As China Goes, So Goes the World: How Chinese Consumers are Changing Everything

My friends over at the China Law Blog wrote a post on a book that I bought based on my careless reading of their post. As I mentioned in previous posts, China Law Blog is, simply, the best blog on China Law and should be read daily if you are interested in the Chinese legal system or doing business with or for the Chinese.

The book mentioned in their post is entitled: As China Goes, So Goes the World: How Chinese Consumers are Changing Everything.

I got through about 80 pages last night and I put it down and decided that it is simply a history book on China interwoven with a consumerism-based doomsday prophesy. I read enough history books on China and hear enough rants about consumerism on MSNBC. I enjoy history and rants, but combined they lead me to Pawn Stars on my Slingbox. Slingbox and DVR has changed “everything” for me. Prior to the Slingbox, I would have read the book to the end and maybe would have realized that the book is more than I am lead to believe by the first 80 pages of words that seemed even more dry than Chinese popcorn.

If you want a book on selling to Chinese consumers in China, do not read this book, but, instead, read Chocolate Fortunes: The Battle for the Hearts, Minds, and Wallets of China’s Consumers.

If you are interested in a decent history book on China and you can appreciate the benefits of the rant, then, read the book.

Here is the note from the publisher. The note is much less misleading than the title.

Although China remains nominally socialist, consumerism has become deeply entrenched, the ramifications of which will be considerable–and global–according to Gerth (China Made), Oxford University professor of modern Chinese history. He paints a vivid picture–and historical context–for the waning of frugality and the traditionally high rates of saving and the rise of pop culture, luxury-brand consumption and car culture, a burgeoning advertising industry, the ubiquity of Chinese counterfeits, and–more sordidly–the development of the largest commercial sex work force in the world, the theft of baby girls for adoption export, and the sale of essential organs. Gerth makes an arresting argument that Chinese consumption may be the panacea for the scrabbling economies of the West; Chinese demand for American and European high-tech goods, financial services, and other products might create jobs and economic growth and, in turn, lead to a stable, increasingly capitalistic, and eventually democratic China. Required reading for those interested in shifting global power dynamics and current consumption patterns.

Dan and Steve will be, hopefully, treating me out to dinner in Seoul or China. I went to Kyobo Bookstore and argued with the cashier that the book is in stock and must be in the backroom. She was less than happy to search through boxes in the backroom, attach the SKU and enter the book into the inventory system.

The post by the China Law Blog on As China Goes, So Goes the World: How Chinese Consumers are Changing Everything can be found HERE

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SeanHayes@ipglegal.com