China Goes Global, Again

Abstract

Tony Shi was speaking about his recent trip to Brazil as we sat opposite each other in Alfies, the restaurant in Dunhill’s flagship store on Hong Kong’s Connaught Road. I thought I traveled regularly, but Shi had collected some serious air miles visiting America, Europe, Argentina, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, South Africa, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE in the past year. As the Beijingbased head of International Business Development for Foton, one of China’s largest state-owned automobile manufacturers, Shi was in the vanguard of China’s overseas expansion and so had good reason to travel.¹