Capitalism with Chinese characteristics - Made in China: Secrets of China's Dynamic Entrepreneurs by Winter Nie and Katherine Xin with Lily Zhang

Like electricity and air travel, private businesses in China play key roles in our personal and global economic lives even though we barely understand the concept. Made in China begins to demystify the new breed of independent businesses that are coming to dominate the world's fastest-growing major economy. The first surprise is the extent to which privately owned enterprises (POEs) have supplanted state owned enterprises (SOEs) as China's economic driving force. In 2000, SOEs accounted for 50% of fixed asset investment, POEs 42%, with foreign investment enterprises (FIEs) at 8%. By 2002, POEs' investment overtook SOEs', and in 2003 POEs accounted for the majority of fixed asset investment. For 2005, the last year given in the book, POEs' 60% share of investment was nearly double that of SOEs.

Far more surprising than the statistics are the people behind these POEs. According to Made in China, China's typical entrepreneur of the 21st century is not a princeling from a political dynasty or a party official working on the side. Nor is the usual POE a remade SOE that's had its assets privatized through some accounting sleight of hand. China's current generation of entrepreneurs start their businesses the way their counterparts do in other parts of the world: from scratch and usually on a shoestring. Although the book focuses on primarily on the 21st century generation of POEs, Made in China begins with three case studies from the earlier wave of entrepreneurship that demonstrate show how pervasive China's private sector has become. These examples show not just the powerful position of POEs in the domestic market but their influence on global business.