“If we don’t take action, foreigners may think of Chinese as cashed-up fools.” Thus Guo Guangchang, one of China’s biggest overseas acquirers, last month praised Beijing’s efforts to halt what he described as an irrational overseas shopping spree by the country’s major corporations.
Leaving aside his motives in chiding an activity for which he blazed a trail, Mr Guo has misdiagnosed the problem. The concern for western business is not that its Chinese counterparts may have more money than sense, but that they have little idea who or what to trust.
The phobia applies equally in dealings with private and state-owned Chinese companies, though for different reasons. Personal integrity appears to be a secondary issue; China has had its share of corporate scam artists but chicanery is a feature of all business cultures.