Poorly made in China: An Insider's Account of the China Production Game is an interesting read about the risks of doing business in China, as well as in Vietnam or other low-cost countries. As a manufacturer from Vietnam, we have to say that the author tells only half of the truth (or he knows only the half).

However, as we pointed out, there's truth in it and that shouldn't be taken lightly. Global sourcing is not an easy game as people may have thought. Sure, the rewards may be high (due to lower cost), but hence comes greater risks as well. The book shows how awful it is could be when doing business in Asia. It's good to be warned, isn't it?

There're a lot of reviews and comments on Amazon about the book so we'd rather introduce the book and point you to the website.

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On a second thought, importers are also partly responsible for the cheating culture at many manufacturers in low-cost countries. Why? Importers typically keep pushing the price down for higher profit (many don't even show respect to the manufacturers). In a nutshell, both sides are profit optimizers: one being greedy and the other cheating. Obviously, that's a negative sum game.

Hence, whether doing business in the US, Europe, or China/Vietnam, we still have to base on the Win-Win priciple. That means: respect the partner, build trust, think in terms of mutual benefit and long term, etc.

And this is Ayo's approach.