Impressions of China and coming Olympics What opens on 8-8-08 at precisely 8:08:08 PM China Standard Time? One possible answer is the Beijing Olympics and I won’t be surprised if controversial headlines blare during this XXIX Olympiad. The first headline could be weather related and “Man bites dragon” could become a reality since the Chinese dragon is a symbol of the transporter of rain in this agricultural nation. Since the Chinese intend to seed the clouds approaching Beijing with 21 rockets filled with rain-inducing silver iodide the plan is for the rain to dump prior to entering the city limits. With a 47 percent chance of showers that day, according to the Beijing Meteorological Bureau, the dragon may decide to strike back and breathe lightning and rain on the opening ceremonies. Other issues could envelop the goodwill of the Games. The Chinese want to showcase their beautiful country but the situations in Tibet and Taiwan might flare up at any moment and tarnish the Olympic rings. If these situations sound far away let me present a few problems which are very close to home. The Committee of 100, an association which contains the most prominent Chinese-American business people, released the findings of their annual survey this past month and the results were startling. For example, a Chinese business person’s impression of the U.S. now sits at a sky-high 95 percent favorable rating. While a U.S. businessperson’s impression of China has declined 9 percentage points over the last two years, dropping to a dismal 54 percent favorable rating. Why has the U.S businessperson’s impression fallen so dramatically? One reason is that China has become the world’s “manufacturing floor” and has increased its financial clout immensely. According to Kenneth Courtis, former vice chairman for Asia for Goldman Sachs, “China is becoming a manufacturing superpower and the momentum seems unstoppable.” Another reason is found in banking circles. With a bull market powering their shares, Chinese banks have increased maneuverability at the negotiation table. China’s three largest financial institutions now rank in the top 20 in the world making them larger than Citigroup and Bank of America. The average price-to-earnings ratio for the 14 Chinese banks listed on the Shanghai exchange is 41.3 compared with rival U.S. banks’ averaging 10.6 times earnings. China limits foreign investment in its banks to 25 percent but desires access to the U.S. market. China’s Banking Regulatory Commission would like to see its American counterparts approve more applications of Chinese banks to open U.S. branches and if this occurred then China may raise the foreign investment percentage caps. These possible actions could open the door for China’s Sovereign Wealth Funds to invest more heavily in U.S. banks. This creates a compliance conundrum for the Federal Reserve since Chinese branch banking in the U.S. may help financial institutions but will open the market to a huge new competitor. Chinese banks are expected to follow their corporate customers when they expand overseas so the pressure is on to open our market. So how will the Chinese channel their ‘chi’ to achieve global harmony during these Olympic Games? In the Western world if we want to stop a negative from occurring we wrap it in an octagon like an 8-sided stop sign. Since the Chinese revere the number 8 and consider it lucky they are blanketing the entire Olympics in superstitious lucky 8s. Even the official calligraphic logo features subtle 8s in its design. The official language in China is Mandarin and the number 8 sounds very similar to the word ‘prosper’ so people attempt to utilize it whenever possible. A story circling the Internet says that telephone number 8888-8888 was purchased for $270,723 in the city of Chengdu while a gentleman in Hangzhou attempted to sell his license plate A88888 for 1.12 million yuan. (We should call ex-Governor Ryan and have him make us a license plate with all 8s.) Eight is considered a sacred number to the Chinese; the only Asian-dominated area code in the U.S. is 818. The Tibetans are going to be happy on the 8th since that is Buddha’s birth date, but don’t expect any cards from the Chinese. In the U.S., we honor the rule of 8s with crazy demonstrations like the Cubs playing their first night game on 8-8-88 which was rained out after 3½ innings...hmmm. Holy Bangqiu! (the Chinese word for baseball). By the way, the Yankees and the Mariners each signed two players from China a year ago last month. How will the Chicago area be affected by Beijing Olympics fever? With the population in DuPage County alone of those of Chinese ancestry topping 20,000, according to the Northern Illinois Chinese Association, you can imagine quite an impact locally. In fact, I bet the games in all the lotteries see a dramatic increase in the lucky number 8 being played. “The simple fact that the Olympics is being held in China will of course focus attention on the culture and food of the Chinese, thus impacting the traffic flow to Chinatown,” said Dr. Kim K. Tee, current president of the Chinese-American Museum of Chicago. Locally and internationally, the Beijing Olympics will leave an impression on all of us. Hopefully the dragon of rain will not compete and men and women “spanning the globe” will come together in peace and harmony. Patrick Evans, president of Naperville-based evanSales, gives keynote speeches, seminars and workshops based on his bestselling sales and customer service book, “SalesBURST!!” Contact him at patevans@evansales.com or at 630-803-6511.

Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 (Archive on Wednesday, July 30, 2008) Posted by jstoltz  Contributed by jstoltz

Return