Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-31T23:56:51.046Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Yasheng Huang
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Get access

Summary

In a New York Times article entitled, “Funny, I Moved to Beijing and Wound Up in Pleasantville,” Elisabeth Rosenthal, Times reporter in China, provides a humorous account of a typical weekend outing in Beijing. She describes driving her kids to a soccer game in a sports-utility vehicle (most probably made by Beijing Jeep, a joint venture, or JV, with DaimlerChrysler), loading up on toilet paper supplies at Price Smart, stopping by one of the over forty McDonald's in Beijing for a Big Mac, and Dairy Queen or Baskin-Robbins for a sundae. She writes, “So this is what the Communist Party means by ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’! But isn't this what it's like in Des Moines?”

To elevate – or, depending on one's view, to denigrate – Beijing all the way to Des Moines is arguably a sign of one of the hallmark events in modern times: China's integration into the world economy. Foreign firms, either singly or as JVs with Chinese firms, have established a ubiquitous presence in China. Rosenthal could also have mentioned that on China's congested streets, the indisputable king of the road is the Santana, a sedan with a 1970s' look and a 1980s' engine design. The Santana is assembled in Shanghai by a JV with Volkswagen. In 1998, for every 100 passenger cars sold in China, forty-eight were Santanas.

Type
Chapter
Information
Selling China
Foreign Direct Investment During the Reform Era
, pp. 1 - 64
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Introduction
  • Yasheng Huang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Book: Selling China
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815164.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Introduction
  • Yasheng Huang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Book: Selling China
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815164.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Yasheng Huang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Book: Selling China
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815164.004
Available formats
×