China, Inc.

How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World

by Ted C. Fishman

Number of pages: 368

BBB Library: Economics and Investment, Corporate Success

ISBN: 9780743257350

About the Author

Ted C. Fishman is a veteran journalist, essayist and former member and trader of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange who has emerged as a leading expert on two subjects: aging and the People’s Republic of China and its development as a world power.

Editorial Review

China today is visible everywhere—in the news, in the economic pressures battering the globe, in our workplaces, and in every trip to the store. Provocative, timely, and essential—and updated with new statistics and information—this dramatic account of China's growing dominance as an industrial superpower by journalist Ted C. Fishman explains how the profound shift in the world economic order has occurred—and why it already affects us all.

Book Reviews

"Fishman writes in the insistent tone and the somewhat annoying reliance on the illustrative anecdote and ‘expert’ quote that appears to be typical of the genre—and there is little inChina, Inc.that will not be known to anyone who reads the daily Hong Kong papers and the gist of the argument will be clear to anyone who reads any national paper. But America, at least, needs to shaken out its complacency, and if this is the way to do it, then so be it—after all, Hong Kong is hardly the main market for a book of this kind—although I suspect that the response, if any, will be an attempt to reintroduce textile quotas in some other form and more pressure to revalue theyuan, prescriptions which, to be fair, are not Fishman’s. Fishman sees the “China price” as an inexorable force hollowing out Western manufacturing and intellectual property as a Western notion that seems almost quaint in the Chinese context—and which may very well not survive its encounter with China."Asian Review of Books

"Fishman tells of the orgy of city-building; of the forced demolitions and evictions to make way for new buildings and hydroelectric projects; of female workers exploited in textile and electronic factories who dream of returning to their villages; of the encroaching deserts; of pollution so intense that the “Asian Brown Cloud” wafts over to the Pacific coast of the US; of China’s great road- and railway-building program; of the spread of HIV, the abortion of unwanted girls, and much else."The New York Review of Books

"Fishman is a little alarmed by China’s growth, but also ready to comfort readers with the prospect of ever-falling prices thanks to its abundant low-wage labor pool. He is more alarmed, however, at a seeming codependency that is emerging, in which Americans buy Chinese goods with money that is in essence on loan from China. 'The United States,' he warns, 'cannot take on ever-bigger debt and amass huge trade deficits indefinitely.'" Kirkus Review

"Most China specialists, after adding up all the pluses and minuses, remain a bit uncertain as to where China is headed. Fishman, in contrast, is certain that China is destined to become the next superpower. He is thus prepared to brush aside qualifications and write an enthusiastic book about the inevitable greatness of China. He is impressed that in 2003, China "bought 7 percent of the world's oil, a quarter of all aluminum and steel, nearly a third of the world's iron ore and coal, and 40 percent of the world's cement" and was the world's leader in attracting direct foreign investment, pulling in $53 billion as compared to the United States' $40 billion." Foreign Affairs

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Wisdom to Share

"China is powered by the world’s most rapidly changing large economy and is influencing our lives as consumers, employees and citizens."

From shoes to clothes to biotech and computer manufacturing, no country has made a better run at directing every step of economic development all at once.

No other country plays the world economic game better than China. No other country shocks the global economic hierarchy like China.

One big reason China is growing is that the world keeps feeding its capital. According to Japan’s research Institute for Economy, Trade and Industry, One-third of China’s industrial production is said to have been put in place by half a trillion dollars of foreign money that has flowed into the country since 1978.

Over 120 companies make passenger cars in China. Dozens of these Chinese manufacturers are just small firms cobbling together cars in any way they can.

For equipment makers, China is also the most competitive, changeable environment in the world.

The China bets are made through investments held by pensions and retirement accounts. America’s largest pension funds invest in Wal-Mart, Motorola, GE, Philips, and the thousands of other companies investing billions in China.

For other countries, China has become essential as a customer as well as a supplier. Japan and Germany currently enjoy large trade surpluses with China because the latter needs the equipment to produce the goods made by Germans and Japanese firms.

China recently surpassed Japan as the world’s second-greatest consumer of petroleum. So, Arab petroleum-exporting countries can strengthen their ties with China.