The businesses that "add little value" are envied in China because they have access to demand, and he who owns demand is key. The Chinese are making it a priori

The businesses that "add little value" are envied in China because they have access to demand, and he who owns demand is key. The Chinese are making it a priority to advance their marketing, design, etc. abilities to compete in the West's consumer culture. While you may not like marketing, it brings in the money - and in our consumerist economy that's our GDP... I'd like to see Foxconn try to replace Apple - hell even Dell. Lenovo had to buy their business from IBM to get the marketing / brand support to be successful beyond their manufacturing capabilities. It's hard to market from a culture from the outside. VW made their German designers live with US families - which is when they figured out why we want cup holders so badly ;-)