Letter from the Editor

Most of the members of the present CBR staff can barely remember 1974; two of us were not even born yet. So it is hard to make lofty pronouncements about how far the magazine, or China's business environment, have come during the CBR's lifetime.

We all get a kick out of reading the early issues, though, mostly because many of the topics we cover today are topics that also appeared in the first issues of the magazine. For example, the very first table of contents (Vol. 1, No. 1, January-February 1974) contains the following items:

"China's Foreign Trade System Changes Gear"
"China's Oil"
"An Introduction to the Renminbi: Part One/The Renminbi and the Dollar"
"Personal Credit in China"

These topics still interest today's CBR readers--particularly the issue of the PRC currency, the renminbi (see China's Exchange Rate and US-China Economic Relations).

Of course, as Johanne C. Goring points out in her article in this issue (see The CBR Then and Now), the CBR also contained very basic information on doing business in China, especially at the Canton Trade Fair, officially called the China Export Commodities Fair, which still takes place twice a year in Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton). Among the items for newcomers to China in the first CBR:

"How to Start Imports from China"
"Useful Cable and Telex Numbers"
"An Importer's Introduction to the Canton Fair"
"Third Country Banks Through Which Trade with China Can be Transacted"

These are almost funny (if unfairly superficial) reminders of how much more sophisticated the China business environment has become since 1974. Yet they are nevertheless useful reality checks for the many participants in China business (and the many younger members of the CBR staff) who have only known a China with ATM machines, freely convertible currency for trade, falling tariffs, and steady, if slow, relaxation of restrictions over foreign investment on PRC soil. These headlines also remind us how difficult it is to imagine where China business, much less the China Business Review, will be in 2034.

— Catherine Gelb

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	Letter from the Editor Most of the members of the present CBR staff can barely remember 1974; two of us were not even born yet. So it is hard to make lofty pronouncements about how far the magazine, or China's business environment, have come during the CBR's lifetime. We all get a kick out of reading the early issues, though, mostly because many of the topics we cover today are topics that also appeared in the first issues of the magazine. For example, the very first table of contents (Vol. 1, No. 1, January-February 1974) contains the following items: "China's Foreign Trade System Changes Gear" "China's Oil" "An Introduction to the Renminbi: Part One/The Renminbi and the Dollar" "Personal Credit in China" These topics still interest today's CBR readers--particularly the issue of the PRC currency, the renminbi (see China's Exchange Rate and US-China Economic Relations). Of course, as Johanne C. Goring points out in her article in this issue (see The CBR Then and Now), the CBR also contained very basic information on doing business in China, especially at the Canton Trade Fair, officially called the China Export Commodities Fair, which still takes place twice a year in Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton). Among the items for newcomers to China in the first CBR: "How to Start Imports from China" "Useful Cable and Telex Numbers" "An Importer's Introduction to the Canton Fair" "Third Country Banks Through Which Trade with China Can be Transacted" These are almost funny (if unfairly superficial) reminders of how much more sophisticated the China business environment has become since 1974. Yet they are nevertheless useful reality checks for the many participants in China business (and the many younger members of the CBR staff) who have only known a China with ATM machines, freely convertible currency for trade, falling tariffs, and steady, if slow, relaxation of restrictions over foreign investment on PRC soil. These headlines also remind us how difficult it is to imagine where China business, much less the China Business Review, will be in 2034. — Catherine Gelb Top of Page Table of Contents
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