In the Belly of the Dragon: An Account of Working as a Foreign Expert Inside a State Enterprise of the Peoples Republic of China

The People’s Republic of China have hired several hundred so-called foreign experts and assigned them to specific state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to help transform these into modern world-class companies. As far as I know, I was the first and only foreigner heading up the human resources in such an enterprise. The purpose of this short book is to provide a snapshot of what really happens inside: how the party functions in the company; how people issues are addressed, including industrial and social unrest; the problems around petty irregularities and resistance to change; the daily challenges facing non-Chinese nationals; and finally, how companies outside the People’s Republic are bought and integrated.