19.07.2021_Edi Finn

When it comes to making business in China, we like to revel in nostalgia. Just like we do with the Western world, there is a sort of over-glorification of some distant „good old times“. But when exactly were these „good times?“ Times, when the doors to the market opened without any government intervention, when friction with authorities and the public was nonexistent and Western companies could still rely on the rule of law? Hartmut Heine, our interview partner this Monday, tells us what manipulations and contortions were necessary to make a short Transrapid line a reality in Shanghai and how nerve-wracking it really was to do business with China in the past. But every technology has its time. Today, Heine wants to sell the Hyperloop, a modern form of the Maglev train inside a vacuum tube. He explains why it – somewhat paradoxically, has a better chance than conventional technology without a tube.