ABSTRACT
It was November 1985 in Beijing. Mr. Simon Sun and Mr. David Wu were sitting in a conference room on the third floor of the China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) Building, the “Chocolate Building” in downtown Beijing. They were preparing a presentation for CITIC’s chairman of the board and the general manager of the business department, Mr. Yiren Rong and Mr. Jun Wang, respectively. For the last three months, Simon Sun and David Wu, had been working on a business proposal made by the Al-Ghurair Group of Kuwait to CITIC. The Al-Ghurair Group wanted CITIC to establish a joint venture trading company in Kuwait. The mood in the room was one of anticipation, excitement, and apprehension.
