Not your father's China

BEIJING – Let me start by making it very clear that this was supposed to be a rant about how China has managed, being the nifty little go-getter it is, to conduct capitalism under the guise of a communist socialist state.

This, however, is not that intended rant.

What changed? I came to China and realized that it has openly and very publicly been moving toward capitalism since 1978.

Surprised? I literally fell off my chair when I learned this.

This, with the inherent quality of ranting, is going to be a discourse on how the world’s largest communist country, is, in fact, much more capitalist than you might imagine.

The political reforms started in 1978, when Deng Xiaoping, widely considered the most powerful public figure in China from the late 1970s until his death in 1997, pioneered a shift toward privatization.

Since then, China has adopted a gradualist approach to economic reform, instead of abolishing socialism in one swift move. Hallmarks of the program include a market-oriented transition and what my professor described as a “strong opening policy.”

Implemented on a piecemeal basis for the past 30 years, China has emerged from being a non-entity to a major player on the world global market.

It boasts an estimated 10 percent gross domestic product growth rate and contributes 14.5 percent to overall global output, as compared to 22.5 percent by the United States, according to statistics presented by my professor at the Guanghua School of Business.

And the United States had about a 250-year head start in developing its economy.
Many scholars cast doubts on these figures. After all, the data is published by the Chinese Statistics Bureau, which is, like everything else in China, controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

Could these not be fictional numbers that are just fueling the perception that China is successful and thus furthering the communist party’s propaganda? Much like Henry David Thoreau, scholars often bawl, “rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” Scholars have a flair for the dramatics. I have to admit, I was one of them.

The miracle that is China seems too good to be true; everything seems to have worked out way too perfectly to be practical and, well, human.

A 30-minute drive through Beijing will quell your doubts. China is the glowing example of economic reform done right, and done well.

Its GDP figures are evident in the streets of Beijing. The predominant form of transport may be bicycles and crowded buses, but the glittering high-rises the Chinese call work spaces are proof of the booming economy. The shiny new streets are proof of the infrastructure dollars China claims to invest.

The fact that China hasn’t seen a social uprising since Tiananmen 20 years back is proof that the people are either content with the economy or are too busy shopping to bother.

Flippant, yes, but true.

You will not believe the rush in their supermarkets, stores that rival even the biggest malls in America. China seems to have found the fabled “it” factor, and the “it” is capitalism.

You know how the latest “Star Trek” movie has the tagline “not your father’s ‘Star Trek’”? Similarly, the economy present in China today is undeniably not your tried and true version of Marxist-Leninist Socialism.

And if the new “Star Trek” is any indication, China is going to blow our minds. The world’s greatest communist state is, in fact, a glowing example of capitalist victory.
It’s not communism, folks, it’s Communism, Inc.

Chinese Proverb - A book tightly shut is but a block of paper.

Censorship is rampant in China. And this isn't a big secret. In my time, I have lived in India, the world's largest democracy, USA, the paragon of human rights, and Oman, a Sultanate. I have some experience living under authoritarian rule, as Oman would qualify as one. But China is a whole different ballgame. The censorship here has gotten people killed, whereas in Oman only vocal and public blasphemy would do that. I used to joke that about 3 minutes before I get on the plane out of Beijing, I was going to Google things like "Communism sucks" or "Democracy rules" or "Tiananmen brutality". That way, they can't get me, and I'll know what the information available to a young Chinese is. The truth however, is simple. You do not take these chances while in China. While researching for an article, I realized that Wikipedia did not have any pages on Tibet, or the Dalai Lama, or the Democracy movement in China. There was an article on censorship, but all its links were blocked. The new york times was blocked, as were all blogs. When talking about this with my professor, I found out that these were blocked because they were becoming voices of dissent. And no one can stand dissent in the CCP. There are cameras everywhere. In the college, in the hotel, on the street. Just imagine what that is like. For someone growing up in China, apart from government mandated education, the internet also presents an idealized society where the children only learn what they should, and never know about the concept of dissent. How would that be, to wake up one day and not have "freedom", "dissent" or "democracy" to exist? Well, like Natalie Imbruglia once sang, I shiver! Also, iTunes is blocked. So much for downloading some Imbruglia.

Chinese Proverb - If heaven made him, earth can find some use for him

My local Chinese friend from IU, or my Guanxi Friend, introduced me to her cousin. Her cousin is a recent NYU Grad, a native Beijinger who moved back to Beijing despite multiple offers from top firms in New York. She now works as a business consultant at one of the premier firms of new China, or China 2.0 as she calls it. We had an interesting discussion about the differences between China and India, and China and USA. The biggest difference we discussed, however, was the difference between the two types of Beijingers. There are people like her, innovating and leading. People who live in what i call the shiny parts of Beijing. She works in a tinted glass corner office in a high rise, has power lunches, and lives in a chic apartment overlooking the olympic fields in Beijing. Then there are the follower Beijingers. These are the ones who live in the narrow alleyways of the older, duller, districts. They are the ones who work in the factories, in the shops and streets, or at best in the small central cubicle. They do, and they live. These are the main crux of the workforce of Beijing, and China. These are the people that are the reason that China is called the "workplace of the world". The innovators in China get the work to China, the followers actually do, albeit in obscurity. There exists a giant income gap between them, and this is causing an immense disparity in spending power. Being a marketing major, I have to wonder how big a challenge this poses to marketers. Who do they target? Even basic things like Coca Cola are too expensive at their American Prices for the followers. Does that make Coke a luxury product in China? And McDonalds? These are immensely pertinent questions that must be considered before stepping into China.

Chinese Proverb - Don't open a shop unless you like to smile.

I went shopping for a few items to a charming little shopping in Sunlitan today. the name of the mall was Yeashow, and it is the biggest and best place to get fake anything in China. They have everything from designer bags to clothes and electronics here. I was out with a friend of mine from IU, a chinese international student who I knew from tutoring at IU. I had told her I was going to be in Beijing and she had offered to come by and show me around. I had gone shopping before this, and everywhere I went, I noticed a different demeanor amongst the shop owners. Now, instead of starting to haggle for a Coach purse at RMB 1000, they were saying things like "350, friend price". What was this friend price? Was my extremely amiable face causing me to get great discounts? After a more english-adept shopkeeper explained to me that since I was with Chinese people, I was a friend, and they would not try to sell me things at the tourist price, I realized that I was witnessing Guanxi first hand. The power of personal connections, that purportedly runs businesses in China, was happening here, in front of me. True, none of us knew anybody personally, but just having a local with me was getting me special treatment, is it any wonder that Western companies that come parading into China with the best of their western minds fail miserably?