THE DRAGON’S EYE

Official Publication of US-China Peoples Friendship Association, Chicago Chapter, www.uscpfa.org/chicago

Roger Noback, Chapter President and Edito= r, 630/762-8225, rogernoback@msn.com= &nb= sp; &= nbsp; NOVEMBER 16

“The only way to have a friend is to be one.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson<= o:p>

Scheduled venue, time, topic, and activity for the USCPFA November 16, 2008 meeting

are 2-4 pm @ Hous= e of Fortune Restaurant, 2407 S. Wentworth Ave., Chinatown, Chicago

Groundbreaking Rural Land Ref= orm In China

By Shi Han, Founder and Managing Partner, ChinaLine, LLC

&nbs= p; China’s remarkab= le reform initiative (announced in October, 2008), to permit farmers to sell t= heir formerly untradeable rural land rights, has the potential to transform the lifestyle of China’s over 700 million farmers. It is expected that farm size and farming efficiency will increase and more farmers will move to towns. In the process, it may free up the= labor supply for continued low-cost manufacturing and provide the stimulus for the much needed increase in domestic consumption. In the backdrop of the current glo= bal financial crisis, what happens in China’s inland villages is likely to have a significant impact on the country’s industrial geography, econ= omic growth and global competitiveness.

For example, the most important price in the worl= d is the price of China’s industrial laborer, according to the Economist magazine (9/6/08, p. 90). Some economists concluded last year that China’s surplus labor in the countryside had dried up. Wages of China’s industrial worker were increasing rapidly. Others, including those at the World Bank, disagree. Will this rural land reform initiative continue to unleash more industrial workers and restrain increas= es in their wages, at the same time that the sale of their farm land rights ea= rns them significant cash?

Gain perspective on this revolutionary initiativ= e by attending this talk.

BIO. Shi Han is the founder and managing partner of ChinaLine, LLC, a Chicago-ba= sed management consulting firm that supports US companies in developing strateg= ic relationships with Chinese manufacturers.&= nbsp; He advised leading multinationals in the Midwest and Eastern states = of the U.S. such as Illinois Tool Works, Marmon Group, Spectrum Brands, Eastma= n Kodak, and Bausch & Lomb in the areas of strategic acquisition and supply chain strategy. <= /p>

He is formerly a lecturer = and research fellow at Peking University's Department of World Economy and Cent= er of Soviet and Eastern European Studies, and a research fellow at the J. F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is the author of sev= eral books on comparative economic systems, modeling the behavior of business fi= rms and measuring their economic performance in increasingly market-driven, tra= nsitional environment. Some of his rese= arch works on corporate development in transition economies and international management were funded by the Ford Foundation and the US Department of Education.

&n= bsp; As an expert on international management, Mr. Han is featured by news media such as Crain’s Chicago Business in Chicago and Voice of America in Washington DC. He speaks at national and international conferences regularly, lectures at leading universities in th= e US and China and was referenced in Marquis’ Who’s Who in the East.=

***Wed. Eve. Dec. 3 Joint USCPFA/Chica= go Council on Global Affairs Event.***

*Talent Management: Fi= nding the Right People in China*

(see enclos= ure)

presented at The Fai= rmont Chicago, 200 N. Columbus Drive, Chicago, IL 60601 by Richard Stephens, Seni= or Vice President, Human Resources and Administration, The Boeing Compan= y and Stefanie Cross-Wilson, Co-President of Recruitment and Talent Managemen= t, Hudson North America. Those receiving this announcement from the USCPFA are entitled to register for th= is event at the CCGA member rate of $20 as indicated in the enclosures, online at www.thechicagocounc= il.org by clicking on the Member designation or by faxing or mailing the enclosed reservation form with the member space checked. If you have any questions, please contact the CCGA at 312.726.3860. There is no Sunday December USCPFA meeting.

The regular monthly Chapter meeting typically includes a delicious traditional Chinese multi-course meal, which begins at 2 pm; the hour long luncheon talk (with Q&A) begins at 3 pm; = and all this is only $20.&= nbsp;

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