Risk-takers or rule-breakers?
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Turbulent Thirty Years
"Turbulent Thirty Years" is a definitive narrative of China’s unprecedented economic transformation from 1978 to 2008, tracing the chaotic, exhilarating rise of its business landscape amid sweeping reform and opening-up. Authored by Wu Xiaobo, this immersive account chronicles the birth of iconic enterprises—from Lenovo and Huawei to Vanke and Mengniu—and the larger-than-life entrepreneurs who navigated uncharted waters, breaking rigid state rules, seizing risky opportunities, and enduring dramatic failures. It captures the era’s contradictions: state-owned giants clashing with scrappy private startups, speculative bubbles bursting amid rapid growth, and the tension between traditional values and global market forces. More than a business history, it offers a front-row seat to how a closed, agrarian nation evolved into a global economic powerhouse, revealing the grit, luck, and systemic upheaval that shaped modern China’s commercial identity. For readers seeking to understand China’s rise through its business leaders and pivotal events, this book is an indispensable guide.
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