{"id":121791,"date":"2021-01-20T13:58:26","date_gmt":"2021-01-20T12:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=121791"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:20","slug":"bas-karreman-smells-chine-when-he-reads-mr-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/01\/20\/bas-karreman-smells-chine-when-he-reads-mr-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Bas Karreman smells China when he reads the book Mr. China"},"content":{"rendered":"

The book Mr. China<\/em><\/a> tells the bizarre true adventures of a young Wall Street banker who travels to China to do business there with the help of an Englishman. Investments of almost 400 million dollars disappear in smoke, but more important in the book is the realisation that Chinese people do not adhere to a foreigner\u2019s rules. Karreman: \u201cIn the eyes of a foreigner, there\u2019s always something strange happening in China.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRonald van den Heerik<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Associate Professor of Applied Economics Bas Karreman (41) had already visited China several times when he read a positive review in The Economist <\/em>about the book Mr. China<\/em>. \u201cI bought the book and read it in one go. I recognised all the craziness; it was as though I was in the book. I started smelling China.\u201d The start of the book focuses on the businessmen\u2019s confusion about how things work in China, but the longer they stay there, the more awe and respect they have for the country.<\/p>\n\t

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Bas Karreman is Associate Professor at the Applied Economic Sciences department. He conducts research into organisation and strategy in the field, focusing on financial services and emerging markets. Most of his work relates to the development of financial centres in mainland China and Hong Kong and the network development of multi-national banks in Central and Eastern Europe. In the Economics and Business Economics bachelor\u2019s degree, Karreman lectures on the Organisation and Strategy course, for which he was selected as lecturer of the year by students in 2009-2010.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

Factory Hall<\/h2>

Karreman was 21 when he visited China for the first time. He visited Dutch companies in Shanghai for a research project, together with a group of co-students. \u201cI walked around in astonishment for six weeks,\u201d he remembered. \u201cOne day we were in a factory hall so huge I couldn\u2019t see the end of it, and there were only women working on the assembly line. All young, between 18 and 25 years. They picked up an object from the conveyor, tightened a few screws and placed it back on the conveyor.\u201d Karreman acts out their movement. \u201cThe employees were all women, as women have good fine motor skills, and they were young so there wouldn\u2019t be too many production line employees with household tasks and children, explained the Floor Manager when we asked whether any men worked in the hall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI found it fascinating,\u201d continued Karreman. \u201cAnd let\u2019s not forget, many people wanted to work for that company. By our standards, the employees earned very little, but wages were high compared with wages paid by the government or local companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kung Fu<\/h2>

The research project in China was part of an \u2018Economy and Business in Pacific Asia\u2019 programme that Karreman followed on top of his Economics study at EUR. He\u2019d been interested in China his whole life; Bruce Lee was his hero and he practised Kung Fu. When he returned to the Netherlands after his first stay in China, he needed time to process his experiences, but above all he thought: \u201cThis is so awesome, I have to make something of this.\u201d Three years later, he was conducting research for his thesis in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

It was 2003. Karreman had an appointment with the local manager of ING in Hong Kong. \u201cThe Two International Finance Centre had just opened with two brand new skyscrapers by the water; a low tower of 210 metres and a high tower of 415 metres.\u201d\u00a0 ING was on the top floor of the lower tower.<\/p>\n

Karreman was allowed to wait in the local manager\u2019s office for the meeting. There were two Chesterfield sofas by the window with views across the former Hong Kong port. \u201cWearing my student suit \u2013 I\u2019d dressed neatly but the suit was way too big \u2013 I sank back into one of the Chesterfields. At some point, a jovial man of around sixty came and sat next to me. We sat chatting for two-and-a-half hours while looking out over Hong Kong. I felt as though I was on top of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\t

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Reading habits
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Number of books per year: fifteen<\/p>\n

Most recent book: What is the What?<\/em> by Dave Eggers https:\/\/libris.nl\/boek\/?authortitle=dave-eggers\/wat-is-de-wat–9789048802715<\/a><\/p>\n

Motivation: \u201cInterest. I\u2019m not a fast reader. My mother, for instance, scans through the pages. Not me. When I read, images appear before me and I make a kind of film in my head. I think that\u2019s great!\u201d<\/p>\n

Favourite genre: \u201cI read absolutely everything from novels to Harry Potter<\/em>, from non-fiction to the Bosatlas<\/em> and, of course, dozens of children\u2019s books each year with the children. I\u2019d really recommend Trubbel de Trol<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Karaoke with the Rector<\/h2>

Karreman has now visited China some twenty times. At one time he seriously considered living and working there, but that ambition has faded now that he has children. It\u2019s the familiarity that attracted him to Mr. China.<\/em> He even experienced some of the scenes from the book himself. For instance, the businessmen in the book were invited to eat at a restaurant with an investor. As soon as the Baijiu<\/em> \u2013 strong drink \u2013 was served, the evening got completely out of hand. \u201cThat\u2019s something I\u2019ve experienced so often.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rector from the University of Fudan, one of China\u2019s most prestigious universities, invited Karreman for a meal with a delegation from EUR. The aim was to strengthen relationships. A glass-topped round table was laid in a restaurant\u2019s private room with twelve bottles of Baijiu<\/em>. The group were served turtles and abalone from Australia. \u201cThere was a seating arrangement: the more important you were, the closer you sat to the Rector. I sat far away, so I was able to miss a few rounds of drinks unnoticed, unless a Chinese guest came along to raise a glass with me; I couldn\u2019t refuse then. It\u2019s like downing petrol,\u201d laughed Karreman. \u201cAs soon as everyone\u2019s cheeks were flushing, they brought a huge karaoke machine into the room. The Rector led the way with three songs. He was a fantastic singer, but everyone who followed just screamed into the microphone. It all sounded simply dreadful.\u201d<\/p>\n

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