Since the late 1970’s China has been a mystery to most economic and investment forecasters trying to decide how to maximize returns in the fastest-growing economy in the world. Reliability of official economic data has only been one of the obstacles to confident decision-making; government policy and involvement in the stock markets (as witnessed in the past few weeks) an already significant language barrier in analyzing how to compete in the Middle Kingdom.

Learning Objectives:

  1. What factors are most important to keep in mind when analyzing and forecasting China’s economy?
  2. How does the government influence stock markets and other investment decisions?
  3. Which sources can be counted on to deliver the most reliable data on China’s economy and stock markets?

Dr. Qingjiu (Tom) Tao is an assistant professor of management in the college of business at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA. He received his Ph.D. in Strategic Management and International Business from University of Pittsburgh in 2004. He served on the editorial board of JCIM (Journal of Competitive Intelligence and Management) from 2003 to 2009. His research on alliance portfolio and competitive intelligence has been published in Strategic Management Journal and Competitive Intelligence Review. He was one of the pioneers in introducing the concept of Competitive Intelligence into China at mid 1990s. His groundbreaking work on a survey of competitive intelligence practices has been cited by many CI researchers. He is also a founding member of SCIC (society of competitive intelligence of China). He has spoken at the Wharton School, Dartmouth, University of Tokyo, University of Michigan, AutoUni—VW and testified as an expert before the congressional US. -China Economic and Security Review Commission on China’s auto industry.

He founded Madison Green Growth Group in 2011 to provide competitive intelligence consulting and training service to corporations in the U.S. and China. The usual topics and subject areas offered by him are: Introduction to CI, establishing CI function, operation/IP due diligence, analytical tools in CI, technology scouting/evaluation. He is also a senior advisor to Aurora WDC on Chinese market issues.