The bamboo network

by Weidenbaum, Murray L

The Bamboo Network shows how a remarkable group of ethnic Chinese families has been the driving force behind China's transition from communism to capitalism: the "economic miracle" that took the Western business world by surprise. Murray Weidenbaum, a leading international economist, and Samuel Hughes trace the history of these enterprising leaders, who fled the mainland after the Communist takeover in 1948 and settled throughout Southeast Asia. Following in the tradition of generations of expatriate Chinese merchants, they began establishing small family businesses. Today, the authors show, these have expanded into conglomerate business empires. Entrusting corporate divisions almost exclusively to relatives, and dealing extensively with fellow expatriates, these entrepreneurs have formed close-knit and formidable business spheres throughout Southeast Asia - a "bamboo network." . Western investors and entrepreneurs seeking to enter the Chinese market are a step behind the members of th