Chinese Rules: Mao's Dog, Deng's Cat, and Five Timeless Lessons from the Front Lines in China

From the author of the acclaimed Mr. China comes another rollicking adventure story—part memoir, part history, part business imbroglio—that offers valuable lessons to help Westerners win in China.

In the twenty-first century, the world has tilted eastwards in its orbit; China grows confident while the West seems mired in doubt. Having lived and worked in China for more than two decades, Tim Clissold explains the secrets that Westerners can use to navigate through its cultural and political maze. Picking up where he left off in the international bestseller Mr. China, Chinese Rules chronicles his most recent exploits, with assorted Chinese bureaucrats, factory owners, and local characters building a climate change business in China. Of course, all does not go as planned as he finds himself caught between the world’s largest carbon emitter and the world’s richest man. Clissold offers entertaining and enlightening anecdotes of the absurdities, gaffes, and mysteries he encountered along the way.

Sprinkled amid surreal scenes of cultural confusion and near misses, are smart myth-busting insights and practical lessons Westerners can use to succeed in China. Exploring key episodes in that nation’s long political, military, and cultural history, Clissold outlines five Chinese Rules, which anyone can deploy in on-the-ground situations with modern Chinese counterparts. These Chinese rules will enable foreigners not only to cooperate with China but also to compete with it on its own terms.

This essential guide for doing business in China reveals:

• Historical Context for Modern Business: See how episodes from the Qing Dynasty to the Cultural Revolution shape the thinking of your modern Chinese counterparts.
• Five Actionable Rules: Learn the five core principles, derived from thousands of years of Chinese strategic thought, that you can use in your next meeting.
• A Gripping Business Narrative: Follow Clissold’s high-stakes journey building a climate change business and navigating deals between global power players.
• Navigating the Cultural Maze: Move beyond stereotypes with an insider’s look at the absurdities, mysteries, and hard-won lessons of working on the ground in China.

From the author of the international bestseller Mr. China comes another rollicking ride through the slick mega-cities and industrial backwaters of twenty-first-century China—part adventure story, part erudite myth-buster, and part practical rule book to help Westerners win in China.

China's role as struggling underdog is now firmly a thing of the past. The world has tilted eastward in its orbit even as the West seems mired in self-doubt. Through living and working in China for more than two decades, Tim Clissold has uncovered stealth methods Westerners can use to straighten out complicated situations in China and achieve their own objectives.

Revealing the hidden logic that governs the Chinese business and political landscape, Clissold puts China's cultural, political, and military history into context and explains the mind-set that drives Chinese political and business leaders—a resource that has been sorely lacking in most books about doing business in China.

Here, with sharp observations and a deep appreciation for China's rich past, Clissold presents five rules anyone can use to deal effectively with modern Chinese counterparts. These include understanding that:

• China has its own set of rules that provide a unique pathway to success;
• the quest for stability overrides all others;
• in China, one should never attack directly;
• in solving problems, stick to practicalities and avoid arguments over theory;
• and knowing yourself and knowing the "other" will help you survive a hundred battles.

Combining exuberant storytelling, sly humor, and counterintuitive insights, Chinese Rules traces Clissold's latest adventures, providing an object lesson in the contradictions between reality and conventional belief that continue to make China a fascinating, perplexing, and irresistible destination for Westerners.

“Delightful… this trenchant, immensely entertaining study in the contradictions of Chinese capitalism should be required reading.” - Fortune

“An adventure tale. Clissold is a wonderful and compassionate narrator (with) a deep respect for the culture, language, and history.” - USA Today

“Clissold’s advice is timely and may even be useful to those outside the business world as well as in.” - Publishers Weekly

“The insights Clissold sheds on deal-making in China ultimately stem from an ability - born of years of experience and his fluency in Mandarin - to see any situation from a local counterparty’s viewpoint.” - Financial Times

“One would be hard-pressed to find a serious Western investor in China who isn’t aware of Clissold’s eye-opening account.” - Forbes

“Lots of Western businessmen have China war stories, but only Tim Clissold has written . . . this funny book.” - Newsweek

“One of the wittiest, most compelling accounts of anything I’ve read in a long time. A terrific book.” - Tucker Carlson

“A compelling account, related with sly humor and hard-earned wisdom.” - Library Journal

“Hugely entertaining…Clissold loves China…but he also views it with clarity and no small amount of humor.” - Washington Post

“A pragmatic application of good-sense peasant wisdom in negotiating big financial deals with the Chinese....Clissold’s deep knowledge of Chinese culture and language informs this useful work.” - Kirkus Reviews