Understanding China

I read this book on my way to China for a business meet. I looked at the country with a different lens afterwards. That is the impact the book has on you.

From the foreword, which emphasises that "never before in history has such a large country grown economically as fast as China in the last 30 years", the book grabs your attention. Interestingly, the book never steers away from figures and facts - in that order - and also at places seems to stick just to the positive side of the country's journey.

The fact is that China is fast transitioning from low-cost manufacturing to a higher-value, innovation-led economy, and the author throws figures to substantiate it. The book, for a change, focuses on the companies that are seen as the key to China's emergence as a global innovator and not on the measures initiated by the government. While drumbeating the innovation-led growth in China, the book also refreshingly points out that the legal system is one of the reasons for this push.

The chapter 'Framework conditions for innovation in China' is very illuminating. From creating better replicates than the original, to creating the original in China, the country's journey has been largely due to its infrastructure focus and the author backs this with adequate numbers.

The views in the books are from outside in. While largely it is a great read, at places the book falls flat as it does not capture the cultural reasons behind the shift from low-cost manufacturing to a higher-value, innovation-led economy. Which I believe is key to all things that are happening at China. Unfortunately, the book fails to bring alive this point.

The book does a good job of following the successes of firms like Huawei, Haier and Lenovo. A growing number of technology-focused firms are now turning their attention towards Chinese markets and outside of China. This truly would be beneficial to China and rightly summed up in the book: "a development that will not only benefit the country but will provide exciting opportunities for businesses throughout the world."

The book showcases why China is the next big story of the 21st century, especially in the area of innovation, and captures the major challenges for and opportunities in the country.

The book is well researched and hence chapters like 'Framework conditions for innovations in China', 'The contribution of non-Chinese innovators' and 'China becoming a global innovator - patterns in firm' are very interesting. Go ahead and pick it up.

The author is Chairman of Hindustan Powerprojects