Mr. China: A Memoir [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Tim Clissold (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• ISBN-10: 0060761393
• ASIN: B000J3EGM6
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,178,725 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Business in China, December 28, 2009

By 

Apellicon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mr. China: A Memoir (Hardcover)

Tim Clissold was a British business man who set out for China to make his fortune. He teemed up with an investment banker to form a private equity firm which would invest in Chinese businesses. Clissold recounts story after story about cheating, theft, corruption, kidnapping and everything else you think could go wrong. This book serves as a warning about the risks of doing business in China.

5.0 out of 5 stars ZhongGuo Tong Review, September 14, 2009

By 

Ms. T. Booth - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mr. China: A Memoir (Hardcover)

Definitely a MUST read for anyone wanting to do business in China. How ever well you speak the language and understand the culture, being aware of the other side's agenda is paramount. Even 1st class due diligence is sometimes not enough. Although many of the events take place in the early 1990's, the problems faced still apply to many new areas opening up for business in China.
The Investor Beware.

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent snapshot of business in China, March 15, 2008

By 

Paul Denlinger "China Internet Hand" (Beijing) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mr. China: A Memoir (Hardcover)

Tim Clissold's Mr. China provides an excellent view of how business was done in China in the nineties, and how rapidly China was building out through that period. It also provides background on common business and negotiating strategies used by Chinese JV partners in the period before China joined the WTO (World Trade Organization) in 2001 at the Doha round.

Tim provides one view of the deals, while Jack Perkowski's book, Managing the Dragon: How I'm Building a Billion-Dollar Business in China, provides a different perspective. Perkowski is the Wall Street investment banker mentioned in Mr. China.

As someone who lives and works in China, I can attest to the truth of the many frustrations mentioned in the book. The trouble comes when westerners try to force change on the Chinese at a pace of the westerners' choosing. The change is picking up speed, but only because the change is coming from within the China, and not being forced by external pressure.

Through it all, the author comes through as someone who although occasionally frustrated with his Chinese business associates, has a deep respect and affection for the Chinese people. This comes through in the final paragraph of the book:

"If by writing this book I can make the Chinese people seem more human, less mysterious or threatening, just flawed and beautiful like us, then the troubles of the past ten years have been worthwhile."