The Rise of China, Inc. New Edition

Excellent book that helps the reader better understand China's history, its place and power in the world. The author explains in understandable ways the commitment within the CCP, China's legal system, China's organization, governance, their middle class, the rule of law, and much more. The reader will gain knowledge about government and management and culture of China and in general other nations.Great gift for someone interested in economics, management and/or government.

Shaomin Li’s new book - The Rise of China, Inc.: How the Chinese Communist Party Transformed China Into a Giant Corporation - is an important contribution to our understanding of how the CCP has been able to marshal the resources of the Chinese nation and guide them toward achieving the Party’s objectives. Through enhancing our knowledge of how the different aspects of contemporary China’s political and economic system work together in ways not commonly utilized in democratic countries, Li’s book helps to illuminate how the various units of China, Inc. – such as state-owned enterprises, private firms, and foreign businesses – are utilized by the central government to achieve the CCP’s goals. In addition to unique and insightful perspectives on internal dynamics within contemporary China, Li also enhances our understanding of the implications of the rise of China, Inc., for the outside world, rival governments, and international firms competing in global markets. This book is highly recommended for those looking to better understand how the unique rise of modern China is set to increasingly change our world.

This book is another home run from Shaomin Li in explaining why China continues to be successful in their efforts to encompass much of the world. The line between country, party, and the private sector is not just blurry, but often non-existent. The party is not led by a single leader, but rather by the CCP’s culture, ideals, and goals. This has resulted in a Party-Military-Private Sector coordinated effort for global expansion not seen since colonial times. There are interesting parallels with the lead-up to WWII, when other nations were starved for resources, and the situation facing China today. China is trading to gain the raw materials and skills to continue the growth of their economic machine. Professor Li suggests this can be fought with an economic NATO-like collaboration by the democratic world. The premise behind the suggestive policy solutions is sound and well-argued. The question remains, will the democratic world stand up together, or will they wait until it is too late?

The book offered some unique ideas to explain China's economic success, many embedded in Chinese tradition. But I disliked the numerous citations from Wikipedia, and as I prohibit my students from using Wikipedia in their papers, such citations do not belong in a serious scholarly study.

This book presents a fresh perspective on China as it pertains to international business and is a must-read for both practitioners and academics in that field. While previous scholarly work on the topic has tended to treat state-run enterprises as wholly distinct from private ones, Li delineates the ways in which all Chinese enterprises (and international firms doing business there) are both constrained and enabled by the goals of the Communist Party. In some instances, they bolster infant industries domestically in a way reminiscent of 1960s Japan, while in others, they punish firms for quoting the Dalai Lama or implying that Taiwan is a separate country. In all, this represents a cohesive strategy for economic and political dominance by the CCP, and when viewed through this lens, previously-unexplained phenomena start to make sense. I predict that the insights in this book will be profitably utilized by international business academics, practitioners, and policymakers for many years to come.

While there are thousands of books and articles on China, most of them are written by Western journalists or scholars who lack first-hand experience and mainly base their arguments on anecdotal evidence. Li, on the other hand, brings a new perspective building on his living and working experience in China. Although “China Inc.” had been coined and used before, nowhere had we seen such an analogy: looking at the bigger picture (taking into account political, legal, economic, and cultural factors) comparing China to a giant corporation and, at the same time, pointing to the nuanced dynamics of how it works behind the scenes. The analogy is by no means haphazard though. Being a business scholar, Li defines the business entities and describes their differences to make his point and compare them to different levels of hierarchy in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The provided facts and data coupled with the eloquence of the author’s writing gradually gets the reader to see how state-owned firms are like business units of the CCP, state-related firms are its subsidiaries, Chinese-owned private firms are like joint ventures, and foreign firms are franchisees of the party.The revelations about how the CCP has been increasing its global power and influence are as much shocking and frightening to the Western audience as eye opening. The ambidexterity of the party in mobilizing the resources of a country at the speed of a small firm, “cherry picking” some advantages of the West (e.g., technological developments) while “arbitraging” on others (e.g., human rights), has enabled it to grow to an extent that is now considered a threat to the global community. However, Li also points to “China, Inc.’s Achilles’ Heel” and explains how the paradox of simultaneously maintaining dictatorship and open doors to globalization creates instabilities in the system. Focusing on such weaknesses of the CCP and its greater dependency on the West than vice versa, the author concludes with some practical implications and provides policy and strategic recommendations for the governments and multinational corporations of democratic countries and suggests a tougher stance to curb China, Inc.’s expansion.