Acknowledgments

Nearly every ambitious effort an individual concludes is couched in collaboration. China Fast Forward is an attempt to survey a wide range of industries, technologies, and social developments in China that are as disparate as they are fast-moving. The effort required me to extend my shallow perceptions of trends with which I had little experience to a depth that would provide readers informative and engaging insights. None of the revelations could have happened without the extensive rounds of conversations with the experts, analysts, and practitioners who live the developments every day in China. Any errors or omissions readers may find are solely mine.

Practitioners who have shared for years the insights and experiences they’ve gained from their hands-on work in their industries include Peter Holmes, Michael “Mickey” Duff, Mark “Six” Kissner, Robert Kong, and Fulvio Hernandez. The continued jovial support and industry-specific banter of the Blue Marlin “Think Tank” over the years in the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park also contributed to insights in the book. Through the accretion of countless conversations during our gatherings I have gained a great appreciation for the efforts involved in cultivating approaches to innovation in manufacturing in China.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my friend Andrew Hupert for sharing his thinking and wisdom about industry trends and government involvement in China. Andrew was an adjunct professor at the Shanghai campus of New York University while I worked on this project. He always made the time to discuss major developments with me and to review drafts of articles and chapters that came to make up the final publication of China Fast Forward.

I talked with countless professionals involved in one way or another with China’s energy sector. Some of those who offered me their valuable time without reservation included Franz Lang, Poul Kristensen, Hans Suo, Johann Wiebe, and Torben Jorgensen. Bhavesh Mistry and Basile Waite also contributed insights into some of the articles I published, that eventually made their way into the final manuscript. Staff members of the Daoda Heavy Industry Company were great hosts who enlightened me to the special challenges confronting the shipping and wind power industries in China.

I reserve a special note of thanks for the China Economic Review, based in Shanghai, for its support and encouragement of the China energy and environment column I produced for their publication. In particular, great thanks to the publisher, Graham Earnshaw; Pete Sweeny, who while chief editor suggested I contribute to the column; and Ana Swanson, Pete’s successor, who encouraged me to dig under the surface of China’s cleantech sector. Author and China industry analyst Paul French was as always supportive and informative about the publication process throughout the project.

The chapter on services outsourcing trends was several years in the making. Pivotal in its development were the generous introductions that the operations directors gave me to their facilities in Shanghai. Sushil Asar and Michael Su were warm and informative hosts at Mahindra Satyam, as were Cai Jieru and her colleagues at Shanghai SAFE Software. Local government officials in China were also helpful and supportive of my interests in the development of the services outsourcing industry. Daisy Gao in the Suzhou Industrial Park, Juliet Zhu in the Suzhou New District, and Cara Long at the Chengdu Tianfu Software Park were particularly helpful and gracious hosts in explaining to me their operations. The energetic staff at the economic development zone of the Jiangning district of Nanjing was always a pleasure to visit, and the efficient staff of the Hangzhou New and High Technology Park was especially informative. Sustainability should be such a well-defined sector.

Richard Brubaker, professor of Corporate Social Responsibility at the China-Europe International Business School (CEIBS), was exceptional in helping me frame sustainability within the context of China’s modernization drive. Bambu owners Rachel Speth and Jeff Delkin are tireless business people whose housewares company should be a model for many businesses to emulate. For a decade they have thought deeply about the practicality of sustainable manufacturing within an Industrial Revolution context and have met implementation challenges with grit and honesty. Despite their busy lives in Shanghai, southeast Asia and the United States, they took considerable time in educating me about sustainability issues in business. My greatest thanks to Brubaker, Speth, and Delkin for the time they spent reviewing portions of the manuscript.

Even before China Fast Forward became a manuscript Grace Lu was a most charming and forthcoming guide to charity work in China and the promise of social entrepreneurship. My deep gratitude, as well, to Linda Hou for the sort of unselfish support that helped me reach the finish line of the project.

My publisher, Nick Wallwork, and Jules Yap, the editorial executive at the Singapore division of John Wiley & Sons, were instrumental in accepting the initial proposal for China Fast Forward and in shaping its momentum. I deeply appreciate their patience with this author during the writing and editorial process. Despite her hectic schedule, Emilie Herman in the Hoboken, New Jersey office of Wiley, was always positive, considerate, and patient in taking the manuscript from rough to refined.

In no small measure has the unwavering support of my friends Doug Wack, Franziska Gloeckner, and Palle Linde enabled this project to come to completion. Their help defined for me the true meaning of friendship.

My wife, Jessica Zhou, was not always clear about what I was on about with the project and why I found it important to invest so much of my time and attention to it. Still, she hung with me during the entire birthing process, for which I am grateful.

The true inspiration for China Fast Forward was my son, Ashley Xavier “Si Cheng,” who was just a few months old while I was writing the book. Throughout the writing process I considered just what sort of world he would be living in when he reached adulthood. Both of American and Chinese ancestry, he will be confronted with choices and challenges I can scant imagine. If he one day reads this book and excavates even a single nugget of insight that helps inform his decisions, I will have considered China Fast Forward a success.