[경영]중국에 대해 알려면 이것을 보아라

China

To Learn About China, See It

Posted by: Harold L. Sirkin on February 19, 2013

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-19/to-learn-about-china-go-check-it-out#r=nav-fs

I started going to China about 15 years ago and I’ve been there at least once a year, every year, since. I hadn’t been back to Shanghai, however, since 2006.

I’m glad I returned late last year because it reminded me of an important lesson that many executives forget as they pore over data and statistics, listen to colleagues and advisers, and contemplate impossible-to-predict five- and 10-year projections: Always trust your eyes.

Beijing may be the political capital of China, but make no mistake: Shanghai is where the action is. In some respects, it makes the New York’s Big Apple seem small.

Some quick facts: Shanghai is China’s largest city by population, with more than 23 million people, approximately nine million more than when I first visited the “Pearl of the Orient” in the mid-1990s. That also makes it the largest city in Asia—and the largest in the world.

If Shanghai were a country, it would be the world’s 53rd-most-populous, with one of the world’s largest gross domestic products—about $300 billion in 2011, up more than 8 percent from 2010. This makes its economy larger than Hong Kong’s and larger than all but those of a few dozen countries.

Prior to 2006, the hotel I used to stay in had a large lawn and a great view of the Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtze. By 2005, the hotel had no lawn and no river view, but it had a great view of a new five-story shopping mall—complete with a Starbucks (SBUX) and ATM machines. Now the hotel is gone, replaced with more valuable commercial and residential properties. Remember, trust your eyes.

In today’s Shanghai, you can hop on a Maglev train at Shanghai Pudong International Airport and ride all the way into Pudong City, Shanghai’s commercial hub. Speeds during the 19-mile trip—a little longer than the distance from O’Hare to the Chicago Loop—reportedly can reach 268 miles per hour. I’d be thrilled to get to O’Hare (Chicago is my home town) at 26.8 mph.

Across the river from where my hotel once stood is a modern cityscape that looks more like Hong Kong than most of China. Skyscrapers abound.

Politics aside, Shanghai is in fact as capitalist a city as any in the world, with high-density, premium shopping centers everywhere, featuring lots of U.S. and European brands. Shanghai’s Nanjing Road, considered the “No. 1 commercial street in China,” attracts a reported 1.7 million customers every day.

By now, virtually every U.S. company that’s involved in export sales has at least explored the China market. Many big companies have a major presence there. My advice, however, is to do more. Top executives need to go to China and stay for a couple of weeks. Visit Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin. And while you’re at it, spend a few days in Taipei. Then go back again.

If you really want to know what’s happening in Chinese-speaking Asia, the statistics tell only part of the story. For the rest of the story, trust your eyes.

요약

 많은 경영진들은 데이터와 통계만을 자세히 보고 동료와 고문들의 이야기에는 귀기울이지 않고, 예측 불가능한 5-10년 전망을 고려하지 않는다. 상하이는 중국에서 가장 큰 도시로 아시아에서도, 전 세계에서도 가장 큰 도시로 만들고 있다. 상하이가 한 국가라면 세계에서 가장 큰 규모의 GDP로 세계에서 58번째로 인구가 많은 국가될 것이다. 이는 홍콩보다 더 큰 경제 규모가 되었고, 수 십개의 국가를 합한 것보다 더 큰 경제 규모가 되었다. 오늘날의 상하이에서는 상하이의 상업 허브인 푸동시로 가는 열차를 탈 수 있고, 상하이 푸동 국제 공항으로 가는 열차도 탈 수 있다. O’Hare에서 시카고 Loop로가는 거리보다 더 먼 거리를 시간당 268마일의 속도로 간다. 또한 상하이는 고밀도의, 어디서나 미국과 유럽의 브랜드가 갖처진 쇼핑센터가 있는, 자본주의 도시 중 하나다. 중국에서 가장 상업적인 거리로 여겨지는 난징로드는 매일 170만 명의 관광객이 다녀간다고 한다. 지금까지 수출 판매에 관련된 거의 모든 미국 기업들은 적어도 중국 시장을 탐험했다. 최고 경영진들에게 중국을 방문해서 몇 주동안 머물어 보기를 권한다. 당신이 정말로 중국에 대해 알고 싶다면, 통계만 보지 말고 직접가서 보아라.