Doing Business in China

Randall White is the author of Voice of Region: On the Long Journey to
Senate Reform in Canada, Too Good to Be True: Toronto in the 1920s, and
Global Spin: Probing the Globalization Debate.

Chinese economic development is increasingly the big story of our time
and, as a table in this useful volume shows, in 1992 and 1993 Canada
accounted for a greater share of foreign direct investment in China than
either Germany or France. Doing Business in China is in the first
instance meant “to highlight the opportunities and risks facing
foreign companies as they enter the Chinese market.” But it will also
interest the general reader who wants to know more about the rising
giant in East Asia.

Jane Withey, a graduate of Queen’s University who now lives and works
in Hong Kong, has gathered together 14 articles on the subject,
including “Economic Growth in the 1990s,” “Chinese Business
Practices,” “The Chinese Consumer Market,” and “Accounting,
Taxation and Foreign Exchange Controls.” Eight of the contributors are
based in Hong Kong as well, and five spend time in Beijing. Canadian
professionals who specialize in Chinese economic development are well
represented. The book includes 36 “figures” (statistical tables and
charts); a map of China would have been useful.

The chief value of the volume is in its eclectic assortment of
down-to-earth advice and information, much of which exudes a wider human
interest. Michael J. Moser’s article on direct investment adroitly
summarizes a wealth of legislative, institutional, and statistical data.
William Shue Lam Yip notes that China is still largely
“male-dominated” and that, to do business there, “you have to
socialize with people by drinking alcohol and smoking.” In the end
this is a convenient, current, well-organized reference book—even for
those who may not have immediate plans to do business in China
themselves.