|
| Chinese dragon flexes entrepreneurial muscle |
| BS Reporter / Chennai/ Bangalore Nov 17, 2009, 00:48 IST |
|
China seems to have taken the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) declaration — “Poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere” — to heart. With about 20 million people being added to the population every year, it is a challenge to find jobs for all.
When the country realised that even with foreign direct investment, it would not be able to find enough jobs for all its citizens, it decided to become the most entrepreneurial country on earth. Today, an increasingly growing Chinese entrepreneurial energy is threatening businesses worldwide. Robert A Compton’s documentary ‘Win in China’ uses the world’s largest and most lucrative business plan competition broadcast on CCTV as a metaphor to explore the radical cultural change taking place in China. The documentary also considers the implications for the rest of the world from the spate of Chinese entrepreneurs.
Compton is in India to promote the documentary and is said to have attracted a lot of interest from some top businessmen and entrepreneurs in the country. Over 120,000 entrepreneurs compete for prize money in excess of $5 million on ‘Win in China’. The winner receives nearly $1.5 million to invest in their new business plan. According to Robert A Compton, executive producer of the documentary, “Win in China is more than a lucrative business plan competition; it is an opportunity for the government to educate, motivate and inspire the latent entrepreneurial talent in China.”
China’s business and entrepreneurial culture are unique. Beneath the surface of the Win in China gameshow lurks a nuanced, subtle and well-studied view of Chinese business practices, ethical norms, competitive behaviour and future ambitions. “China is winning the global race to create the most entrepreneurial economy on the planet,” emphasises Compton. “Their investments in entrepreneurial infrastructure dwarf that of India, America and the European Union.”
Since its ground-breaking ceremony in 1998, Zongguancun (ZGC), a technology hub in Beijing, has grown to over 21,000 companies employing over half a million people. That is more than ten times the size of the US’s largest technology park — The Research Triangle. Global corporations such as Baidu and Lenovo were incubated at ZGC. A new company is born here every 4.6 days. Compton believes that Chinese entrepreneurs are poised to dominate many of the leading industries of the 21st century to the detriment of the rest of world.
China has developed the spirit of entrepreneurial capitalism into a raging fire stoked by its top leadership. Initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978, the economic miracle has been driven primarily by large established companies and foreign direct investments. Experts say that as the most entrepreneurially active country in the world, China has 112 million people currently engaged in planning, starting or building new ventures.
For businesses to thrive, the Chinese need prompt access to capital and they are raising it from wherever they can. That’s why you can see 88 companies from China listed on Nasdaq today. And, how many companies from India? Just two.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Read Business news in |  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advertisements |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Content Guide
