LOS ANGELES, CA. (American Public Media) - In a far-reaching exploration of China's "capitalist" revolution, American Public Media's Marketplace will broadcast live from China Jan. 9 - 20, 2006 - covering China through the stories of everyday Chinese citizens who each in their own way are influencing the global economy.
Marketplace will present all three of its shows live, with teams broadcasting from Shanghai, Chongqing (the world's largest city with 31 million people), and other locations throughout the country.
In a nation where economic and cultural change are happening at whiplash speed, Marketplace will turn to the in-depth stories of a variety of individuals - entrepreneurs starting businesses, rural migrant workers making the journey to the big city, young consumers demanding choices and the rising middle class grappling with sudden wealth - to help its audience understand the implications of China on our lives. Among the issues and topics to be explored:
- Speeding Up the World: Chinese don't wait on contracts to seal deals and snap up opportunities. If the Chinese accelerate the speed of business worldwide, will it threaten the U.S. standard of living, or does it drive us to new heights of innovation?
- The Great Mall of China: How e-commerce in China combines shared laptops in a town square with bike messengers delivering goods C.O.D.
- The Most Powerful Me Generation: Chinese youth are the biggest and perhaps the most extreme "me generation" in history. Some say they are materialistic and selfish, but that may be a good thing.
- Countering Counterfeits: U.S. movie executives spy on Chinese stores where counterfeiting of their goods runs rampant. While there, they buy cheap knock-offs anyway. Still, does the massive influx of counterfeit goods actually increase demand for the real things?
- Green China: Chinese cities are polluted and getting worse. But is China at a crossroads? Pressure to clean up its environment could lead to innovation making China the world's first green economy, gaining a unique competitive edge on the U.S.
- The Sea Turtle Start-Up: "Sea turtle" is what the Chinese call a person who lives abroad for years and then returns to China. Follow one sea turtle entrepreneur who returned home from Maryland after learning about China's friendlier business climate. Skilled at launching businesses, he found himself in an entirely different game with no clear rules.
- A Typical Chinese Budget: How the Chinese spend and save money vs. Americans (Hint: the Chinese are doing a much better job managing their personal finances.)
Full details on the series will be forthcoming on marketplace.org and apmstations.org .
Kai Ryssdal Leads Coverage of Chinese Economy, Business Culture
Conversational in Mandarin and intimately familiar with China, host Kai Ryssdal will bring listeners along as only he and Marketplace can in a series featuring contributions and expert insight from economists, Chinese and American business executives, acclaimed authors, journalists from leading business media and the entire Marketplace news and production team.
"This is not only the most ambitious series in Marketplace's history, but also one of the most important," Ryssdal said. "When I went back to China a few months ago, it was a different place from when I lived there even just eight years ago. And I could see more clearly than ever how understanding the hopes, dreams and fears of 1.3 billion Chinese will change the business, economic and cultural landscape not only in the U.S., but around the world. And that's the story we'll be telling when we broadcast from China."
