This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis discusses information control with Jeremy Wallace, associate professor in the Department of Government at Cornell University. Jeremy is the author of the new book Seeking Truth and Hiding Facts: Information, Ideology, and Authoritarian Rule in China . Jeremy discusses how a communist party came to justify itself through GDP statistics and why they have shifted away from this focus recently. Also discussed is how and why cadres falsify data and the ...
Dec 21, 2022•38 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis discusses environmental governance in China with Iza Ding, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh and author of the recent book The Performative State: Public Scrutiny and Environmental Governance in China . Iza explained how performative and substantive governance can diverge and discussed her on-the-ground research both in China and beyond. Iza provided an overview of the trajectory of China’s environmental prote...
Nov 30, 2022•42 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Ashley Yablon, the former general counsel for the Chinese technology company ZTE. Ashley discusses how he uncovered an illegal scheme at ZTE to sell billions of dollars worth of surveillance equipment to embargoed countries, and provided other details of his experience which were recently featured in his book Standing Up to China: How a Whistleblower Risked Everything for His Country . Also in the show is the effect of the current politica...
Nov 16, 2022•36 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis discusses Chinese tech companies and their global expansion with Guoli Chen, Professor of Strategy at INSEAD, and Jianggan Li, founder and CEO of Momentum Works. They discussed the challenges that result from the protective nature of the Chinese ecosystem, as well as the solutions and recommendations from their new book on the topic Seeing the Unseen . Also featured in this show is an in-depth discussion of how Chinese history, especially Mao’s end...
Nov 02, 2022•35 min
In August, the Biden administration finally passed a semiconductor subsidy bill. The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 achieved rare bipartisan support and promises funding of more than $200 billion over the next five years with the goal of re-establishing the U.S. as a global center of semiconductor manufacturing. To understand the bill and its impact, this week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis discusses the CHIPS Act with Rory Murphy, Vice President of Government Affairs at the U.S.-China Bus...
Oct 19, 2022•47 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Mona Chung, a bicultural business leader and expert on doing business in and with China. The discussion focused on the challenges and strategies to navigate cultural factors for foreign companies. Mona shared some common differences that might create tensions between Chinese and foreign businesses, especially in areas like pricing, branding, marketing, and cross-cultural management. A few highlights of the show include the lessons learned ...
Oct 05, 2022•44 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis is joined by George Shen from IBM, a tech exec and thought leader in artificial intelligence (AI) and Cloud technologies, spanning the U.S. and China. George provides background on the general development of AI, and the similarities and differences between the strategies of China and the U.S. While China’s whole nation approach led to the country’s 2017 National AI strategy, in the U.S, AI development is more fragmented across the private and publi...
Sep 21, 2022•32 min
The U.S. Senate recently passed a bill that would ban Chinese investment in U.S. agribusiness, in response to a proposal by China-based Fufeng Group to build a corn milling operation in Grand Forks, North Dakota . To understand the significance and implications of such investment, this week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks with Brandon Bochenski, the mayor of Grand Forks. Brandon provides helpful context on a number of topics including how such deals take place, the impact of the corn...
Sep 07, 2022•20 min
There is significant uncertainty about how companies can deal with the sweeping UFLPA which just went into effect in late June. To understand this policy and how it is being enforced, this week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis discusses the UFLPA with Craig Allen, President of the US-China Business Council, and Jon Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation. Unlike prior trade policy which assumes importers are “innocent until proven guilty”, t...
Aug 17, 2022•45 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Yijing Wang, founder of 2060 Advisory , an impact investing advisory firm based in Hangzhou. Yijing discusses the impact landscape in China and how it has accelerated since China’s announced its 2060 carbon neutrality goal. She provides context on this goal and how it has shaped the mission of her company and its projects. Also discussed are differences between western and Chinese impact investment infrastructure, with Yijing offering advi...
Aug 03, 2022•30 min
Today on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Rory Murphy, vice president of government affairs at the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC) to discuss a recent report on the implications of the U.S. midterm elections for U.S.-China trade relations. Topics discussed include recent policy initiatives such as the CHIPS Act, the National Critical Capabilities Defense Act, and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. These acts reflect both convergence and divergence between the attitudes of the...
Jul 14, 2022•22 min
Utah has more people learning Chinese as a second language than anywhere else in America and nearly one in five Utah jobs are tied to international trade. To understand why, Chris Marquis talks to Utah-based entrepreneurs with businesses focused on China. Jon Garrison recently co-founded EnRoute Global, a company that provides inflight entertainment for Chinese airlines like China Southern and Sichuan Airlines. Previously he was an executive at Dalian Wanda Group. Derrick Porter leads one of the...
Jun 29, 2022•52 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Art Dicker, a senior attorney at R&P China Lawyers, a full-service local PRC law firm advising international businesses in China on trends in China corporate law. Inspired by Art’s LinkedIn newsletter , they discuss how companies are dealing with China's New Data Regulations, the VIE or Variable Interest Entity structure that Chinese companies use to go public in the U.S., and also how the laws governing the VC sector in China have evo...
Jun 15, 2022•38 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Matt Margulies and Hannah Feldshuh from the US-China Business Council’s Beijing office about a recently USCBC report on data security laws in China. They discuss the landscape of China’s data security laws including the specific legal provisions. Matt and Hannah also provide details on how US companies can and are dealing with the associated data, privacy, and cybersecurity challenges, discussing a number of industry-specific cases such as...
Jun 01, 2022•30 min
In this CEO Webinar, we will discuss cross-border entrepreneurship with Jeff Ji and Ken Wong of NavPac Advisors, a company that connects businesses in the U.S. and China. Through their work, they have a number of compelling examples of how different cultural activities and sports can be used as a platform to bring people from the two countries together. Jeff discusses the Harley Davidson motorcycle tours he has led for both Westerners’ traveling to China and Chinese traveling to the US. As Chair...
May 10, 2022•51 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Robert Fisch, who has over 40 years of experience working in and with Chinese companies and organizations. Robert is a master storyteller and he draws on his diverse experiences in China to illustrate some key principles that businesses can learn from, such as the importance of personal relations and the human touch when doing business in China. And he also provides some very practical advice on many topics from setting up a wholly foreign...
Apr 20, 2022•53 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Giuliana Auinger, the Asia Head of Sustainability for French multinational Schneider Electric. They discuss the challenges of sustainability and decarbonization for companies and countries and the key steps to meet goals in this area. Also covered is China’s progress in reaching its commitments for peak carbon by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Giuliana highlights not only how China has a number of forward-thinking green strategies and...
Apr 06, 2022•41 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to serial social entrepreneur and eco-activist Sonalie Figueiras. Sonalie is a native of Hong Kong who has started a number of companies in the region, including Green Queen, the sustainability and social impact media platform she founded 10 years ago. They discuss the Chinese governments’ increasing focus on environmentalism in recent years and its many efforts to meet its ambitious goals. One area of particular focus that also relates to fo...
Mar 23, 2022•54 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks with China auto industry veteran Robert Yu. In Robert’s 30 plus years in the industry, he spent 20 years at Ford and also was Executive Director of GM China and Head of Manufacturing for EV pioneer NIO. Robert provides an insightful overview of the booming EV market in China where there are over 450 officially registered companies that sold about 3 million cars in 2021. For comparison in the US, 800,000 EVs were sold in 2021. We also discuss ...
Mar 11, 2022•45 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Kenneth Jarrett, senior advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group about how multinationals can deal with the increasingly frequent consumer boycotts that occur in China. While many international brands such as the NBA, H&M, Walmart, Zara, Nike, and others have found themselves in recent years on the wrong side of Chinese consumer ire, not all boycotts are the same. Drawing on decades of business and diplomatic experience in China, Ken desc...
Feb 16, 2022•1 hr
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Dan Digre from MISCO a St. Paul Minnesota-based company that produces audio speakers. Over the past 20 years, MICSO has built a successful business by importing low-tech components from China, and then through expertise in engineering, design and final assembly and testing, reconfiguring them into high-tech products. But this model is threatened by the China tariffs. Dan describes how the components that he imports are hit with a 25% tarif...
Jan 20, 2022•50 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Doug Guthrie, who from 2014 to 2019 led Apple University’s efforts on leadership and organizational development in China. Apple recently became the first company ever to reach a $3 trillion market cap, and Doug and Chris discuss how Apple’s current success is due in large measure to the deep partnerships the company has in China. A very visible part of this, of course, is the impressive sales of iPhones and other products to Chinese consum...
Jan 05, 2022•50 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Frank Lavin, former U.S. Ambassador to Singapore who is chairman and founder of Export Now, a company focused on helping international brands enter China. Frank recently published The Smart Business Guide to China E-Commerce , a highly readable book that has many great points and recommendations about the topic. In this podcast, Frank not only discusses key features of China’s e-commerce ecosystem and important platforms like Alibaba, JD, ...
Dec 22, 2021•48 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Eduardo Lacerda, vice president of marketing for Danone Waters China (DWC), the Guangzhou-based subsidiary of Paris-based food and nutrition multinational Danone S.A. Lacerda discusses in detail how DWC addresses the core tension for MNCs that want to do business in China: how to draw on global experience and frameworks while also effectively localizing the business and products. A case in point is the company’s well-known health drink Miz...
Dec 08, 2021•57 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Xavier Naville, who candidly writes about his many ups and downs doing business in China in The Lettuce Diaries: How A Frenchman Found Gold Growing Vegetables In China . Xavier discusses many of the illuminating experiences he had over his 15 years in China, including how he dealt with the country's dispersed and complex produce supply chains in ways to make sure farmers were treated fairly while also meeting his customers' quality needs. ...
Nov 18, 2021•1 hr 2 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Alison Schonberg, manager of Business Advisory Services at the US-China Business Council. Alison recently authored a report on government procurement in China, and while the topic may sound somewhat dry, it is in fact of enormous consequence for American firms operating in China. Alison discusses how government procurement is designed in China, and ways that governments at different levels and state-owned enterprises are able to execute an...
Nov 04, 2021•31 min
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai recently announced the results of the long-awaited strategic review of the U.S.-China trade relationship, yet many open questions remain. In this episode of China Corner Office, Chris Marquis is joined by Craig Allen, president of the US-China Business Council (USCBC), and Anna Ashton, vice president of government affairs at the USCBC, to discuss the state of the U.S.-China trade policy and what to expect in the future. In addition to reviewing the ongoing...
Oct 22, 2021•55 min
While trade tensions between the U.S. and China continue to fester at the national level, there is significant variation in how those effects are being felt across U.S. states. In every state, there is a unique ecosystem that supports trade with China and other countries that track to the national situation to varying degrees. This episode examines on how firms in Michigan have continued to do business with China in recent years. Joining Chris Marquis is Mark Becker, Director of International Su...
Oct 06, 2021•1 hr 3 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks with Roberto Guidetti, CEO of Hong Kong-based food and beverage brand Vitasoy. They discuss how the company stands at the intersection of three seemingly inexorable trends: the growing acceptance of plant-based food products, sustainable business, and the China market. He reflects on how the global movement for plant-based protein is growing in China, and how Vitasoy’s different soymilk and tofu products are tailored to different markets. Rob...
Sep 22, 2021•48 min
This week on China Corner Office, Chris Marquis talks to Cheng Li of the Brookings Institute about his recent book Middle Class Shanghai . They discuss the influence of this important gateway to China that anchors the vibrant Yangtze delta economy and is home to one of China’s two stock exchanges. Cheng offers many insights about China’s society and culture — exemplified by Shanghai’s middle class — and how they shape the country’s economics and politics. This includes topics such as the influen...
Sep 08, 2021•59 min
