Tag Archives: travel

Where is the world’s largest instant noodle production base?

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Most Chinese will immediately guess: Henan.

Hebei

According to the statistics, the output of instant noodles in Henan Province accounts for nearly 33% of the country. However, this output is distributed in the instant noodle industrial belt from Xinxiang in the north to Luohe in the south. If the scope is narrowed down to cities and counties, the most concentrated place of the instant noodle industry is actually not Henan, but a county called Longyao in Xingtai City, Hebei Province. It is the home of Jinmailang.

Longyao

As a large grain-producing county in Hebei Province, Longyao has become the world’s largest instant noodle production base driven by leading enterprises. Longyao is an agricultural county that mainly relies on wheat cultivation.

Regional location of Longyao County

However, it is in this small county the nation’s instant noodles production started. It gave birth to the richest man in China’s instant noodle industry and became the world’s largest instant noodle production base with an annual output of 14 billion packs of instant noodles. It was founded by Longyao people themselves, rooted and developed in Longyao. Now it has become a local brand of Longyao that is on an equal ar with Master Kong and Uni-President: Jinmailang.

Hurun

In the ‘2022 Hurun Top 100 Chinese Food Industry List’, Jinmailang ranked 48th (Chef Kong ranked 25th). In terms of value changes, other enterprises on the list either have negative growth or double-digit growth at most, while the year-on-year growth of Jinmailang has reached an amazing 126%, becoming the enterprise with the fastest value growth rate on the list. Jinmailang’s annual production capacity is 12 billion packs of instant noodles. It processes 5500 mt of wheat per day and 1.8 mt mt p.a., it ranks in the top six in its industry in the world and the top three in China. When we add the capacities of other related enterprises in Longyao, the regional annual production capacity of instant noodles is as high as 14 billion.

Pillar of the local economy

Jinmailang’s instant noodle production has long realised intelligent automatic production. The Longyao food industry, which is driven by instant noodles, has an annual revenue of more than RMB 17 billion and the more than 100 food manufacturing and supporting enterprises in the county contribute one-third of Longyao’s total profit, which makes it a proper pillar of the local economy. Longyao is also the world’s largest production base for paper containers and bottle caps.

Beginning

In 1992, Wei Yingzhou, a Taiwanese businessman, founded Dingyi Food in Tianjin, and Chef Kong instant noodles soon became popular in China. In this year, Fan Xianguo, a native of Longyao, took the money saved from running a small workshop and partnered with more than a dozen people to form the Tianshuai Group to produce single-crystal rock candy. Chef Kong’s popularisation made Fan Xianguo see the huge market for instant noodles, but the partners did not agree to do this. Therefore, in 1994, Fan Xianguo took a few people to establish Hualong Group. This time he got the decision-making power. An instant noodle giant who can be equal to Chef Kong in the future was born.

Rural market

At that time, Chef Kong and Uni-President were aiming at the urban market. There was no way to sell it in the countryside at all. They could only see some mixed brands, even instant noodles without packaging. From the start, Hualong targeted the blank area of the rural market. A strategy they had learned from Mao Zedong. An important contributor to the success of the Communist Party was the strategy to ‘let the countryside encircle the cities’. Its first instant noodles was called ‘Hualong Noodles’, which focussed on cheap and affordable. The advertisement of ‘Hualong noodles, you see them every day’ was painted all over the walls of rural areas. Hualong instant noodles also quickly occupied the rural market. In just three years, Hualong began to aim at the national market.

National

In 1997, Hualong established more than 600 sales networks in more than 20 provinces and began its own plan to occupy the instant noodle market north of the Yangtze River. At this time, Wang Lushan, Fan Xianguo’s hometown, was also an agent of Hualong Group in Gansu. He followed Hualong Market all the way, made a lot of money, and also had the idea of working for his own account. In 1999, Longyao’s second brand that stirred up the national instant noodle market was born. Wang Lushan, who was familiar with the old owner’s products and routines, established Zhongwang Group. With two brands of instant noodles, he quickly became a brand that was higher than Hualong in the rural market at that time. In 2000, it achieved sales of RMB 100 mln, and two years later, it became one of the top five instant noodles in China.

Jinmailang

Around 2000, the sales of Hualong instant noodles began to grow rapidly. In that year, Fan Xianguo gave up the Hualong trademark and launched a new brand ‘Jinmailang’. Jinmailang cooperated with Nissin Group (Japan), a global boss leader in instant noodles, and became the world’s largest noodle-making enterprise at that time. Subsequently, it launched the new-tech instant noodle brand Dajinye.

Wugu Daochang

On Wang Lushan’s side, he found the marketing director of Hualong before, began to cooperate with Chef Kong, and then launched a new non-fried instant noodle brand Wugu Daochang. Wugu Daochang did very well. In 2006, it also achieved annual sales of RMB 2 billion. That year, Zhongwang also topped the top 100 Chinese enterprise growth list with a growth rate of 2003%. After that, although Wang Lushan’s Zhongwang Group declined due to blind expansion, Longyao’s instant noodle industry and other related supporting industrial chains rose rapidly because of this competition between, what was locally referred to as: ’two dragons fighting’.

Decline and back

Since the 1990s, China’s instant noodle industry has been booming, and the turnover has increased for 18 consecutive years. However, since 2013, the instant noodle industry has begun to go downhill. The reason is very simple. 2012 was the first year of the rise of China’s takeaway industry. The fierce battle of Meituan, Eleme, Dianping and other platforms in this year’s ‘thousand-group war’ made instant noodles ‘out of favour’ from people’s list of instant foods. In fact, any food became instantly available. With the upgrading of the consumer market and the consideration for a healthy, nutritious and balanced diet, instant noodles were no longer a must or even an option for many people to pursue a convenient diet. It was not until the pandemic that the instant noodle industry showed signs of rebound again. According to the statistics, the market size of China’s instant noodles in 2018 was RMB 103.9 billion, and it increased to RMB 182.38 billion in 2022. It is estimated that by 2025, the market size will reach RMB 231.23 billion.

Innovation

Technological innovation is an important driver behind the continuation of the status of Longyao as China’s top instant noodles base. As early as six years ago, Jinmailang was selected as one of the top 10 innovative food companies in China in 2018 with 926 patents, together with the top international food groups of Mars, Pepsi and Starbucks. At the beginning of 2022, Jinmailang announced that it had completed a financing of RMB 600 million from investor Jiahua Capital.

Peter Peverelli has been actively involved in and with China since 1975 and frequently travels to the most remote regions of that vast nation. He is a co-author of a substantial book that explores the cultural factors that have contributed to China’s economic success. Peter has been involved in the Chinese food and beverage industries since 1985.

A Chinese innovation: rice from potatoes

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Recently, a special production line in Zhaotong, Yunnan Province, has created the world’s first potato rice. It is understood that this production line that converts potatoes into ‘rice’ is the result of more than five years of research and development led by Wu Qi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a polymeric physical chemist. This is not only the first production line in China to turn fresh potatoes into dried rice, but also the first in the world.

Nutrition

According to the report, potato rice retains 90% of the nutrients of potatoes and the protein content is 27% higher than that of traditional refined rice noodles. After the first batch of potato rice was launched, Zhaotong Mekong conducted product stability tests among people with diabetes and obesity. Judging from the situation of regional sales tests, there is a tendency for supply to exceed demand. After more than a month of trial sales, the repurchase rate of diabetics and people who lose weight is relatively high.

Easy to handle

Because potato rice has been processed at high temperature and high pressure, consumers can steam the potato rice without washing it. In addition, the amount of water and time required to steam potato rice is much less than the amount of water and time required to steam white rice. Some consumers feedback that potato rice is convenient to cook, and it not only feels close to rice in the mouth, but also smells like potatoes.

Price

At present, the price of potato rice is still higher than that of ordinary rice. According to the official platform of Zhaotong Meikang Agricultural Company, the price of potato rice is RMB 66 per box of 950g.

Top producer

As one of the world’s largest potato producers, China has ranked first in the world for many years. For Chinese consumers, the research on potato rice is expected to make high-yield potatoes a staple food for people, which will help solve the problem of food security. For fresh potatoes with a large yield, this new form of potatoes can solve the problem that fresh potatoes have a short storage time and are not conducive to preservation to a certain extent. potato rice can reduce the need for ventilation and climate control during storage, and it is also more convenient for logistics and transportation.

The process

Wu Qi’s team integrates macromolecular physics theory, food macromolecular processing and polymer extrusion granulation technology, focussing on the research and development of high-water extrusion and reorganisation technology of plant polysaccharides and protein complex systems. Through precise control of temperature, humidity and enzymatic time, fresh potatoes are transformed into diameter 0.5 -1mm rice granular finished product. Simply put, the research team changed the characteristics of macromolecules from the physical level, reshaped the starch chain of potato crops, and turned fresh potatoes into potato rice with good taste.

Peter Peverelli has been actively involved in and with China since 1975 and frequently travels to the most remote regions of that vast nation. He is a co-author of a substantial book that explores the cultural factors that have contributed to China’s economic success. Peter has been involved in the Chinese food and beverage industries since 1985.

Hunan cuisine: how regional cuisines are marketed in China

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Hunan cuisine, known in China as Xiang Cuisine, Xiang being the literary name of Hunan Province, is one of China’s more famous cuisines. It is characterised by its liberal use of chili peppers and garlic, but also by its use of very fresh ingredients. A typical way of preparing and serving dishes in Hunan is the ‘dry pan’ (ganguo). Those dishes are served in an iron pan on a fire to keep it hot.

Hunan’s capital Changsha is foodies’ paradise. As a patron of this blog, you know that food is the central concept of Chinese culture. Food is available in abundance everywhere. However, there are still cities in China that even Chinese refer to as places to go for food lovers, and Changsha is one of them.

Changsha is also very centrally located in the heart of China. In Europe, all roads may lead to Rome, but in China they lead to Changsha. Changsha is a major infrastructure hub. This highly facilitates the export of the local cuisine to all corners of the nation, and beyond its borders. However, in this post, I will restrict my story to the situation of Hunan cuisine within China in 2024.

Regions

In an earlier post, I introduced the major food regions of China. The following table shows the percentage of Hunan restaurants in China in each region.

These figures confirm that fire food is still more appreciated in Southern China than in the north.

Cities

At a lower level, Chinese cities are catogorise by function and size. First tier cities are the cities directly under the State Council (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing). New first tier cities are the capitals of provinces and autonomous regions. The remaining cities are categorised by size. The following table shows the percentage of Hunan restaurants per urban category.

We can see that Hunan cuisine is most popular in regional capitals and smaller regional cities. A possible explanation could be that cities in the south of China tend to be smaller, with the largest cities concentrated in the north. E.g., of the four first tier cities, only Chongqing people prefer spicy food.

Province/autonomous region

I am also adding a map indicating the number of Hunan restaurants per province and autonomous region. Dark red indicates a higher number.

The top regions, Hunan (obviously) and Guangdong are indicate with percentages, 19.6% and 17.8%, respectively. Guangdong is a special region, adjacent to Hong Kong, where many emigrés from other parts of China are living. I presume that Guangdong is the home of quite a few people from Hunan.

I could go even deeper, including, e.g., the regional distribution of the various Hunan restaurant chains. However, that information would be unsuitable for a post like this. However, I will be able to provide an in-depth study upon request.

Peter Peverelli has been actively involved in and with China since 1975 and frequently travels to the most remote regions of that vast nation. He is a co-author of a substantial book that explores the cultural factors that have contributed to China’s economic success. Peter has been involved in the Chinese food and beverage industries since 1985.

Chinese Dishes Reimagined in Coffee and Alcohol

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During a recent excursion through Shanxi, Henan, and Hebei provinces, we extended our stay in Luoyang, a third-tier city in northern Henan province. Luoyang served as the capital of China during the Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties. One evening, as we journeyed to a restaurant, we encountered an intriguing bar en route, advertising with coffee-based cocktails. Given the early hour, we decided to explore this establishment. This proved to be an auspicious decision. We indulged in several highly innovative cocktails.

The name of the bar, Linshi, held intrigue, translating to “Temporary.” Founded by Ma Lekai, an award-winning Chinese barista, the establishment boasts diplomas and accolades adorning its walls.

The colour scheme of the bar, predominantly yellow, is complemented by shades of orange and brown, creating a striking contrast with the greyish hues. We perused the menu with the intention of sampling some captivating cocktails.

Americano

Given my preference for Americanos, I opted for a cocktail bearing the same name. The Chinese translation, Meiguolao, translates to “Yankee,” likely a subtle reference. The recipe incorporates a martini base, complemented by exceptionally light coffee, even lighter than a traditional Americano. The light coffee imparted a slightly sour character, resulting in a martini with a bitter aftertaste of coffee. Personally, I found this combination to be an ideal match.

Kiwi

Another member of our party sampled a Luanchuan kiwi (Luanchan is a region in Northwest China where kiwis are cultivated): pureed kiwi infused with coffee and a touch of Luoyang’s local liquor, Dukang. This combination required some time to fully appreciate, but ultimately, it yielded a satisfactory taste experience.

Dish as inspiration

The staff is consistently experimenting with new recipes. As I was likely the first foreign visitor, they allowed our group to sample a newly designed cocktail: Hulatang, Hula Soup. Hulatang is a slightly sour and spicy soup, a traditional specialty of Luoyang. Linshi has once again utilised the sour undertone of soft coffee, combined with Dukang and a touch of pepper for the hot undertone. For me, this was also a potential success cocktail. It is also a remarkable example of recreating a traditional dish in a contemporary manner.

Clientele

Linshi operates in the high-end segment. However, according to the manager of this branch (one of four in Luoyang), the business is performing well. Linshi was established in 2014, making it exactly 10 years old when we visited. The relatively young clientele tends to visit later in the evening. Linshi is open until 1 a.m. When I return to Luoyang, I will certainly make a visit to this establishment.

If you like this post, you may also want to look at this post introducing medicinal cocktails in China.

Peter Peverelli has been actively involved in and with China since 1975 and frequently travels to the most remote regions of that vast nation. He is a co-author of a substantial book that explores the cultural factors that have contributed to China’s economic success. Peter has been involved in the Chinese food and beverage industries since 1985.

Why Young Chinese Consumers Prefer Online Bakeries

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In Shanghai, bread has become an indispensable part of young people’s lives, whether it’s gathering with friends, exploring every corner of the city on a City Walk, or at various social events, bread has become a must-have food companion.

With the popularity of the Internet and changes in lifestyle, young people in Shanghai are revolutionizing the way they buy bread. From queuing up in physical stores to buying bread online, this shift not only reflects the change in consumption patterns, but also drives the innovation and development of the entire baking industry.
Bread has always been loved by the public as a quick and delicious breakfast and snack, and more and more young people are no longer satisfied with buying bread in traditional offline bakeries, but choose to buy bread online.

Metropolis

In the fast-paced metropolis of Shanghai, traditional bakeries seem to be losing favour with younger consumers. According to Winshang Big Data, although Shanghai has more than 1,300 bakery shops, ranking first in the country, young people are more inclined to buy bread online.

Left-overs

Driven by the wave of digitalization, online shopping has become an important part of modern life. For busy young people in Shanghai, buying bread online is not only convenient and fast, but also enjoys more discounts and choices. Recently, a method of food sales called ‘leftover blind boxes’ has quietly emerged, which is highly sought after by young people because it is labelled as money-saving, fun, and environmentally friendly. In addition, bakery accounts on social media platforms have become a new front to attract customers. Through the release of activities such as ‘Discount Blind Box’ and ‘Free Tasting’, it has successfully attracted the attention and participation of a large number of young users. This seems to be the next step after the appearance of good boxes in previous years.

Buying bread is crazier than buying clothes

In Shanghai, the fashion capital, young people are just as crazy about food. Compared to traditional bakeries, online bakeries are more diverse in styles and flavours. Shanghai’s bakeries have a variety of cake styles, so many that they may be more than you can imagine: from classic baguettes to creative matcha breads, from healthy breads with low sugar and fat to rich sandwiches. From classic French desserts to innovative varieties infused with Chinese flavours, Shanghai’s bakeries cater to every taste. There is a wide range of styles to make people dazzled.

Blind boxes

In recent years, the blind box economy has risen rapidly in China, and major businesses have launched blind box products to attract consumers.  Blind boxes, as an emerging marketing method, have found its place in the food industry. The bread blind box packages launched by major merchants not only increase the fun of shopping, but also provide consumers with more opportunities to try unknown flavours. And under this trend, the bread industry is not to be outdone by launching the bread blind box. These mystery boxes often contain a variety of random styles of bread, making every opening full of surprises. Consumers don’t know exactly what styles and flavours of bread they will get when they buy it, and this sense of mystery and anticipation makes young people want to stop. For young consumers who are looking for novelty and curiosity, this way of buying has an irresistible appeal.

Recommended other posts:

Bread in China – from snack to staple, though still for the young urban

Some Chinese bakery statistics

Uncle and Aunty Xiong, French bakers in Beijing

 

Peter Peverelli is active in and with China since 1975 and regularly travels to the remotest corners of that vast nation. He is a co-author of a major book introducing the cultural drivers behind China’s economic success. Peter has been involved with the Chinese food and beverage industries since 1985.

Exploring China’s Bakery Ingredient Market Trends

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The Chinese bakery business is booming, but the market is also extremely volatile. There is no better moment to enter the Chinese market for suppliers of any bakery ingredient than now.

I have collated a few statistics that are recent enough to give a rough impression of the size of the market.

The first table indicates the development of the value of the market and the projection of the near future.

Some interesting details about consumer behaviour:

  • Whether online or offline, women are still the main consumers of baked goods in China.
  • In terms of age, 70% of consumers are between the ages of 21 and 40.
  • In terms of price, consumers spending RMB 20 – 40 in a single consumption constitute the largest segment (35. 8%).

The next table shows the number of bakery shops in a selected group of major cities. This tells something about the geographic distribution. However, the smaller provincial cities currently show the highest growth.

We should not forget the focus issue of this blog: food ingredients. This graph shows the major cream suppliers to the Chinese baking industry. As you can see, the market still consists of a few major brands and a large number of small suppliers.

You can find more information in earlier posts, e.g. about flour (improvers), baking enzymes, leading bakery Holiland, a small private bakery in Beijing, bread, and you can find more by using the search function in this blog (try pastry, cake, biscuit, etc.). Contact me for proprietary studies.

Peter Peverelli is active in and with China since 1975 and regularly travels to the remotest corners of that vast nation. He is a co-author of a major book introducing the cultural drivers behind China’s economic success. Peter has been involved with the Chinese food and beverage industries since 1985.

Weijixiong – a new craft beer in China

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The other day, we had lunch in a local restaurant in Beijing, when I saw an unknown beer on the menu: Weijixiong Craft Beer. I had to try it, obviously. The name alone is peculiar, because it resembles Beijixiong, polar beer.

It came in a can, indeed with a polar beer on the front, also indicating that is a beer with Russian flavour. Russian foods and drinks are popular in China, so that information sells.

On back you can read the ingredients:

Barley malt, wheat malt, yeast, water

So it used fewer cereals than Xibei’s craft beer that I reported on earlier, but at least it is a whole malt beer, rather than the average Chinese pilsner, that is brewed with a high ratio of unmalted grains.

Weijixiong is produced in Shandong. Another information channel claims that the production is supervised by Paulaner.

I goes well with Chinese food and it offers an attractive alternative that a restaurant can put on the menu next to the ‘safe’ choices like Yanjing or Qingdao.

Peter Peverelli is active in and with China since 1975 and regularly travels to the remotest corners of that vast nation. He is a co-author of a major book introducing the cultural drivers behind China’s economic success. Peter has been involved with the Chinese food and beverage industries since 1985.

Chinese are stocking up for New Year

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Chinese New Year is on February 10 this year and regular readers of this blog know that Chinese are now preoccupied with buying stuff for the Spring Festival, the official name for Chinese New Year, and most of it will be food and drinks.

I happen to be in China at the moment to celebrate with family and friends, but obviously also to observe the latest trends. I visited Beijing’s annual New Year Fair in the Agricultural Exhibition Centre. In this post, I want to focus on the foreign influences in this year’s fair.

Russia

Russian products are by far the most important foreign foods offered on the fair. Some of them are imported, while others are produced in China, in particular in Harbin. Harbin is the home of the famous lieba, a word derived from the Russian word for bread ‘hljeb’. A big stand from Harbin also offers various Russian style sausages.

In the middle of the fair is a large space set up as a supermarket, with an entrance and an exit with the cashier. It offers a broad range of goods, including some non-food products. I am simply providing a few pictures of milk powder, chocolate, cookies, and pasta.

Australia

Australia is the second nation in terms of volume. I saw three or four stands with Australian food, in particular oatmeal.

New Zealand

There was one stand with products from New Zealand, with wine as the most visible. That was especially interesting considering that no stand offering Australian products was selling wine. A few wines were offered for exceptional low prices (for Chinese standards).

Spain

A stand promoting Spanish ham is positioned near the entrance. Interestingly the same stand is advertising with ‘pizzas with Spanish ham’.

Romania

The Romanian stand was exclusively selling wines from Romania and Moldova. The Romanian importer and his Chinese aide were selling actively, offering free tasting of several wines. On the other hand, the importer was not prepared to give special prices for the New Year, except for a 6-bottle box of the cheaper red wine.

Indonesia

Indonesia was present exclusively with coffee, including the prestigious kopi luwak.

Contact me for tailor made market research on the spot

Peter Peverelli is active in and with China since 1975 and regularly travels to the remotest corners of that vast nation. He is a co-author of a major book introducing the cultural drivers behind China’s economic success

China becomes a player in the ice wine market

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Ice wine is originally a German product. Due to global warming, Germany has now been overthrown by Canada as the largest producer. Interest in iced wine is growing worldwide and, as usual, this quickly arouses the interest of Chinese entrepreneurs. I tasted ice wine at a producer in Yunnan province in December 2023.

Ice wine

Ice wine was actually discovered by chance. When you expose grapes to frost for a few nights before harvesting, the fruits dry out. As a result, the sugar content becomes higher. In addition, this delayed harvest also gives free rein to fungi that feed on the sugars and convert them into aromatic substances. That combination of concentration and mould gives the juice and the wine that is made from it the typical aroma of ice wine. Ice wine can be made from different white grapes, but in Canada the Vidal grape is the favourite.

Weixi

A Beijing entrepreneur, a New Zealand winemaker and the local government of Weixi Prefecture in Yunnan Province imported and planted stock of the vidal grape from Canada in Weixi in 2009. This location has been selected as the most suitable for this grape after a long comparative study. The area is located in the subtropical zone, but at 2300 meters above sea level, so that warm sunny days alternate with cold nights, many with sub-zero temperatures, ideal for the production of ice wine.

Grapes

Upon arrival at a local guest house in Tacheng, a village in the Weixi region, we left for the winery located higher on the mountain. From the car we saw fields of vines on both sides of the car. Most of that village’s farmers bred grapes. The grapes were still hanging on the sticks, even though it was already at the end of December, but did not make an attractive impression at first glance. They were shrivelled and closer we also saw white fungal threads. Then arrived at the company.

Lapu Valley

It turned out to be a state-of-the-art winery. From the outside it didn’t seem too big, but on the way to the office we saw a hall with shiny stainless steel fermenters and storage vessels; according to the manager imported from Italy. The company is built against a slope so that it is a lot deeper than it seems from the outside. The company is called Lapu Valley Winery, named after the Tibetan name of the river that flows through the valley. Of course, it has also been noted that many wines from countries such as Chile or Australia are called XX Valley. Farmers in the area who have switched to grape cultivation deliver their produce to Lapu Valley, which makes wine from it in a modern way.

Three products

In a special tasting hall we were presented with three wines, as usual in order of intensity: dry, semi-dry and sweet. The dry wine is not the biggest product, but it is the most special. Sweet wines are the usual product made from the Vidal grape. As far as I know, Lapu Valley is the only winery that also produces dry wine from it. The dry wine is remarkably light in taste, but still retains the typical aromas of the Vidal grape. The semi-dry wine is less special, but according to the manager it is most appreciated by Chinese guests. It fits well with a Chinese meal that typically consists of several dishes, which you eat simultaneously. Personally, as a European, I would prefer the dry version. The ice wine is a true revelation. As far as I’m concerned, this one compares with the top brands.

Small volume

It is unlikely that we will see Lapu Valley wines for sale in outside China any time soon. The production is still too small to think of international promotion. They have already won a bronze medal in China. A number of Western restaurants in major cities like Shanghai have purchased wine from Lapu Valley and there is also a buyer in Hong Kong. In order to produce more income, the company also sells its bottling and packaging capacity to other companies. During our visit we saw that the employees were busy bottling a red wine imported in large barrels for a trading house elsewhere in the region.

Peter Peverelli is active in and with China since 1975 and regularly travels to the remotest corners of that vast nation. He is a co-author of a major book introducing the cultural drivers behind China’s economic success