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The One Hour China Book (2017 Edition): Two Peking University Professors Explain All of China Business in Six Short Stories

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"One hour with this book will make you an expert on business in China." - Dick Gephardt, Majority-Minority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives, 1989-2002 “This book simplifies China in a very elegant and smart way. These distinguished authors tell you clearly what you most need to know right now.” - James McGregor, author of One Billion Lessons from the Front Lines of Doing Business in China "For most people, the intellectual return on time spent reading this book is almost unrivaled." - ValueWalk This is the China book for everyone - whether an expert or novice. It can be read in an hour and gives you most of what you need to know about China business today - and its increasing impact on the rest of the world. This "speed-read" book is the distilled knowledge of two Peking University business professors with over 30 years of experience on the ground in China and the emerging markets. According to authors Jeffrey Towson and Jonathan Woetzel, "if we had the undivided attention of someone from Ohio, Brighton or Lima for just one hour, this little book is what we would say." Author Jonathan Woetzel is a senior partner of McKinsey & Company. He opened McKinsey's Shanghai location in 1995 and has been resident since then. He currently the global leader of its Cities Special Initiative and the Asia-based Director of the McKinsey Global Institute. He co-chairs the Urban China Initiative along with Tsinghua University to catalyze the next stage of China’s urbanization. Author Jeffrey Towson is a private equity investor / consultant, keynote speaker, Peking University professor and author. His writing and speaking are on how rising Chinese consumers (and companies) are disrupting global markets. (#consumerchina). He was previously Head of Direct Investments for Middle East North Africa and Asia Pacific for Prince Alwaleed, nicknamed by Time magazine the “Arabian Warren Buffett” and arguably the world’s first private global investor.

177 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 12, 2014

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Jeffrey Towson

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
Profile Image for Undrakh.
177 reviews121 followers
April 29, 2015
Хятадад болж буй томоохон өөрчлөлтүүд зөвхөн Хятадын өөрчлөлт байхаа больсон. Цар хүрээгээрээ бүх л салбарыг хамарч байгаа эдгээр өөрчлөлтүүдийг зургаан сэдэвт багтаан тайлбарласан нь хотжилт, өсч буй хэрэглэгчид, аж үйлдвэрлэл, санхүүгийн зах зээл, оюуны нөөц бололцоо, интернет зэрэг юм. Тухайн сэдвийн хүрээнд гол санаануудыг багтаасан хэсгээс гадна салбарын өөрчлөлтөнд үнэлэгдэхүйц үүрэг гүйцэтгэх хүчтэй оролцогч компанийн, болон түүний үүсгэн байгуулагчийн тухай мэдээлэл багтаасан нь илүү бодитоор хүлээн авахад тусалж байв. 60-90 минутанд багтаан уншихад зориулагдсан болохоор богино хугацаанд их мэдээллийг багцлан хүлээн авахад туслана.

Хүн ам ихтэйгээ дагаад Хятадтай холбоотой бүх тоо толгой эргэм их. Нэг жилд л гэхэд 7.5 сая оюутнууд их сургуулиа төгсөж байдаг юм байна. Ийм том зах зээл дээр бусдаас ялгарч гарч ирсэн бизнес эрхлэгчид дэлхийн тавцанд өрсөлдөхөд аль хэдийн бэлэн болсон байна. Тийм гэдгээ ч харуулж байгаа. Хэрвээ савааны хоёр туйлд Монгол ба Хятадыг байна гэж төсөөлөх юм бол нэг нэгнээ хэрхэн харж байгаа нь сонирхолтой. Зөв газарт зөв цагтаа ашигтай бизнес эхлүүлээд тэрбумтан болсон хэд хэдэн хүний намтраас номонд багтсан байсан. Эдийн засаг, нийгмийн хувьд ингэж их өөрчлөгдөж байгаа хөрштэйгийн хувьд манайх ямар нөхцөл байдалд байгаа вэ гэдгээ маш сайн ойлгох хэрэгтэй юм байна. Уг ном нь Монгол хэл рүү орчуулагдаад байгааг олж уншлаа.
Profile Image for Sanjukta.
99 reviews19 followers
August 15, 2017
Good!

Concise, although it takes a lot more than an hour - especially if you try to absorb information on each trend and highlights of every chapter.
Profile Image for Togoldor Erdenebileg.
133 reviews23 followers
March 21, 2015
A book with full of interesting facts and inspiring stories about China and some hardworking Chinese individuals. I didn't actually realize how powerful this country (our neighbor) was becoming until I read this book. It will give you some insight on China's current megatrends and its near future.
Profile Image for Scott Lingran.
5 reviews3 followers
May 22, 2017
An excellent introduction for the macro trends in China. I'm Chinese and even I found this insightful.

Not so good for tactical ground level stuff, e.g. how to not get defrauded in China.
2 reviews3 followers
March 18, 2023
This book delivered what it promised. A nice, rough overview of China's business that can be read in a short time.
Profile Image for Frank Calberg.
196 reviews67 followers
April 4, 2023
Takeaways from reading the book:

China megatrend # 1. Urbanization
I learned that urbanization is the most important phenomenon shaping China. Every year, 18.5 million more people live in cities in China. In 2030, about 1 billion Chinese will be living in cities. The process began in the 1980s, when 20% of the Chinese population lived in cities. The urbanization process has a lot to do with "catching up" to the urbanization rate of 70-80% found in Japan, the USA, and in Europe and about transitioning from an agrarian economy.

Today, there are about 160 Chinese cities with over 1 million people. Many very big cities with over 60 million people are clusters of smaller cities. An example: Beijing / Tianjin in the North of China is a cluster of 28 cities. Overall, China has over 20 of these clusters.

China megatrend # 2: Manufacturing
The construction business in China employs over 100 million people. China Vanke is one of the companies that has helped build apartments for the many people. The company is good at building quality homes at a low price - very quickly. That is what many people in China need. A big trend in the construction business is prefabrication, i.e. manufacturing the main pieces of a building, then transporting these main pieces to the construction site and assembling them there. By doing this, buildings can be constructed very quickly.

China megatrend # 3: Rising Chinese consumers.
Location 936: Of the 83 million Chinese traveling overseas in 2013, 60% were leaving the country for the first time.

China megatrend # 4: Money
There are 4 big banks in China: The Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and the Agricultural Bank of China. These "big four" banks mostly evolved from government organizations into quasi-corporate, state-owned entities. I read that it can be a little difficult to find out who actually controls a bank such as the Bank of China. The bank is publicly traded out of Hong Kong and run like a banking corporation. However, the CEO of the bank does not report to the shareholders and is not appointed by them. The CEO is chosen by Organization department of the Communist party which technically owns nothing. But the CEO also holds a vice ministerial rank in the government which makes Bank of China somewhat of a government ministry as well.

The "big four" Chinese banks can function as an arm of the government into the economy. When the central government wants to influence various aspects of the Chinese economy, directing the lending of the big four banks is their most direct tool. For example, they can increase lending to state-owned enterprises and local governments and/or increase lending into strategic industries and infrastructure. In this regard, it is worth noting that the big state-owned enterprises to which lending from the big four banks tend to go, account for just 20% of the Chinese workforce. While small and medium enterprises employ 80% of the Chinese workforce, they account for only 20% of bank lending.

China megatrend # 5: The Internet
I read, for example, about http://www.tencent.com/, a company founded by Ma Huateng and Zhang Zhidong, and about http://www.alibaba.com/ founded by Jack Ma and http://www.baidu.com/. Reading this part of the book, I learned that whereas in most countries, search and e-mail are the two most frequent online activities, it is instant messaging and online messaging that in China have been very popular. An example: Have a look at this map over QQ users currently online http://im.qq.com/online/index.shtml

At location 1500, I read that on average, Chinese Internet users spend about 20 hours per week online - 5-6 hours more per week than Americans. Another interesting fact for me was that 140 characters in Chinese can contain up to 5 times more information as in English. That is quite useful information when you like to use microblogging sites such as http://www.weibo.com/ and/or https://twitter.com/.
Profile Image for Cristian Gallegos.
43 reviews1 follower
November 24, 2020
Livro fundamental para quem quer ter uma visão ampla a respeito da potencia que a China representa. Repleto de dados, estatísticas e exemplos, a leitura fica fluida, dinâmica. O único porém é que você acaba com um forte sentimento de que eles, de fato, vão dominar o mundo.
Profile Image for Yanal.
280 reviews
March 31, 2019
A quick guide to what is happening in China along with interesting real life stories of individuals/companies who benefited from these changes. These are the trends addressed in the book but China is always changing so I imagine another book can be written.
1. Urbanization is shaping modern China, putting great pressure on infrastructure, transportation and public services, and on critical resources like clean drinking water.
At the same time, urbanization is creating a great deal of wealth. Some 350 million people have moved out of poverty since 1990 in China, with disposable income per capita rising 300 percent during that period. This will have a clear effect on real estate and other industries.

2. China is the world’s largest manufacturer, with more than $2.2 trillion in manufacturing value added. Its traditionally low labor costs are rising, and there is aggressive movement from low-tech assembly to high-tech manufacturing. The growth of China’s telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies outside its home market shows that China can successfully play this new role.

3. The rise of the Chinese consumers – The American middle class was the world economy’s growth engine throughout the 20th century, but China may take over this role. Urban Chinese are shopping to meet their needs, driving a growing demand for middle-class goods, food, and entertainment.

4. A lot of money – China has more than $15 trillion in bank deposits, and that figure grows by $2 trillion every year. A large lending market outside the formal banking system has emerged, complete with underground finance, off-balance-sheet lending, and wealth-management products that is invested in various projects. Most of these wealth-management products do not specify where funds are used. This creates risks.

5. Brainpower – The number of college graduates has risen from 1 million in 1998 to 7.5 million in 2012. Think of all this brainpower… There is also a surge in research-and-development investment in China. In 2009, China accounted for just 12.8 percent of the world’s R&D spending, well ahead of most European countries. On the other hand, there is also a substantial disconnect between education, employment, and other markers of Chinese brainpower.

6. The Chinese Internet – About 60 percent of the 618 million Chinese now online have only begun using the Internet in the past three to four years, and overall penetration remains at just 40 percent of the population, compared with approximately 80 percent in the United States. There is great potential for further growth.
Profile Image for Stefan Bruun.
281 reviews65 followers
August 16, 2018
A good and brief introduction to the Joneses market for people with little experience or understanding of the market. Having lived in and followed the country, there was little new in the trends themselves, but I found the background of the trends very interesting.

Given how brief it is, this is definitely a good read.
Profile Image for Renyi Tan.
10 reviews1 follower
September 6, 2018
As assured, I finished "The One Hour China: just slightly over an hour and it has been a brief albeit insightful read. A casual read that talks about several important dosmestic trends that drives China's meteoric economic rise, it surely provided a glimpse into the country's economic engines and activities. Jeff and John's sense of humour that punctuated the book was definitely welcoming too.
Profile Image for Jon Clemons.
8 reviews1 follower
September 3, 2018
Fun and fast read with just enough to tease about business in China. Definitely would like to learn more as a result of this and have a direction as a result of how this book is broken down. For someone with zero experience in China this is as enjoyable as any documentary you might find on Netflix albeit with what feels like less of a bias or agenda. And that's a good thing.
1 review
December 23, 2019
Changed my perception of China massively

A must read for anyone interested in doing business with China. The book is full of fascinating and enlightening facts about China and its meteoric rise, the key major trends, and some fabulous insights.
Immensely useful and easy to read. Not quite 60 minutes but who cares when it is so I’m
interesting . Money and time worth spending.
38 reviews
August 3, 2022
Amazing Book on China growth and bussines

This is one of the best books i have ever red. So easy to read and very immersive. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to do bussines or Invest in China. Also its a great book to understand development of Chinese economy. All in all fantastic book.
Profile Image for Zara.
21 reviews2 followers
September 3, 2024
Read this for a class of mine. Very concise, super relevant to today, and I was highly entertained by the success stories from the likes of Tencent, Huawei, and Ping An Insurance. Just goes to show how China is definitely a global giant that continues to maintain its industrial dominance on the world.
Profile Image for Nick.
Author 2 books40 followers
July 14, 2017
Good primer on mega trends in China. China's economic growth is being driven by massive urbanization: over 100 cities with 1 million people, and within the next 10 years, 1 billion people living in cities in China.
Profile Image for Sridhar.
6 reviews3 followers
September 16, 2018
Very good organisation of the book.
Lucid examples to illustrate the different trends.
Unbiased assessments (explanations relating to quality of banks etc. )
Respect for readers’ time considering that a fatter book is not possible to finishing few sittings.
1 review
September 16, 2018
Quick read with all the main points you need to know

For a quick read this book hits all the main points well and tells a story so you can understand the magnitude of those points.
9 reviews1 follower
July 14, 2019
Short book which explains China's meteoric rise

Short book for someone who wants China and its growth as a global giant be simplified into trends, what fueled them, an iconic example of each, and some personal commentary.

Not bad for a 90-120 min read.
Profile Image for Utsav Tiwary.
38 reviews9 followers
February 24, 2020
It delivers what it promises on. China is too big a topic to be discussed comprehensively in one book or even a few. But living up to its claim of trying to explain some of the mega trends that have recently emerged in China with numbers and simplified examples, it is an engaging read.
Profile Image for Greg M. Johnson.
288 reviews
January 18, 2021
A few good points but mostly fluff.

Contains some zingers like, “Our argument is that there are powerful economic and demographic mega-trends shaping things on the ground – irrespective of booms and busts.” Took over a year to finish this “one hour” book.
Profile Image for Julika.
11 reviews
April 2, 2022
Short and crispy introduction for those who want to understand China more.
Brief description of 6 megatrends provdie a great structure, understanding but also inspiration and room for discussion and essay writing.
Profile Image for TAN YEW WHUAY.
2 reviews
January 14, 2018
Easy to read book

Easy to read book and fairly agreeable assessment of what is happening in China. Easy to read but oversimplified the trends.
2 reviews
July 15, 2019
Quick read

Great high level overview about the Chinese market. Finished in about 2 hours. Arranged in a logical manner that is easy to remember.
Profile Image for Hakan.
30 reviews
August 13, 2020
Gibt einen Überblick über China und wohin die Reise geht. In Sechs Megatrends zeigt er einige Erfolgsstorys und gibt spannende Einblicke indem er die massiven Zahlen in Relation setzt.
Profile Image for Batsukh Bat-Ochir.
25 reviews11 followers
December 23, 2015
my rating 3.5/5
Хятадын эдийн засгийг тэр чигээр нь ойлгоно гэдэг, тэр тусмаа ганцхан цагийн дотор ойлгож авна гэдэг боломжгүй. Тэгвэл дэлхийн хамгийн том эдийн засгийн талаар маш товчхон хэрнээ, бүрэн дүүрэн ойлгож болохуйц мэдээлэл хүргэхийн тулд 6 том чиг хандлагыг тодорхойлжээ. Өөрөөр хэлбэл нийт эдийн засагт болж буй бүхий л үзэгдлийг бүлэглэсээр, эцэстээ 6 том шалтгааны хэлхээн дээр авч ирсэн байна. Энэхүү 6 чиг хандлагыг тодорхойлсноор Хятадын эдийн засагт юу өрнөж байгааг маш тодорхой бөгөөд тойм байдлаар харж болно.
i. ХОТЖИЛТ
1. Сүүлийн 30 жилийн хугацаанд 400 сая хүн хөдөөнөөс хот руу шилжсэн. Цаашдаа ч эрчимтэй нэмэгдэх төлөвтэй.
2. Хот руу шилжин ирэгсдийн нөлөөгөөр маш олон том хотууд бий болно.
3. Хотжилт=Баялаг /Барилга, зам тээвэр гэх мэт салбаруудын өсөлт/
4. Хятадын эдийн засаг бүхэлдээ нэг цул биш, харин олон кластеруудын нэгдэл хэлбэрээр оршдог.
5. Хотжилт баялаг бүтээдэг ч, саад бэрхшээлийг ч дагуулдаг. /Ундны ус, орчны бохирдол/
6. Эцэстээ хотжилтын бүх үзэгдэл “БАРИЛГА”-тай л холбогдоно.
ii. АЖ ҮЙЛДВЭРИЙН ЦАР ХҮРЭЭ
1. Хятад улс бол ҮЙЛДВЭРЛЭЛИЙН МАНГАС. Хаа сайгүй л MADE IN CHINA шошготой бүтээгдэхүүнүүд.
2. Үйлдвэржилт болон экспорт тасралтгүй нэмэгдэж байгаагаас гадна, үйлдвэрлэдэг бараа бүтээгдэхүүн нь хувцас хунар гэх мэт энгийн технологиос, гар утас, комьютер гэх мэт өндөр технологи руу шилжиж байна. /Huawei, Lenovo/
3. Далайн эргийн зардал өндөртэй хотууд дахь үйлдвэржилт аажмаар төв болон баруун хэсгийн зардал багатай хэсгүүд рүү шилжиж байна.
4. Үйлдвэрлэлийн зардал багатай нь л ялж үлдэнэ. /Хөдөлмөрийн зардал дэндүү, бүр дэндүү бага/
5. ҮДК-ууд Бээжин, Гуанжоу зэрэг том хотын зах зээл дээр өрсөлдөх боломжтой ч, бусад газарт бол дотоодын компаниудтай өрсөлдөнө гэдэг бараг боломжгүй зүйл.
6. Компаниудын гол өрсөлдөөн том биш, жижиг биш, дундаж хотуудын зах зээл дээр л өрнөнө.
7. Хятадын дотоодын үйлдвэрлэгчид аажмаар дэлхийн зах зээлд гарч ирсээр л... /Дэлхийн топ-500-д Хятадын 73 компани орж ирсэн/
iii. ХЯТАДЫН ӨСӨН НЭМЭГДЭЖ БУЙ ХЭРЭГЛЭГЧИД
1. Хятад болон Азид амьдарч буй дундаж орлоготой хэрэглэгчид ирээдүйн эдийн засгийн хөдөлгөгч гол хүч /Латин Америк болон Африкын дундаж орлоготой хэрэглэгчдийг зүгээр март, 2030 он гэхэд дэлхийн дундаж давхаргын 66 хувь нь Азид амьдарч байх болно/
2. Хятадын ихэнхи хэрэглэгчид мөнгөний бодит үнэ цэнийг маш их анхаардаг. /Брендэд мөнгө төлөхгүй, чанар болон хэмжээ/
3. Сэтгэлийн таашаал эдлэхийн тулд брендэд мөнгө төлдөг цөөнхийн давхарга ч мөн адил хүрээгээ тэлсээр л...
4. Хятадын хэрэглэгчдийн хөрөнгө нэмэгдэж буй нь содон үр нөлөөг араасаа дагуулж байна. /Махны эрэлт маш хурдацтай нэмэгдэх, ХАА-н салбарт хөрөнгө оруулалт нэмэгдэх/
iv. МӨНГӨ, ИЛҮҮ ИХ МӨНГӨ
1. Хятад улсын эдийн засагт маш их мөнгө эргэлдэж байна. /15 их наяд ам.доллар хадгаламж, ардын банкны валютын нөөц 3,5 их наяд ам.доллар/
2. Тэдэнд маш их мөнгө байхаас гадна түүгээрээ үр ашигтай хөрөнгө оруулалт хийж, эргэлтэнд оруулж чадаж байна.
3. Санхүүгийн зах зээл дээр ихээхэн мөнгөн хөрөнгө эргэлдэж байгаа ч, өрийн түвшин хэр байгаа вэ, энэ байдал хэр тогтвортой үргэлжиж чадах вэ?
v. ОЮУНЫ АСАР ИХ НӨӨЦ ЧАДАВХ
1. Ажиллагсдын тоо олон гэдэг нь хямдхан байхаас гадна ур чадварын өрсөлдөөн ихтэй. Өөрөөр хэлбэл ур чадвартай ажиллах хүчний хэмжээ ч их байна гэсэн үг.
2. Хүн амын тооноос шалтгаалаад боловсрол эзэмшихээр зорьж буй суралцагчдын тоо ч олон.
3. Хятадууд шинэ санаа гаргахдаа маруухан байж болох ч, зардлын инноваци хийхдээ дэлхийд хосгүй.
4. Судалгаа шинжилгээнд зориулсан хөрөнгө оруулалт асар хурдацтай нэмэгдсээр...
5. Судалгаа болон үйлдвэрлэлийг нэгэнт хослуулаад эхэлчихсэн...
6. Хятад улс дэлхийд патентын эрх авахаар хүсэгчдийн тоогоор тэргүүлж байна. Боловсролын чанарын талаар ярих гэж байгаа бол энэ ганц өгүүлбэр л танд хангалттай биз ээ.
vi. ХЯТАДЫН ИНТЕРНЕТ
1. Интернет хэрэглэгчдийн тоогоор дэлхийд мэдээж Хятад улс л тэргүүлдэг. /550 сая хэрэглэгч, АНУ 2-р байранд 245 сая/ Гэтэл эдгээр хэрэглэгчдийн 60 хувь нь сүүлийн 3-4 жилд нэмэгдэж орж ирсэн шинэ хэрэглэгчид байгаа аж.
2. Хятадын интернет хэрэглэгчид и-мэйл гэхээсээ илүү чат, мэдээлэл гэхээсээ илүү бичлэг үзэхийг хүсч байдаг.
3. Хятадууд интернет орчинд зарцуулах цаг улам бүр ихэссээр...
4. Хятадууд интернетыг хамгийн идэвхтэй хэрэглэгчид.
5. Интернет худалдан авалт.
6. Хятадын интернет орчин дах худалдан авалтыг эзэлж чадсан нь хамгийн том ЯЛАГЧ болно.
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153 reviews1 follower
April 2, 2018
I was amazed how incredibly informative this void was. It was definitely one of the best books i read before going over to China in terms of preparation. It really gives a good idea of the current trends and some of the other things happening in China.
383 reviews16 followers
July 29, 2014
A very good, concise book on the magic of China's growth, its future and the problems with the system there.
Very nicely structured with 6 key topics that define the China that is and how it may be.

So, it sure has the bull case about urbanisation, consumption, internet powerhouse, brain powerhouse and its manufacturing strength, but also has potential pitfalls about the lack of real ingenuity or the shadow banking system and the pollution problems.

All in all - an excellent synopsis for anyone who wants to get a good quick understanding of the China of 2013-2014
10 reviews
April 2, 2015
Excellent read.

I did learn a great deal that has motivated me to buy other books in the subject

I have 1 minor criticism from a northeastern university mba and a former general electric tmp graduate,

There is an old adage the author should have but did not follow

1. Tell them what you're going to tell them
2. Tell them
3. Tell them what you told them

Then and only then, as the author claims, will the reader truly remember what they read. Sorry but true

Otherwise great read. Thank you

Bob brilliant. Sarasota, florida
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