Reaching out to the World

There's been a whole lot of reaching out by China to the world lately, and it doesn't look like it's going to abate anytime soon.

What's more, it's not just the pow-wow billion-dollar foreign investments we are going to hear about. No, the country is employing the gentler art of persuasion (think marketing, recruiting) to slowly win the world over. The upshot? Hopefully we'll think: "Hey China's not so scary afterall. It doesn't just suck up sensitive assets. It doesn't just poison us with tainted toothpaste."

Not surprisingly, the directive appears to have come from the top. At the national Communist Party congress last week, party chief Hu Jintao said the country "would accelerate the growth of Chinese multinationals and Chinese brand names in the world market."

Recently, two events caught my eye.

The first: in an ingenuous move, an online contest was held to select eight foreigners to participate in the Olympic Relay prior to the games. Called Expats for Olympic Torchbearers, the competition is organised by Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group and government-owned English-language newspaper China Daily. People who take part have to write a 500-word English essay titled "China and I" which should "cover a true, touching part of 'my story in China'. The criteria? The aspiring torchbearers should 'love Chinese culture and history' and 'be devoted to communicate information of a real China to their native countries'. (note: emphasis my own)

Now, The Wall Street Journal calls it "advanced kowtowing" and "bowing and scraping" by the clueless foreigners. But really, it's a very smart move. I mean, check out the website. How else can you get hundreds of outsiders to wax lyrical about the country, dispel unfair Western myths, send in pictures of themselves posing with panda bears and cultural monuments? It's the veritable United Benneton advertisement for China. True, it's over-the-top, but it's also fun and engaging. There will no doubt be more publicity generated from the eventual winners.

The second: major investment bank China International Capital Corp. is embarking on an aggressive recruitment campaign in the US. It is touting the opportunities presented by China's booming capital markets, as more local firms go public and more cross-border deal-making takes place. Besides looking at experienced professionals, the company is also going to college campuses like UMich, Wharton School at UPenn and Stern School at our own NYU. It wants to hire 200 people by year end, a hefty quarter of its current team.

Now, CICC has been low-key in the past. It was set up as a joint venture between China Construction Bank Corp. and Morgan Stanley in 1995. As China's first foreign-funded investment bank, its purpose was to learn from the top-tier Wall Street firms and provide a template for future Chinese investment banks. Circa 2007, CICC dominates underwriting in China and is pushing overseas. Certainly, I wonder what would entice a fresh graduate to be attracted to the likes of CICC against heavyweight rivals like Goldman Sachs or Citigroup. The sheer potential of the firm is certainly a factor. But can a Chinese firm exude the glamourous prestige, pay the dizzying salaries, cut the biggest deals that is the calling card of Wall Street's best?

It remains to be seen how China's overtures will be received. From the tone of the Wall Street Journal article, there is much suspicion that has to be overcome. Still, the Chinese is catching on to the marketing and branding game that the West has perfected to an art, and why shouldn't it do that?