The author, Jack Perkowski, started out as a successful Wall Street investment banker. After twenty years, he took an interest in China and moved his family, where he focused on raising funds to build a Chinese automotive components manufacturer, ASIMCO.
When he went to China in the early 90s, the Chinese government was having trouble finding foreign investors for the auto parts industry, and was willing to give away foreign majority ownership. Seeing the potential of the industry, and Chinese government support, he decided to make his move, raising Wall Street capital while negotiating with Chinese partners to get started. Together with his team, he was able to make things happen, and now has a successful auto components company in China.
Aside from Perkowski being generally very smart, several things come through in the book:
- He was keenly aware that there were different ways to do things in China, and he did not try to force down only one vision “because that’s the way that it’s done in America”
- He did not try to negotiate from a superior position, but instead negotiated as an equal partner committed to China’s long-term growth
- He has a curious mind and is always willing to learn
- He and his family now live happily in China, which in the eyes of the Chinese government and many Chinese, shows his commitment to the country’s development
Perkowski shows that China is really not that mysterious, but it takes time to learn and understand how it works. If one is willing to make that investment, then one day, you will get a good return on your investment. Along with Jim Rogers, Jack Perkowski comes across as an investor in China who gets it.
To get a good view of what it was like doing the deals on the ground for Perkowski, you would be well-advised to read Mr. China: A Memoir
If there is only one warning I would make, it is that many of the strategies and scenarios Perkowski outlines work well with highly capitalized manufacturing businesses. He had an advantage in dealing with Chinese officials because he had $150 million to invest. For smaller investors say, in the service sector, it would be quite different. Also, after joining the WTO in 2001, Chinese regulations have opened up considerably for non-Chinese investors. As for joint ventures, very few companies consider them anymore, so they are mostly off the table.
Subscribe to our feed
March 24, 2008
10:38 pm
Managing The Dragon: More To Know. More to Learn….
Paul Denlinger (of China Vortex) just did a guest review of the book, Managing the Dragon, on Lost Loawai, which book I glowingly reviewed last week, in my post, “Managing The Dragon. The Best, Jerry. The Best.” Paul provides some excellent insights …
March 24, 2008
11:02 pm
It should be noted that in his book, “Managing the Dragon”, Mr. Perkowski counseled against joint ventures in most situations.
June 12, 2008
12:58 pm
[...] On June 11, I attended an event in Beijing where Jack Perkowski, author of the book Managing the Dragon talked about his experiences doing business in China and on the Chinese economy. He also keeps a blog where he talks about China-related topics. In March, I had read the book and wrote an online review which you can read here. [...]
June 26, 2008
1:49 am
[...] The important thing is that he was pragmatic about bringing in the best people in their fields as senior and executive management, without regard to who they were related to. This is a very American characteristic, and in China, [...]
July 17, 2008
2:32 pm
Didnt the guy spend 500 million venture money to build a 500 million a year Asimco, to shoddy to go public. And even in 10 years he couldnt pay back the venture money…
He seems like a fraus and he hasnt learned chinese after all there years.