One Billion Customers: Lessons from the Front Lines of Doing Business in China (Wall Street Journal Book)

It is well known that with a population of 1.3 billion people, China's market is moving quickly toward surpassing those of North America and Europe combined. Companies from the United States and around the globe are flocking there to buy, sell, manufacture, and create new products. But as former Wall Street Journal China bureau chief turned successful corporate executive James McGregor explains, business in China is conducted with a lot of subterfuge -- nothing is as it seems and nothing about doing business in China is easy.

Destined to become the bible for business people in China, One Billion Customers shows how to navigate the often treacherous waters of Chinese deal-making. Brilliantly written by an author who has lived in China for nearly two decades, the book reveals indispensable, street-smart strategies, tactics, and lessons for succeeding in the world's fastest growing consumer market.

Foreign companies rightly fear that Chinese partners, customers, or suppliers will steal their technology or trade secrets or simply pick their pockets. Testy relations between China's Communist leaders and the United States and other democracies can trap foreign companies in a political crossfire. McGregor has seen or experienced it all, and now he shares his insights into how China really works.

One Billion Customers maximizes the expansive knowledge of a respected journalist, well-known businessman, and ultimate China insider, offering compelling narratives of personalities, business deals, and lessons learned -- from Morgan Stanley's creation of a joint-venture Chinese investment bank to the pleasure dome of a smuggler whose $6 billion operation demonstrates how corruption greases the wheels of Chinese commerce. With nearly 100 strategies for conducting business in China, this unprecedented account combines practical lessons with the story of China's remarkable rise to power.

James McGregor is well known and respected in Chinese business, political, and media circles. A Mandarin speaker, he has served as a key adviser to both the U.S. and Chinese governments. As The Wall Street Journal's China bureau chief following the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, the chief executive of Dow Jones' China business operations during much of the roaring 1990s, and a venture-capital investor during China's dotcom boom, McGregor has negotiated every avenue of the labyrinth that is business in China. He is also a former chairman and a decade-long governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. McGregor is currently a China business investor, adviser, and entrepreneur. He also serves as Senior China Advisor to Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide.