to the Kazakhstan border on one of China’s national roads. Much like the US Route 66, parts of the road have been replaced by superhighway, but like Route 66, the trip to the cities and small towns reveals the soul of the country. One of the features of the books is that it takes face on the strengths and the problems of contemporary China, including pollution, ethnic minorities and human rights. This is a great read that I recommend highly.
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