I’m glad that I didn’t know at the outset that the task of writing a book about my work in China over the past two decades would prove to be such a difficult and arduous task. Had I suspected as much, I might not have written it. Fortunately, I had lots of help from many former colleagues at Goldman Sachs and at the U.S. Department of Treasury—as well as from my current colleagues at the Paulson Institute—in reconstructing events and reviewing all or parts of the manuscript for accuracy. A number of my colleagues kept and retained notes and journals—some quite comprehensive. I owe a big thank-you to Jinqing Cai, Jinyong Cai, Jiayi Chai, Chris Cole, Henry Cornell, Tim Dattels, Eileen Dillon, Mike Evans, Evan Feigenbaum, Fang Fenglei, Carol Fox, Tom Gibian, Brian Griffiths, Ben Herst, Dominic Ho, Al Holmer, Fred Hu, Eugene Huang, Liz Kolchek, Cherry Li, Jim Loi, Liu Erh Fei, Martin Lau, Deborah Lehr, Dave Loevinger, Damien Ma, Rose Niu, Jason Pau, Dan Price, John Rogers, Taiya Smith, Houze Song, Steve Shafran, John Thornton, Byron Trott, Moses Tsang, Lindsay Valdeon, Hsueh-ming Wang, Peter Wheeler, Tracy Wolstencroft, Dan Wright, Jenny Xu, Yang Jianmin, Yang Shaolin, Hugo Yon, Zheng Quan, Zhu Guangyao, and Ziwang Xu.
My talented executive assistant, Lisa Castro, has labored long hours keeping track of our many drafts and doing something no one else has been able to do so well—read the chicken scratch that I call penmanship, which she does quickly, accurately, and with equanimity.
I am most grateful for the privilege of working for President George W. Bush, for his support in establishing the Strategic Economic Dialogue and for my work in China, and for our recent conversations about China. I deeply appreciate the gracious assistance of former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, who made available to me his notes from some of our meetings.
Many old and new Chinese friends gave their time generously, including Liu Chuanzi of Lenovo Group and John Zhao of Hony Capital; Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi of Soho Group; Edward Tian, founder and chairman of China Broadband Capital Partners and former vice chairman and CEO of China Netcom; Cao Dewang of Fuyou Glass; Ni Pin of Wanxiang America (my neighbor in Barrington, Illinois), and his father-in-law, Lu Guanqiu of Wanxiang Group; Zhang Yue of Broad Air; Niu Mengniu of Mengniu Dairy; Jack Ma of Alibaba; and Ma Huetang (Pony Ma), co-founder of Tencent. Numerous other businessmen in China, as well as Party and government officials, generously gave me their time and patience and opened doors throughout the country.
I am particularly fortunate that I was able to persuade Michael Carroll, who collaborated with me in writing On the Brink, to jump into the swamp with me again to take on this project. Mike understands economic issues, has a long history of writing about them, and has learned how to work with me, which is no small feat. His insatiable intellectual curiosity led him to immerse himself in learning about China. His penchant for meticulous detail, his discipline, and his ability to organize were invaluable, as was his knack for maintaining the narrative drive in the context of complex big picture themes.
I also very much appreciate the long hours Emma Ashburn devoted to this book over an almost three-year period traveling with me, attending meetings and taking notes, and working closely with Mike Carroll to support him as a researcher and assemble the relevant facts and events of my long China career. Once again, Mike brought with him a superb team of contributors, including Riva Atlas, Will Blythe, Monica Boyer, Ruth Hamel, and Deborah McClellan. Deborah’s editorial and organizational skills proved to be indispensable, to say the least.
I am also very fortunate to have an attorney, Robert Barnett of Williams and Connolly, whom I have relied on for his wise counsel since leaving government, and to have had two editors, John Brodie and Sean Desmond at Hachette, who provided clear, incisive advice.
My wife, Wendy, keeps a lively journal, and her insights and observations on our trips to China have been very helpful. A huge thanks to her for enduring my second and—I promise—final book.