Working in China 2231.3 Billion Customers
In the 1930s when he wrote the book 400 Million Customers,
Carl Crow, journalist and China business pioneer, opened the
imagination of the world to the potential of China. His book
encouraged the first wave of foreign business into modern
China. Seventy plus years later, Carl Crow would be staggered
by the amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) into China
and the rate of her development.
In 2010, FDI in China hit an unprecedented high of $105.7
billion, driving economic growth to 10.3 per cent. Economic
growth fuelled output from the country’s millions of factories
as it rose 15.7 per cent to meet the growing demand for
Chinese-made goods.
Consumer Paradise
The development of China and the related deployment of
her peasant farmers as skilled labourers has been driven
by creating preferential treatment to incoming business in
the coastal region. In the early 1980s, China opened herself
to business through the establishment of special areas that
foreign companies could invest. These were called special
economic zones and offered tax breaks and simplified permit
and licensing regulations for foreign businesses to establish
a China presence.
Companies came with the intent of establishing a foothold
in China to tap the market potential of the 1.3 billion