Economic growth in China may have slowed, but it has slowed to an annual rate which for the foreseeable future, claims GE Chairman Jeff Immelt, will be between 7% and 8%. I note that this is more robust than predicted growth in other developed economies. Consequently, China should be on one’s mind.

Immelt and the rest of his panel (Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish and Simmons Business School Dean Cathy Minehan) discussed China at the September 18^th meeting of the National Association of Corporate Directors/New England, before approximately 200 corporate directors and business leaders. Herewith some of the major take-aways with respect to China:

The best people in China are in government, not industry. They are well-educated with world views. While certain reforms are necessary, there remain some impediments to those reforms. The central government has been centralizing power of late (not necessarily a favorable development), in light of corruption and suspicions with respect to party loyalty. One must be careful in doing business with China.

It is necessary to appreciate the vantage point of the Chinese government, according to Immelt. Their constant primary concern is: how do I house and feed 1.3 billion people? A business plan that is part of that solution will succeed.

So China will be a growth market but there will be risks. You can’t approach China just as a market; they want business to build things within China. This recognizes that one manufacturing job does not create just one manufacturing job; people working in the supply chain may bear an 8-to-1 ratio to the actual number of workers in a given factory.

GE does not “bet the ranch in China,” Immelt stated. He follows events in the country closely, and every single decision with respect to business in China, on the part of GE, is made by him personally.

A bit sobering, I think.