All the Tea in China: How to Buy, Sell, and Make Money on the Mainland

Author Haft shows the reader the ins and outs of the port of calls of working in the system and how your company can excel as well as investing in the infrastructer that makes China tick. A very good read and useful information.

I have lived in China for the last few years and I really identified with several experiences that were discussed in this book. It does a good job of explaining many pitfalls that could be waiting for inexperienced people just out to make a quick buck in China. Very entertaining and informative.

There is a growing clamor for regulation (if not downright protectionism) with respect to goods bearing the 'Made in China' label. Each week that goes by sees more Chinese products from food to toys to tires being recalled from the American market. Things have gotten so bad that the Chinese government has threatened economic retaliation against the US for this embarrassing state of affairs. That's why Jeremy Haft's "All The Tea In China: How To Buy, Sell, And Make Money On The Mainland" is so timely. Haft (founder of Schinab Inc., a firm that helps American companies buy and sell goods on the mainland of china by leveraging a platform of over 8,000 Chinese factories) offers American businesses seven specific steps to manage a smooth and profitable import chain that consists of doing 'due diligence'; reaching out to a customs broker; setting up financing; setting up commercial, engineering and regulatory terms (in writing!; obtaining as many buying commitments as possible before importing; monitoring documentation, cash, and time flows; and shipping in a correct and timely manner. Simply stated, "All The Tea In China" should be considered mandatory reading for any corporate executive seeking to do business with China -- as well as government agency employees tasked with regulation and quality control of Chinese products.

All the Tea in China is really a bible on how to do business in China. It brilliantly captures the nuances to interacting with your counterparts that only experience can teach. For the price of a few lattes at Starbucks, one can avert the painful and often costly mistakes for newbies of doing business in China. This book should be required reading for all corporate execs considering or already doing business in China. Previous books on this subject either fell to two extremes: overly optimistic or purposefully pessimistic. "All the Tea in China" strikes a fitting balance with a several dashes of humor to boot. Chapter 4 provides a serious, nuts and bolts explanation on how to make that initial dive into the labyrinthine purchasing world of Chinese factories. Finally, Haft strikes a blow at the popularized, but misplaced notion by Thomas Friedman and others that the "world is flat." In fact, as Haft demonstrates, not only is the macro-economic world not flat, but in reality has many bumps, with some natural and others being speed bumps. Having to travel to China for business on a regular basis for both publicly and privately held US companies, I found that I could empathize with many of the book's anecdotes. Buy this book, you won't be disappointed.

If you have been following the rise of China as an economic and business power in the world, you have probably read articles and books explaining the broad facts of China's population, economy, government, and what big business has been doing there. Jeremy Haft takes us a step further in providing a practical guide for those who aren't mega companies, but want to know how to do business in China. The author does business in China, has a business that helps other do business there, and provides the broad strokes on what you need to know about the country today and what some of the pitfalls might be. He opens with his working with a boisterous entrepreneur who was part of the Tiananmen Square protests and has now moved into the ranks of those moving up through the economic strata. Haft claims that China's really part of a round world rather than a flat one. While there is a lot of Internet connectivity, for example, most businesses have little expertise in using it for business process. While the Chinese manufacturing process is nimble, it isn't coordinated and the kind of vertical integration possible in the West doesn't yet exist there. I also found it interesting that the author rejects the idea China is prospering simply because they have taken "our" manufacturing jobs. It is increasing efficiency that is putting pressure on manufacturing jobs all over the world, including in China. We then get a crash course in Chinese business culture, how negotiations are likely going to be handled and the way many Western business types close off future business success simply by creating offense without being aware of doing so. It is important to be aware of what counts as respect and what counts as offensive to the Chinese. Also, our standard concepts and expectations about business are the product of centuries of development that has not taken place in China. Things need to be spelled out to every dot on every "i" and the cross on every "t". Even the way logistics is set up matters to your success and profitability. How one partners, with whom one partners, and if one has a presence in China all matter and Haft helps the reader understand why. The author then helps us understand how and why to buy from China. Sometimes it is lower costs in one's existing market. Other times it is to expand into adjacent markets while holding onto one's present share. Another possibility is to start new markets. Maybe you want hedge off the advantage one of your present competitors is going to have by moving production overseas. And there is more possibility to sell into China then I would ever have expected. They lack a great many raw materials and certain advanced equipment, medical supplies, and much of everything that has a "value added" component. Who knew? Haft spells all this out and what the prospective seller will need and have to do to be successful. He also is clear that your Chinese "partners" are not all that chummy and will try t