Selling in China – edited by Ker Gibbs – author Q&A

Ker Gibbs was president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai for many years, focusing on US-China relations and business issues facing American companies operating in Asia. Before that, he worked for a number of large US corporations in China, including Boston Consulting Group, Apple and Disney, and also advised Chinese companies such as Alibaba and Baidu. Currently, he is an Executive in Residence at the University of San Francisco and is a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations.

Now, Ker has edited a collection of essays on doing business in China – a collection that often demonstrates that it is the business community that currently understands China best in this time of tensions between Beijing and the West. Selling to China: Stories of Success, Failure and Constant Change (Palgrave) brings together a host of US and Chinese experts to discuss various sectors – from legal to social media, sports to logistics. Expert contributors include senior executives from Wunderman, Procon Pacific, Chrysler, 3M, EF Education First in China and law firm Hogan Lovells.

Paul French caught up with Ker for the China-Britain Business Council magazine Focus to discuss why businesspeople can be great diplomats, how business can cut through the current tensions, and where the commercial world of China might be in the future. Click here…