China and Globalization

Peter Hessler (author of several brilliant non-fiction books on China) has written a fantastic piece on Chinese entrepreneurs in Egypt:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/10/learning-to-speak-lingerie

Chinese entrepreneurial brilliance and their ability to conduct business in the rugged, far-flung corners of the world is quite extraordinary:

“…He and his wife had no experience in the industry, but in 2007 they established the first plastic-bottle recycling facility in Upper Egypt. Their plant is in a small industrial zone in the desert west of Asyut, where it currently employs thirty people and grinds up about four tons of plastic every day. Lin and Chen sell the processed material to Chinese people in Cairo, who use it to manufacture thread. This thread is then sold to entrepreneurs in the Egyptian garment industry, including a number of Chinese. It’s possible that a bottle tossed onto the side of the road in Asyut will pass through three stages of Chinese processing before returning to town in the form of lingerie, also to be sold by Chinese.”

A few books on China by Peter Hessler –

Strange Stones: Dispatches from East and West
Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip
Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China