China: Rent a White Guy(Confessions of a fake businessman from Beijing)

The Atlantic ^ | 07/01/10 | Mitch Moxley

[TigerLikesRooster]

Rent a White Guy

Confessions of a fake businessman from Beijing

By Mitch Moxley

Not long ago I was offered work as a quality-control expert with an American company in China I’d never heard of. No experience necessary—which was good, because I had none. I’d be paid $1,000 for a week, put up in a fancy hotel, and wined and dined in Dongying, an industrial city in Shandong province I’d also never heard of. The only requirements were a fair complexion and a suit.

“I call these things ‘White Guy in a Tie’ events,” a Canadian friend of a friend named Jake told me during the recruitment pitch he gave me in Beijing, where I live. “Basically, you put on a suit, shake some hands, and make some money. We’ll be in ‘quality control,’ but nobody’s gonna be doing any quality control. You in?”

I was.

And so I became a fake businessman in China, an often lucrative gig for underworked expatriates here. One friend, an American who works in film, was paid to represent a Canadian company and give a speech espousing a low-carbon future. Another was flown to Shanghai to act as a seasonal-gifts buyer. Recruiting fake businessmen is one way to create the image—particularly, the image of connection—that Chinese companies crave. My Chinese-language tutor, at first aghast about how much we were getting paid, put it this way: “Having foreigners in nice suits gives the company face.”

[I cannot think of a name]

Funny line about this by an Asian comic named Bobby Lee;

When they rent a white person for a few hours it’s called making a good impression,

when I rent a white person for a few hours it’s called prostitution!

[jiggyboy]

A couple of companies here in the U.S. did this during the internet bubble when potential investors were scheduled to come in for talks.

[doodad]

I am available at their convenience.

[equalitybeforethelaw]

Hey I qualify. Good news, what with the market tanking. I also have grey hair. I bet that commands a premium.

[henkster]

At some point, if it hasn’t happened already, it will work the same way here. American “companies” will hire out Chinese guys as their “financial backers” to secure loans and government subsidies, and then vanish without a trace.

[NeverForgetBataan]

Fake assets and fake employees with fake experience. This sounds like the Chinese version of the dot com bubble.

[KarlInOhio]

Not long ago I was offered work as a quality-control expert with an American company in China I’d never heard of. No experience necessary—which was good, because I had none.

Then when the building they built using 1/16 inch zinc screws falls apart, they can execute the quality control expert.

[ConservativeDude]

i have heard of some similar opportunities, but which involve more legitimacy, especially in entertainment, ie, white guys who can play music esp jazz in hotels. of course you’d think that a black guy would be good for that, also...well maybe they are just looking for Americans.

in any event. it need not all be as fake as this...be an American in China! make money!

[wally_bert]

Me too!

[Colvin]

Well that explains a LOT!
There is a book out, I forget its name, about a US company sending is soap manufacturing overseas.
The deal they make is impossibly good.
Everything is fine for a short time,
Then the packaging changes with out permission.
They start changing the formulas,
The smell changes, (The factory owners wife wants different smells)
Now the people who started the deal are afraid to use the products.

[philled]

If you are rented on a temporary basis as an owner, manager, or supervisor are you considered a “Bosstitute?”

[I cannot think of a name]

When it comes to Americans, sadly I’m afraid the Chinese soon won’t have to rent, they’ll own - all of us!