Showing posts with label Helen Wang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Helen Wang. Show all posts

Monday, October 24, 2011

Helen Wang to visit London, Paris, Europe

Helen Wang
Helen Wang, the author of the leading book, The Chinese Dream: The Rise of the World's Largest Middle Class and What It Means to You, will be visiting London early December on the invitation of Lord Wei. She will also visit Paris and other parts of Europe and is available for speeches.

On Monday 5 December she will be talking in the Asia House in London on the invitation of Lord Wei of Shoreditch. From the invitation:
In The Chinese Dream, a groundbreaking book about the rising middle class in China, business consultant and China expert Helen Wang challenges us to recognize that some of our fears about China are grossly misplaced. As a result of China’s new capitalist paradigm, a burgeoning middle class – calculated to reach 800 million within the next fifteen years – is jumping aboard the consumerism train and riding it for all it’s worth – a reality that may provide the answer to America’s economic woes. And with China’s increasing urbanization and top-down governmental approach, it now faces increasing energy, environmental, and health problems – problems that the U.S. can help solve. Through timely interviews, personal stories, and a historical perspective, China-born Wang takes us into the world of the Chinese entrepreneurial middle class to show how a growing global mindset and the realization of unity in diversity may ultimately provide the way to creating a saner, safer world for all.
Lord Wei of Shoreditch is a social entrepreneur, interested in social reform, and a citizen with a keen interest in developing civil society solutions to social problems. Nat was a former advisor with the government on the Big Society, works with the Community Foundation Network to develop local responses to the Big Society, and serves in the House of Lords as the youngest and only active Chinese peer. 'Lord Wei currently sits as the Chair to the All Party Parliamentary Group on East Asian Business and also as the Treasurer to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Chinese in Britain.

Helen Wang is available for other speeches in Europe.

Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch. Or you can fill in our speakers' request form. More information on 

Helen Wang at Storify.


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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Why Jack Ma will not buy Yahoo - Helen Wang

Helen Wang
Author Helen Wang attended the much-discussed speech of Alibaba's Jack Ma at Stanford, where he discussed - among others - the purchase of Yahoo. Helen Wang explains in Forbes why he said he would be interested, but will in fact never buy Yahoo.

Helen Wang:
People who speculate that Ma’s aim is to acquire Yahoo! may have missed the point. Jack Ma is unlikely to be a qualified suitor. He hasn’t proved that he can turn Yahoo! around in China. There is no reason to believe that he can turn Yahoo! around in the U. S. 
Ma’s real intention may very well be to expand his Alibaba Group to the U. S. market. “I want to learn one thing here,” he said, “how we can help U.S. SMEs (small and medium enterprises). What value we can create between us, Amazon and eBay.” 
That has always been Jack Ma’s ambition. Today, Alibaba already has 15 million users from outside China. Taobao has grown to over 300 million registered users and commands a 90 percent market share. Ma believes that Taobao will grow even faster in the future. 
As Jack Ma knows very well, it won’t be easy to succeed in the U. S. market. “The best way to succeed in business is to learn from others’ mistakes,” Ma said. “Many people have written books about Alibaba’s success. But I really don’t think we are so smart. We have made many mistakes. One book I want to write someday is ‘Alibaba’s 1001 Mistakes.’”
More in Forbes  

Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.
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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Luxury dreams from Chengdu - Helen Wang

Helen Wang
Second-tier city Chengdu is betting on the high-end luxury consumption and wants to bring annually twenty world-brand luxury products into the city, writes author Helen Wang in Forbes. New targets for China's middle class. Helen Wang:
A cover story in Chengdu Today, “Global Luxury Brands Stride Forward in Chengdu,” reveals that Chengdu municipal government has set a goal to bring “twenty famous international brands to Chengdu every year” and “by 2015, primacy ratio of international first-tier brands will reach 80 % or above in western China.” Hurray and hurry, luxury goods companies! 
In 2010, Chengdu’s retails sales reached $5.8 billion. Much of it went to luxury brands such as Hermes, Burberry and Prada. Louis Vuitton alone registered record sales of $138 million. Cartier generated more revenue in Chengdu than in any other city in China... 
I had an interesting conversation with the magazine’s editor Eureka Wang. Knowing that I have written a book about the Chinese middle class, she asked me if middle class Americans are also fanatically buying luxury goods. I said “very rare.” She was surprised. “Who is buying luxury goods in America then?” she asked. “The very rich,” I said.
More in Forbes Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.
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Friday, September 09, 2011

What is the Chinese dream? - Helen Wang

Helen Wang
The question "What is the Chinese dream?" is easier to ask than to answer, discovered Helen Wang, author of the book "The Chinese Dream", when talking to audiences in the US. The result of her quest in Forbes.
I believe part of the reason that people in the West fear China is that they are not certain whether China will be a benign power or an evil power because they don’t know what the Chinese Dream is. 
The United States as a superpower has done many wrong things and bad things in the world. But people around the world in general know what the U. S. stands for. Some people may disagree or resent U.S. foreign policies, but few people see the U. S. as an evil power. It is time for China to define a new dream. The real Chinese dream has to come from the Chinese people – something that reflects the fundamental values of who they are and what they represent.  
It will probably require some deep soul searching of an entire generation or even several generations of the Chinese people to identify the true Chinese dream. Now my book The Chinese Dream is being published in China. It is my hope that it will not only serve as a bridge between China and the West, but also start an important conversation about the Chinese Dream.
More in Forbes Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.
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Friday, September 02, 2011

"The spirit of the East and the West" - Helen Wang

Helen Wang
Book author Helen Wang got a feature in the Chengdu fashion magazine "Grace", describing her as "the spirit of the East and the West". On her weblog Helen Wang describes her latest success. Helen Wang:
The magazine’s main patrons are modern and trendy Chinese women. I am honored to be in a fashion magazine, but I am even more honored to be named as “The Spirit of the East and West.” In Chinese, the word Jing Ling means “spirit,” but can also mean “wizard,” or “genius.” Last night, I was at KTSF Channel 26, a San Francisco Chinese TV station, filming a segment of “Talk Tonight” show, which will be aired on Monday, Sept. 5th. The host asked me if this title sounded “too cute.” I said no. That’s what I want to be. I hope we can all be the “spirit” or the bridge that connects the East and West.
More on Helen Wang's weblog.

Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.
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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Who are China's luxury shoppers? - Helen Wang

China's middle class looks definitely different from the American middle class. Author Helen Wang discusses with the editor of Chengdu Today the profile of China's luxury shoppers and analyzes their profiles on her weblog.
In 2010, Chengdu’s retails sales reached $5.8 billion. Much of it went to luxury brands such as Hermes, Burberry and Prada. Louis Vuitton alone registered record sales of $138 million. Cartier generated more revenue in Chengdu than in any other city in China. When I left China 20 years ago, I was considered too “bourgeois” because I liked to put on pretty clothes while others still wore Mao suits. Those days are long gone. Today, not being “bourgeois” is a subject of public ridicule. As the cover story describes, Chinese consumers consider buying luxury goods a symbol of “paying attention to details and pursuing quality of life.” You cannot argue with that. I had an interesting conversation with the magazine’s editor Eureka Wang. Knowing that I have written a book about the Chinese middle class, she asked me if middle class Americans are also fanatically buying luxury goods. I said “very rare.” She was surprised. “Who is buying luxury goods in America then?” she asked. “The very rich,” I said. This is the difference in luxury consumption between China and the United States.
More on Helen Wang's weblog (including profiles) Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.
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Thursday, July 14, 2011

The US and Chinese middle classes - Helen Wang

Helen Wang
Although both groups are called the "middle class", both groups in the US and China differ greatly, celebrity author Helen Wang explains in an interview with Womenetics on her book "The Chinese Dream".
Womenetics: China has never officially defined middle class, which is a typically Western term. When you wrote the book, how did you define the class?
Wang: In the book, the middle class is defined by family income between 5,000 yuan ($773) and 30,000 yuan ($4,641) per month. However, owning an apartment is essential.

Womenetics: What are the differences between the Chinese middle class and the American middle class, in terms of what they care about and the lifestyle they are pursuing?
Wang: In China, middle class is a prestige group, which people look up to. People of the middle class are expected to have good manners and a trendy lifestyle. But in the United States, the middle class is nothing special, as the majority of Americans think they belong to the middle class. Unlike a Chinese middle class family who prefers to live in the downtown areas, a typical American middle class family usually lives in the suburbs. That is because in China, the gap of living conditions between city and rural areas is big, and there is practically no suburb. ..

Womenetics: Emigration is now a very hot topic among Chinese middle class. How do you look at this?
Wang: I think the growing number of Chinese middle class families moving abroad shows they feel insecure about the situation in China. It is certainly not something good for China, but for those people, they have to know life in another country will be tough because emigration involves lots of changes in life, including career and social network. On the other hand, based on my experiences in the United States, I believe as long as you are talented and determined, you will have opportunities to make your dream come true.
More in Womenetics

Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.
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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Communism with Chinese characteristics - Helen Wang


Celebrity author Helen Wang explains in the Boston Review how China has dramatically changed, and how even the communist party is becoming a very different creator from what people outside China expect.

Helen Wang:
No one in China believes in communism anymore. The Communist Party has abandoned Communist ideology. A friend of mine joked that the Chinese government wears a Polo shirt and Nike shoes, but still has a communist hat. The Party is simply a ruling outfit that practices what seems to be quasi-capitalism...

[But] With or without its defining ideology, the Party has shown no sign of loosening control. Even the increased efforts to recruit members from private and foreign-owned companies don’t reflect outreach so much as assertion of power. Party organizations were traditionally strong in state-owned enterprises, and with the growing presence in China of private and foreign-owned firms, the Communist Party was concerned about losing support from young people. So it has sought out the best of them: the Party has been adamant about qualifications, such as academic achievements or career credentials.

Young people recognize that Party membership offers significant advantages, such as opportunities for career advancement, social status, and government connections. China: the Dragon’s Ascent, a 2003 History Channel documentary, provides some illustrative anecdotes. In it an ambitious young student at China’s highly regarded Fudan University said, “I really want to do something for the country. I want to join the Communist Party so that I can better serve my country.” Another student, who was planning to go overseas to study, said, “If I go abroad, I won’t join the party. But if I cannot go overseas, I may join the party.” Other students agreed with him that if he stayed in China, he should join the party and reap the benefits.
More in the Boston Review

Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need her at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.
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Sunday, July 03, 2011

The booming group buying market - Helen Wang

Helen Wang
The group buying market in China is steaming hot, but without Groupon as a major player for the time being. Helen Wang analyzes in Forbes the chances of the US company in the world's largest internet market.
When a bellman in a Shanghai hotel advised me to get a breakfast coupon from Lashou.com, a Chinese group-buying site, for less than half the price, I knew that social commerce had gotten into the hearts and minds of Chinese consumers. It’s not surprising that thousands of group-buying websites sprung up in less than a year in China’s chaotic cyberspace. According to JP Morgan, the group buying market grew from zero to more than $150 million in 2010, and is expect to reach half a billion dollars in 2013...

Gaopeng [the Chinese name of Groupon] also faces tough competition from Lashou.com and other group-buying sites. Lashou is founded by a seasoned Chinese entrepreneur and backed by U.S. venture capital firms SGR and Milestones – both are experienced in Chinese technology ventures.  Its momentum is strong after raising $110 million in series C funding in April. So far, Lashou seems to have done everything right. It is expanding rapidly to 2nd and 3rd tier cities, setting up call centers and logistics, and enhancing customer services.

Gaopeng certainly has an uphill battle in China. Some analysts have already written it off to a fate similar to eBay, Yahoo, and Google (not in bad company, all world class organizations ;-) ).

However, China’s Internet market is too significant to give up. In less than a decade, China’s Internet users could reach as many as 750 million and China’s consumer market could reach $16 trillion. A burgeoning middle class has fueled a consumption boom. Retail marketplaces are spreading in urban areas like wildfire. E-commerce has been growing 60 percent per year in recent years.
More advises for Groupon  in Forbes.

Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.
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Monday, June 27, 2011

China Daily reviews The Chinese Dream - Helen Wang

Helen Wang
The China Daily USA reviews Helen Wang The Chinese Dream: The Rise of the World's Largest Middle Class and What It Means to You. An interview about the fraternizing between China and the US.

A fragment from the China Daily:
A culture of fraternizing among nations is already beginning to emerge, Wang says.

"China is picking up ideas and learning like crazy from the West, while Eastern culture and philosophy is so hot in the United States. The differences between these two cultures are there, but people, especially those from the academic and business communities, are more aware of these than before.

"My book is a small contribution to this convergence of interests and tendencies from both cultures," Wang adds.

The Chinese Dream has an obvious resonance with the idea of The Great American Dream. American historian James Truslow Adams defined the concept as "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement regardless of social class or circumstances of birth".

It also brings to mind Martin Luther King Jr.'s now-mythical public address at a civil rights march in Washington DC in 1963, making an impassioned case for racial equality. The latter, along with Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, inspired Wang to leave Chinese shores and seek a life in the US in the late 1980s.

"They seemed to breathe fresh air in my life and my thinking," she recalls. "I was young, I wanted to experience something radically different."
More in the China Daily.

Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.
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Thursday, May 19, 2011

Helen Wang speaks at Kepler's bookstore, May 26

Wang_Helen_HiRes_black_MG_1708
Celebrity author Helen Wang of The Chinese Dream: The Rise of the World's Largest Middle Class and What It Means to You will speak on May 26 at Kepler's bookstore, Menlo Park, California.

From the invite:
In The Chinese Dream, a groundbreaking book about the rising middle class in China, Forbes columnist, consultant, and China expert Helen Wang challenges us to recognize that some of our fears about China are grossly misplaced. As a result of China's new capitalist paradigm, a burgeoning middle class--calculated to reach 800 million within the next fifteen years--is jumping aboard the consumerism train and riding it for all it's worth--a reality that may provide the answer to America's economic woes. And with China's increasing urbanization and top-down governmental approach, it now faces increasing energy, environmental, and health problems--problems that the U.S. can help solve. Through timely interviews, personal stories, and a historical perspective, China-born Wang takes us into the world of the Chinese entrepreneurial middle class to show how a growing global mindset and the realization of unity in diversity may ultimately provide the way to creating a saner, safer world for all.
The event will take place between 19 and 21 hours at 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, California 94025-4349.

Please RSVP here.
Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.



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Location: Menlo Park, CA, USA

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The yin and yang of the Chinese Dream - Helen Wang

Wang_Helen_HiRes_black_MG_1708Helen Wang
A very positive review of The Chinese Dream: The Rise of the World's Largest Middle Class and What It Means to YouInternational Business & Investing Books)by Helen Wang in The Internet Review of Books, by Jack Shakely:
On a few occasions, Wang reminds us of the subtle nature of the Mandarin language. This is code to remind us that she, too, must be respectful and circumspect if she wants to continue doing business with the notoriously thin-skinned Chinese government. Almost every chapter ends on an up-beat look to the future, but if you peel back the optimism and bravado, you find a China with an inferiority complex, sure of the future, but conflicted about the present. Wang acknowledges that China's system of higher education is antiquated and ill-prepares young Chinese to take their place at the creative headwaters of the twenty-first century. One person laments that China can manufacture everything, but can't invent anything. Another claims that communism is a failed economic system, but that democracy is out of the question for decades, if ever.
The whole point of Wang's book--that a burgeoning middle class in China is inevitable is also classic yin and yang. No one can deny that the American dream of a car, a home, appliances and a good education for the children should not be withheld from middle class Chinese. Yet no one also can deny that adding 100 million more automobiles and tripling coal energy consumption will turn the Chinese Dream into an environmental global nightmare.


More in The Internet Review of Books.

Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need her as a speaker at your meeting of conference, do get in touch


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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Where to make money in China? - Helen Wang

Wang_Helen_HiRes_black_MG_1708Helen Wang
Celebrity author Helen Wang taps into the excitement of Western companies to enter the China market. The paper JingDaily asks her wide ranging questions on her book on China's middle class, The Chinese Dream. Focus on health care and education, she advises foreign companies.
JD: Last year, we interviewed Handel Jones, author of ChinAmerica, who said that education, health and the Internet are going to be the most lucrative sectors for Western companies to tap the Chinese middle class. Would you agree with this? Are there any other sectors you would add?

HW: Definitely, the healthcare and education sectors will provide lucrative opportunities for Western companies. I am not sure about the Internet as it’s currently dominated by domestic companies. But if you look at the e-commerce sector, it could be a game changer. Recently, many VCs have invested in e-commerce and group buying sites as China’s internet users are approaching half a billion.

I think the consumer products sector, particularly in the areas of luxury goods and big ticket items such as automobiles, LCD TVs, and smartphones, will see increasing opportunities for Western companies. I would also add the clean tech sector. Western companies are leading in technology in this field.
More in JingDaily.


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Location: San Diego, CA, USA

Saturday, March 26, 2011

'The Chinese Dream' to be published in China - Helen Wang

Wang_Helen_HiRes_black_MG_1708Helen Wang by Fantake via Flickr
Our celebrity author Helen Wang just announced that her book The Chinese Dream: The Rise of the World's Largest Middle Class and What It Means to You will be translated into Chinese and published in August.

Helen Wang "has sold Chinese translation rights to Shanghai Wenhui Publishing House, and will be available in China in August. I am really looking forward to it!
In celebrating this good news, my heart also goes out to all the victims of the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan. All the royalties of The Chinese Dreambook sales in March will be donated to Red Cross Japan Earth Quake and Pacific Tsunami Fund."
Getting a book, aimed at a US audience, published in China too is a remarkable achievement, given the huge differences in background of both audiences.

Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau; do you need her at your meeting or conferen? Do get in touch. 
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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Can China deliver on its five-year plan? - Helen Wang

Wang_Helen_HiRes_black_MG_1708Helen Wang
Increased domestic consumption and sustainable growth are key in the country's new five-year plan. But can it deliver on two critical issues, beating inflation and affordable housing, author Helen Wang wonders in Forbes and on her weblog.
Reigning in inflation and providing affordable housing are important steps to foster a growing middle class. A major hindrance to increased Chinese consumption, however, is the country’s high saving rate, which reflects the underlying insecurity the Chinese feel about their future.
In writing my book The Chinese Dream: The Rise of the World’s Largest Middle Class and What It Means to You, I interviewed over 100 people in China. They are from all walks of life and are the new members of the Chinese middle class. The biggest concern they have is social security. Most people I talked to save 25-50 percent of their incomes for a rainy day, as I wrote here.
Victor Ku, a hotel manager in Guangzhou, told me that he had to save two-thirds of his income. “I have to pay for my own health expenses,” he said. “In China, we don’t have security. If you get sick, you can immediately become poor.”
Can the government deliver? Helen Wang: "Most likely. Judging from its past performance, I would not underestimate the Chinese government’s ability to deliver. Will China become a more open society? Sooner or later, when the Chinese government sees it is in its own interest to let go of control."

Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.
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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Is the Chinese dream also the American dream? - Helen Wang

Wang_Helen_HiRes_black_MG_1708Helen Wang by Fantake via Flickr
Helen Wang, author of The Chinese Dream: The Rise of the World's Largest Middle Class and What It Means to You, will address on April 4 the INSEAD Alumni Association of Northern Californa in Palo Alto about the challenges and opportunities of a rising Chinese middle class. More details here.
“The Chinese Dream tells one of the most important stories of our time,” says Ken Wilcox, CEO of Silicon Valley Bank. “Helen Wang enlightens us with the possibility of ‘unity in diversity’. A comprehensive, and yet easy to read book about modern China.”

Helen Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. She will be visiting China in June and August and is available for speaking opportunities. When you need her at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.



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Location: Palo Alto, CA, USA

Saturday, February 26, 2011

China is no Libya, but not out of danger - Helen Wang

Wang_Helen_HiRes_black_MG_1708Helen Wang
China has no Khadaffi-style ruler, lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, writes Helen Wang in Forbes. But the increased government control shows its rulers do not think China is immune for a home-made popular uprising.
The last few years saw a regression in the government’s openness. Since 2008, the Chinese government has increasingly censored the Internet, detained dissidents, and disbarred lawyers who are actively involved in civil rights and corruption cases.
If the government thinks the tightened control will help maintain stability, it will prove to be the opposite. The demonstrations in the Middle East provide a clear case that the more repressive the regime, the more chaos and protests it will brew. The “Jasmine Revolution” seems not going away. Boxun issued a new call for protest in 23 cities around China this coming weekend. It encourages people to take part of the “non-violent and non-cooperative” demonstration by “strolling, watching or pretending to pass by.” “As long as you are present,” the statement says, “the authoritarian government will be shaking with fear.”
 Read in Forbes why Helen Wang thinks the government should loosen control.

Helen Wang is the author of The Chinese Dream: The Rise of the World's Largest Middle Class and What It Means to You. She is also a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need her at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.
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Location: San Diego, CA, USA

Monday, February 21, 2011

Most-sought speakers in February 2011

Kaiser Kuo, shel israelKaiser Kuo (left) by shelisrael1 via Flickr
Our monthly listing of most-sought speakers has become a pretty stable one. In February we have one important newcomer, Helen Wang, who has been extremely active since her book The Chinese Dream: The Rise of the World's Largest Middle Class and What It Means to You hit the shelves in December 2010.
Talks on US radio shows, presentations and a stream of publications have helped Helen Wang to make a difference en join our top-10 of most-sought speakers.
It might be our bias at the global offices of the Chinese Speakers Bureau, but our list does reflect the high profile speakers have in mainstream media and their sellling power as a speaker. At our Speakers' Corner, you find our selection of our quoted speakers. Here you find our 2010 list of most-sought speakers.
Wang_Helen_HiRes_black_MG_1708Helen Wang

The February 2011 list of most-sought speakers
  1. Kaiser Kuo
  2. Shaun Rein
  3. William Overholt
  4. Arthur Kroeber
  5. Tom Doctoroff
  6. Helen Wang
  7. Wendell Minnick
  8. William Bao Bean
  9. Victor Shih
  10. Rupert Hoogewerf



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Sunday, February 20, 2011

Hardship in China, and how to survive - Helen Wang

Wang_Helen_HiRes_black_MG_1708Helen Wang
Helen Wang publishes a chapter from her book on de hardship of migrant workers in China's big cities. And how they plan to pull themselves out of this misery, keeping faith in the future.
“Is that what you plan to do—become a manager?” I asked.
“Maybe,” he said. Then he added, “Well, in a few years, I may start my own business. Zhu Guofan encourages us to start our own businesses. He said he would help us. There are many opportunities.”
“Is it hard for you, leaving home and working in a big city like Beijing?” I was still probing for some sign of dissatisfaction or bitterness.
He looked at me, with a sparkle in his eyes, and said, “Only if you endure the hardship of hardships will you become the man above men” (a well-known Chinese saying)...
"When I read the story of a young American woman selling her ova for $7,000 in order to pay off her credit cards, I kept thinking about young women I met in China. They earned about $100 a month, yet saved 80 percent of their incomes to help pay for their siblings’ education."
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