China’s Gates Are Open Again
Eager for foreign investment, Chinese leaders are personally committing to increased market access in a way they haven’t in years.
BMW will take a controlling stake in its China joint venture.
Photographer: Chris McGrath/Getty Images AsiaPacForty years after China began opening itself up to the outside world, the country increasingly seems to be closed for business. A large and growing contingent of the global business community is convinced that China will never allow foreign companies to compete fairly on the mainland; frustration with Chinese industrial policies and market restrictions is acute. Ironically, those same frustrated foreign firms are in danger of missing out on the best moment in years to invest in China.
That’s precisely because global anger is finally beginning to have an impact. Even the most ideological Chinese policymakers can’t help but recognize that in foreign businessmen, they’re at risk of losing some of their greatest allies historically.