Book presentation to six chambers!

Book talk at Face Bar

On 27 Nov 12, BritCham and the China-Britain Business Council organized my book talk at Face Bar (Gongti Nan Lu, next to Instituto Cervantes). Five other chambers also joined:  the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, SwissCham Beijing, Bencham, the Italian Chamber, and the Malaysian Chamber.
It was announced as follows:
“Book Presentation – Toxic Capitalism: Are we the last Generation on Earth?”.
Author Gilbert Van Kerckhove joins us for the book presentation to give us a review of his thought provoking new book, “Toxic Capitalism the orgy of consumerism and waste: are we the last generation on Earth?”
The book centers on the world’s economic, environmental, governmental and social problems and what we need to do to fix them. Living in China Gilbert became alarmed by the dramatic pollution levels and the impact of Toxic Capitalism, an unwelcome strain of capitalism that thrives on over consumption and indiscriminate wastage, promoted by the West with the help of questionable companies, financial institutions and governments. China, as Factory of the World, is facing depletion of resources and roams the world to satisfy its voracious appetite for energy, raw materials, and food. How serious is the environmental destruction? Is capitalism fundamentally wrong? How did we come to this madness, and what can we do to preserve the future of our children?
We need to combat the idolatry of consumerism and fight for our goals: quality & durability, saving resources and energy. We simply consume too much and too quickly: too many gadgets, too many clothes, too many consumer products we either use little or even never at all. We waste too much, including food.
Quality & durability is not limited to consumer products. We need it in governments, services, companies, and financial institutions. We have to change our lifestyle.

About the author

Gilbert Van Kerckhove, is from Belgium and graduated as master in electronic engineering. Since 1980 he has been working with China, where he spent 27 years, mostly in Beijing but also in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
He is the president of a Beijing-based management consulting that provides strategy guidance to foreign and Chinese companies.
Since 2000 he has been assisting the Beijing Municipality in the areas of economic studies and foreign investment promotion. He has received the highest Chinese awards for his role in the 2008 Olympics, including the Chinese Green Card. He considers Beijing his home.

Good turnout

I had a diverse audience of at least 35 people. I gave a 60 min. presentation and we then started a lively debate.

Thanks to Liang Heng (Swisscham) and Clare (DLA Piper & Charitarian) for the pictures.
Clare also posted a very nice review on the Charitarian blog (thanks!):
http://www.charitarian.org/uncategorized/toxic-capitalism-the-only-christmas-present-to-buy/
I had brought some few copies and they were all quickly gone.
Thanks to Hayley Thomas and Russell Brown for the logistics and hosting me!

Comments on my book

Thanks for the comments!

I really appreciate comments on my book. See here some:
 

26 November 2012
Dear Gilbert,
I picked up your book yesterday evening and could not put it down.
It is an insider’s guide to why we need to ‘make do and mend’ in China and beyond.
You have a wealth of experience on China unavailable to those who have not ‘lived’ their subject.
Your logical approach to this issues of environmental degradation are a welcome break from the mainstream hyperbole on the topic.
I will look for avenues to promote your book.
Kind regards,
Clare Pearson
Corporate Responsibility Manager (Asia) – DLA Piper

7 October 2012
Dear Gilbert,
I have just finished reading your book. The book is full of very interesting data (you must have a wonderful database). I have enjoyed it a lot. I agree with most of your premises, although I believe that i might be a bit difficult to change the behavior and attitude of government, corporations and people unless there isn’t a critical mass of people asking for products to be of more quality and durable. I was surprised to see (maybe because I didn’t think about it before) that electrical vehicles not necessary would be more environmentally friendly.
Best,
Xavier (European Chamber)

Interview with China Daily Europe

Good job

It is always a challenge for a journalist to get the details correct of my rather complex past (and present). The journalist Meng Jing did a pretty good job for the interview with China Daily Europe and with the article, I am obviously overall happy, also with the word on “Toxic Capitalism”.

See the PDF version: 121116 Caught in the blame game
See the online version:
http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2012-11/16/content_15935955.htm

A few corrections:

– I did not obtain the soft loan for China’s Henan Pingdingshan power station project; the contract and the financing deal were the reason I was hired and sent to Beijing to open the rep office.
– I worked for Siemens in Brazil; in China I worked for Alcatel and Alstom.
– My trip to Brussels with the European Chamber of Commerce in Beijing was not to attend the 15th China-EU Summit in Brussels but to have meetings with the EU Commission; some of the Chamber people did attend the Summit.
– I have now stopped going to the “nightclubs” in the Gongti Strip and favor my KTV sessions…
– And my home office has three floors, not two.
Can’t blame much the journalist. Can be kind of confusing.

Polish National Day and U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke

Always a great reception

As usual I had the pleasure to attend the Polish Independence Day (11 November 2012) reception, held on 6 November in the embassy. The crowd was big enough to fill up the many reception halls. Food was done by famous Polish chefs. And of course Polish vodka was aplenty.

A lucky encounter

I had the unique opportunity to give U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke a signed copy of my book “Toxic Capitalism”. We chatted a bit and he was very nice and modest, being the ambassador of a country in the limelight that day: presidential elections. Happy to say, he can now keep his job!

Presenting Toxic Capitalism to 4 chambers

Presenting to 4 major chambers

Finally four major chambers have agreed to jointly organize a book talk. See here the European Chamber announcement:

European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, along with SwissCham Beijing, Bencham, BritCham and China-Britain Business Council, are delighted to invite you to “Book Presentation – Toxic Capitalism: Are we the last Generation on Earth?” on 27th November, 2012 at Face Bar.

The book presentation

Author Gilbert Van Kerckhove joins us the book presentation to give us a review of his thought provoking new book, “Toxic Capitalism the orgy of consumerism and waste: are we the last generation on Earth?”
The book centers on the world’s economic, environmental, governmental and social problems and what we need to do to fix them. Living in China Gilbert became alarmed by the dramatic pollution levels and the impact of Toxic Capitalism, an unwelcome strain of capitalism that thrives on over consumption and indiscriminate wastage, promoted by the West with the help of questionable companies, financial institutions and governments. China, as Factory of the World, is facing depletion of resources and roams the world to satisfy its voracious appetite for energy, raw materials, and food. How serious is the environmental destruction? Is capitalism fundamentally wrong? How did we come to this madness, and what can we do to preserve the future of our children?
We need to combat the idolatry of consumerism and fight for our goals: quality & durability, saving resources and energy. We simply consume too much and too quickly: too many gadgets, too many clothes, too many consumer products we either use little or even never at all. We waste too much, including food. Quality & durability is not limited to consumer products. We need it in governments, services, companies, and financial institutions. We have to change our lifestyle.