China watchers like to point to China’s breathtaking economic modernization and say that the country is complicated. Usually, they say this to chastise congressional members and their staffers who recoil at China’s continued political repression and characterize the country in unequivocal, non-complicated terms, such as “Communist dictatorship” or “Red China.” The former group accuses the latter of knowing nothing about China, whereas the latter despises the former as hopeless panda huggers.
Along comes One Billion Customers (Wall Street Journal Books/Free Press), a book by James McGregor that showcases China for all of its dynamic, exciting complexities and the continued ugliness of its one-party rule. Former China bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal and former chief executive of Dow Jones’s China business operations, McGregor has written a guide to doing business in China, offering colorful case studies and business advice. He captures a business world that stands squarely in the middle of China’s attempt to become a world class economy and reluctance to fully accept the free market’s rules and values. McGregor has eloquently”though perhaps unwittingly”challenged Washington’s key assumptions about the Chinese economic miracle.