Chinese Rules: Mao’s Dog, Deng’s Cat, and Five Timeless Lessons for Understanding China - Softcover

Clissold, Tim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000759027X ISBN 13: 9780007590278

Publisher: William Collins, 2014

Synopsis

From the author of the acclaimed ‘Mr. China’ comes another rollicking adventure story – part memoir, part history, part business imbroglio – that offers valuable lessons to help Westerners win in China.

In the twenty-first century, the world has tilted eastwards in its orbit; China grows confident while the West seems mired in doubt. Having lived and worked in China for more than two decades, Tim Clissold explains the secrets that Westerners can use to navigate through its cultural and political maze.

Picking up where he left off in the international bestseller ‘Mr. China’, ‘Chinese Rules’ chronicles his most recent exploits, with assorted Chinese bureaucrats, factory owners, and local characters building a climate change business in China. Of course, all does not go as planned as he finds himself caught between the world’s largest carbon emitter and the world’s richest man. Clissold offers entertaining and enlightening anecdotes of the absurdities, gaffes, and mysteries he encountered along the way.

Sprinkled amid surreal scenes of cultural confusion and near misses are smart myth-busting insights and practical lessons Westerns can use to succeed in China. Exploring key episodes in that nation’s long political, military, and cultural history, Clissold outlines five Chinese rules, which anyone can deploy in on-the-ground situations with modern Chinese counterparts. These Chinese rules will enable foreigners not only to co-operate with China but also to compete with it on its own terms.

About this title

Review:

‘Clissold’s attempt to encapsulate how China works in five neat rules is well timed ... fans of Clissold’s first book will find plenty of only-in-China tales from the author’s reincarnation as a carbon credit entrepreneur ... His amusing anecdotes illustrate some of the rules he sets out for foreigners mystified by China ... Formidable storytelling ... An entertaining and valuable book’ Financial Times

Praise for ‘Mr. China’:

‘Clissold’s memoir is an instant classic. Sharply observed, funny as hell. Indispensible’ Time Magazine

‘Hugely entertaining ... Clissold loves China ... but he also views it with clarity and no small amount of humour’ Washington Post

‘Delightful ... this trenchant, immensely entertaining study in the contradictions of Chinese capitalism should be required reading’ Fortune Magazine

‘Clissold is a wonderful and compassionate narrator [with] a deep respect for the culture, language, and history’ USA Today

‘One would be hard-pressed to find a serious Western investor in China who isn’t aware of Clissold’s eye-opening account’ Forbes

‘A compelling account, related with sly humour and hard-earned wisdom’ Library Journal

From the Back Cover:

From the author of the international bestseller Mr. China comes another rollicking ride through the slick mega-cities and industrial backwaters of twenty-first-century China--part adventure story, part erudite myth-buster, and part practical rule book to help Westerners win in China.

China's role as struggling underdog is now firmly a thing of the past. The world has tilted eastward in its orbit even as the West seems mired in self-doubt. Through living and working in China for more than two decades, Tim Clissold has uncovered stealth methods Westerners can use to straighten out complicated situations in China and achieve their own objectives.

Revealing the hidden logic that governs the Chinese business and political landscape, Clissold puts China's cultural, political, and military history into context and explains the mind-set that drives Chinese political and business leaders--a resource that has been sorely lacking in most books about doing business in China.

Here, with sharp observations and a deep appreciation for China's rich past, Clissold presents five rules anyone can use to deal effectively with modern Chinese counterparts. These include understanding that:

• China has its own set of rules that provide a unique pathway to success;
• the quest for stability overrides all others;
• in China, one should never attack directly;
• in solving problems, stick to practicalities and avoid arguments over theory;
• and knowing yourself and knowing the "other" will help you survive a hundred battles.

Combining exuberant storytelling, sly humor, and counterintuitive insights, Chinese Rules traces Clissold's latest adventures, providing an object lesson in the contradictions between reality and conventional belief that continue to make China a fascinating, perplexing, and irresistible destination for Westerners.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Collins
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 000759027X
• ISBN 13: 9780007590278
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272