Towering: China's growth is not just beneficial to the national bank

US citizen Merle Hinrichs has long been tied to China, so much so that he considers Hong Kong to be his permanent home rather than the small farm town in Iowa where he grew up. Soon after graduating from the American School of International Management in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1965, Hinrichs went to Japan to seek a fortune. He found, however, that his destiny had more to do with the rest of Asia, and in particular China.
In 1971, he moved to Hong Kong where he co-founded a small publishing company producing trade magazines that touted global trade and helped international buyers to source products from Asian factories. Today, that company, Global Sources, is a powerhouse facilitator of global trade. Listed on the Nasdaq in 2000, Global Sources helps buyers, particularly Americans, source billions of dollars worth of goods every year from Asia, and currently mostly from China.

“China makes up 35 per cent of our revenues,” says Hinrichs, 61, with a beaming smile. “Of our 1,800 employees, 800 are in 35 offices spread across China.” The way global trading trends are heading, with China already being the world’s premier workshop, Global Sources may see more than 50 per cent of its revenues come from China in the coming five years.

Not only is China’s rise good news for Hinrichs and Global Sources but good news for other American business leaders as well. Many believe that trade has the power to transform China from a communist totalitarian state into a market-driven capitalist one. That’s why many in corporate America applauded Bill Clinton in 1993 when he proclaimed China a “strategic partner” of the US.