China Emerging_ 1978-2008 - Xiao-bo , Wu [51]
This gentleman, humble, mild, and likeable, was later called the “conscience of Chinese economics” because of his courage in expressing these views.
The stock market problems revealed the youthful enthusiasm and immaturity of China’s capital markets as well as the grave consequences of institutional defects. However, overall, the Chinese economy remained vibrant and the Chinese entrepreneurs stayed confident and creative.
On September 27, 1999, Fortune had its annual meeting in Shanghai. Among the three hundred multinational company executives present at the meeting, sixty or more were CEOs from Fortune 500 companies. An AP reporter wrote, “It felt like being at the Super Bowl—the time, the place, the excitement were all there, and people were witnessing a classic competition.” In contrast to the matter-of-fact attitudes of foreign CEOs, the two hundredodd Chinese entrepreneurs who were present were hyper-excited. They yearned to receive the “holy scripture” from world-class entrepreneurs.
Another piece of good news came on November 15, 1999, when a truly global “entry ticket” was finally extended to China. On this day, China and
China’s entry into the WTO represented an opportunity to both China and the world.
College students demonstrating against the US-led NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade.
China enters the final rounds of the 2002 World Cup after its national team defeated Oman in Shenyang, 2001.
Chinese soccer fans kissing before the match between China and Brazil during the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
the United States formally concluded an agreement whereby the latter expressed its support for China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The negotiations toward this end hit stalemate in May 1991 because on May 8, US guided missiles bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, and three journalists were killed. University students in Beijing took to the streets, where they lit candles and held a silent vigil for the dead before the US Embassy. As representatives of the United States, certain multinational companies braced themselves for demonstrations against them.
McDonald’s closed its doors for a day; the IBM building had broken windows from hurled stones; Microsoft’s CEO for the greater China region told employees in an email, “The company can shut its doors if need be, and employees are allowed to go home to avoid any trouble.” However, students were marvelously flexible; for example, at the Department of Computer Science of Peking University, they hung out a banner saying “Embargo American goods...exceptforthecomputers.” Many other students spent the day demonstrating and then went home at night to study for their TOEFLexamsinordertogototheUnitedStates.Whilethesentimentagainst the United States was building up, Japan and America announced a Japanese-American Defense Cooperation Agreement, in the hypothetical event of mutualenemiesintheAsianregion.
The crisis eventually passed, and Sino-American WTO negotiations reached a successful conclusion at the end of 1999. For one hundred years, the Chinese had hoped to enter the global family as a positive and equal member. In the very last year of the twentieth century, the country was finally able to gain an entry ticket to the game.
Fly over the Rainbow
A
t 10 p.m. on July 13, 2001, the Chinese drew a collective sigh of relief. People had been waiting for this moment for four long years. When they saw Juan Antonio Samaranch, President of the Olympic Commission, open a sealed envelope and say the word “Beijing” with vigor,
firecrackers and explosions of joy went off throughout the country. From that moment all the way up to 2008, the Olympics were to be the engine driving the Chinese economy and also a major psychological force behind the economic boom.
More good news was to follow. The saying “2001 is China’s year” went around. On October 7, the Chinese men’s soccer team played at Shenyang of Liaoning and beat Oman 1–0, thereby enabling the Chinese team to enter the final rounds of the World Cup and to realize a long-cherished