Nov
15
Diamonds in the Trough
Posted by: Paul Dhaliwal | November 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Earlier today while surfing the BBC online I came across an article titled “Start-up China-How to build a successful chain of Restaurants.” As is commonly known, China is a one party communist state, in which the trappings of excessive capitalism are still often frowned upon by party officials.
So how did this success story come to pass? The article spoke of a lady who went from owning one obscure restaurant to an entire chain, employing thousands of workers in a span of a decade. China is home to other such success stories, comparable to diamonds in the trough as so many Chinese live in abject poverty.
Indeed the quirk that caused me the greatest deal of consternation was how the restaurant chains’ owner Zhang Lan came to bypass the government stance towards capitalism. High level officials and their wives would dine at her premises, and so she obtained upper level protection from government intervention when she began to build her empire.
Most Chinese however do not come across such luck, as China’s rural population is amongst the poorest on the planet.
Perhaps as more Chinese citizens being to chase this level of success or the “Chinese Dream,” their voices will usher in another wave of economic reforms in China.