The China Business Conundrum

This book deserves a place alongside such classic business memoirs as Tim Clissold’s Mr. China (2005) and Paul Midler’s Poorly Made in China (2009), in which otherwise successful Western businessmen find themselves drowning in China’s complex crosscurrents. Those older accounts were often funny, and hopeful that China’s market and business practices would improve. That wry optimism no longer exists. Wilcox’s account is less a tutorial on how to swim in China’s dangerous waters than a warning not to get in at all.

Full of rare insights, this memoir is a valuable guide as the world faces increasing business turbulence when engaging with China.

I couldn’t put down this engrossing tale of Chinese government partners manipulating and milking SVB to create local competitors. While most victims of this all-too-common swindle quietly slink away, Ken Wilcox has the humility and moxie to go public with this cautionary tale.