Foreword

Professor Juan Antonio Fernandez and journalist Laurie Underwood, both members of CEIBS, have come out with another interesting book when we are still rereading their excellent text on successful chief executives in China. In the three years since their first book’s publication, I have often seen China CEO being read by business class passengers during my frequent flights to China.With the world even more focused on China in 2009 than it was in 2006, I fully expect China Entrepreneur to be even more widely read by international business executives than its predecessor.

For their second joint book, Laurie Underwood and Juan Antonio Fernandez have turned their focus toward entrepreneurship— my field of interest as an academic. The authors have continued with their methodology of basing their book on interviews, in this case capturing the insights, anecdotes, and knowledge of 40 successful, China-based entrepreneurs, three China-based experts on different areas, and nine country representatives. Going out into the real world, using academic skills to raise relevant questions, and then using journalistic principles to present the interviewees’ responses in an accessible manner, is an extraordinary task; and the results are useful, practical, and educational. The rigorous academic research and the authors’ combined total of 24 years of working and living in greater China has created another richly information, carefully developed, but easy-to-read work.

Entrepreneurship is the art of spotting an opportunity and transforming it into business returns. It is the art of fast creation of value. How do entrepreneurs identify opportunities in China? How do they go about transforming a promising possibility into real business activity? Specifically, what are the best ways to handle the serious challenges in hiring, organizing, financing, and selling the new business?

In answering these questions, seasoned entrepreneurs and academics will likely agree that the basics are global. Even so, no one would dispute the fact that surviving in the complex and vast China market requires unique skills. This book, delivering the richness of 52 first-hand perspectives, provides readers with many reference points for understanding—and even practicing— entrepreneurship in China. For any international businessperson working in or with China, I have every confidence that this book will bring you closer to realizing your China dreams.

Pedro Nueno
Professor of Entrepreneurship
Executive President
China Europe International Business School