Wang: How many people were required to produce this book and how long have you spent in producing this book?

Wanyan: Our idea was originated about nine months ago and we began to collect materials about six months ago. Ten people were involved in this book and a lot of effort was put into the making of this book.

Qiqi: Just as its name implies, we know that this book is about China. Mr. Wanyan, can you tell us more details about the book?

Wanyan: The contents of this book are divided into four parts. We focused on the most famous and most important figures in China. The first part is the presidents or chairmen of large state owned enterprises; the second part is the introduction of tycoons in China, similar to the Forbes ranking in China. The third part is about prominent government officers and policy makers and the last part profiles other famous people, such as economists, educationists, professionals and artists.

Wang: Amongst all the material available on all the people, how did you select the important ones and decide who should be in the book and who should not?

Wanyan: Before editing the book, we made a list of criteria for the selection. For example, a chosen state owned enterprise should be in the list of top 100 enterprises in China. But not all the top 100 enterprises will be selected and it should also be in the top 10 list in the industry. Then in the private enterprise section, all selected companies should have large enough capital and at the same time be a top player in the industry.

Wang: Are there any common characteristics of all the people in the book?

Qiqi: Do they come from special and common social backgrounds?

Wanyan: Yes. There are some special and common social backgrounds. For example, most tycoons in China do not have a formal university education. Secondly, most of them have experienced, first hand, the Cultural Revolution. Thirdly, half of them started their business from real estate development. Actually we have summarized these interesting characteristics in the book.

Wang: Among all the companies, which industries are important in your book?

Wanyan: What we selected are pretty much the most important industries in China. In the state owned enterprises segment, we included power, logistics and transportation, airlines, consumer electronics manufacturers, banks, insurance companies, food & beverage companies etc. and we also included famous companies like Haier, China Life Insurance, COSCO etc. Actually the book includes all the top players in every industry.

Wang: Which industries are the most promising in China according to your research during the editing process?

Wanyan: Actually every industry in China is very promising. In particular, the transportation and logistics industry is the most promising one due to the development of Chinese economics. With further economic reform, the financial industry is another promising one. The automobile industry is also very hot recently. Besides these, the manufacturing industry is also very good.

Wang: For a Singaporean firm, what steps are necessary when deciding the amount of capital investment required for venturing into China?

Wanyan: There are so many important things.

Lauren: First, you have to know the size of your market. Secondly, in different regions of China, there are different government regulations for a foreign investor interested in making an investment, such as, tax rates and capital restrictions. Then if you want to have a partner in China, you have to know all your potential partners completely to find the one who can help you. From our consulting experiences, we found that we really should have a modest attitude when trying to learn about everything in China.

Qiqi: The beautiful Miss Li used to be a lawyer and then she set up the new consulting firm, 1st Link and the subsidiary, Inspire Publishing. Now the business is different from what you did before. And this is your first book. Do you have any difficulties in publishing this book?

Lauren: Just like what Mr. Wanyan said, the idea was born about nine months ago, and then was polished step by step. We spent six months in collecting materials. The most difficult hurdle is the completeness of the first and second hand materials. Another hurdle is the continuously changing situation in China. For example, during our editing process, the president of CNPC, Ma Fucai, resigned due to an accident. So we have to update our book all the time. Thirdly, in some industries, such as the real asset industry, some enterprises and entrepreneurs are not willing to be open to the media. So we have to find this information via all kinds of different approaches.

Qiqi: How do you know so many famous people?

Lauren: Actually, before we began to edit the book, we had decided which materials were necessary for the book and they are far beyond those that can be easily found.

Wanyan: In this way, we can have a strict quality control.

Lauren: We also contacted some important people via friends or some other ways. Sometimes we also call these famous companies directly. We invested a tremendous amount of effort into this process.

Wang: Oh. Then this book has cost you a lot of time.

Qiqi: In the book there is so much professional information and we strongly recommend this informative and useful book to our audiences. This book will be published next month.

Lauren: The book will be available from May 14 in book stores and there will be a book launch on May 28.