Eye on China: Me generation not a pretty sight

How do you spark creativity? This is a huge issue in China at the moment. Ironically, one channel for exploring the problem is an imitation of Donald Trump's show The Apprentice. Not surprisingly, given its origins, the show is better at offering interesting insights into Chinese society than solid answers about intellectual property issues.

In some ways, the programme is even more cruel than Trump's. It starts with a team selection straight out of the playground, with two leaders picking those they like most. For the last person to be picked, it's a case of national humiliation before the mission has even started.

What strikes the viewer most is that compared with the US version, there is a lot of talking. In fact, it's a real gabfest. There is much less of the frantic running away and entertaining focus on genuinely challenging tasks you get in the US version. Nor does a Trump figure dominate proceedings. Rather, it's trial by committee.

Yet really, what an amazing thing to see on Chinese TV at all. To anybody trying to work in China one of the most frustrating things is the lack of accountability among the people you deal with. If some corporate or Government PR department fails in the very role they are meant to be carrying out (and they very often do), there is nothing you can do about it.

In China, the only way you can exact an explanation from people is, first, to be in the same group as them, and second, to have power over them. Complaining from the outside leads to nothing because there are no pressure points.

How refreshing then, to see a mix of Chinese nationals from various walks of life being forensically analysed on live television. Indeed, that would explain why the post-mortem and commentary section is so long - merely being busy is nothing special in China, but hearing people grilled on why they made a certain decision is much rarer.

Foreigners visiting China, incidentally, often add to the problem by not daring to openly criticise their hosts. So you get investors who are in the middle of protracted disputes with Chinese partners nevertheless assuring the Chinese and the world that everything is perfectly all right.

These shows may not be highbrow, but they bring a breath of fresh air to Chinese TV. Great chunks of the medium are very similar to the programming you would get in North Korea. This is highly misleading, because the military parades, soft pop programmes and quiz shows hide the reality that the Chinese are now highly individualistic.

As in the US, the programme reveals the difficulty people have in working in teams. In the US, it's egos raging out of control. The Chinese are not as overtly aggressive. But they can slip the dagger in deep when they need to. One pretty young thing complained her teammate was too old, which is why his creativity was constrained. She giggled girlishly while saying it, but the steely glint in her eyes was there for all to see.

Indeed, the generational clash in China is far harsher than even in France, where poor youngsters are massively disadvantaged. In China, it's the young who have the power. They dress far better, are taller, thanks to being force-fed dairy products by their parents, are computer savvy, and they have been as intensively educated as far as family budgets allow. Many also benefit from the financial advantage of being only children.

I recently met a Chinese businessman who lamented the egotism of his staff, many of them from the one-child generation. They wanted power without responsibility, he said. They were greedy for attention and resources yet felt little obligation to reciprocate.

But hiring even slightly older people was even worse, he said, because of the fissure between anybody who first went into business in the 1990s, and those before.

If you add a collapse in moral values created by the turmoil of the recent political past, you are left with a strange set of values. In some ways, the selfishness, ego and materialism of young Chinese is positively American. But that's to underestimate the numerous communal ties which bind Americans together, from the network of churches and voluntary associations to its amateur sports teams and charitable groups.

So far, Chinese individualism is not a pretty sight. The saving grace of the US version is that it is limited by custom, law and morality. In addition, it's constructive. Ambition and confidence lead to creativity, which is recognised and rewarded. In China, the same qualities, at least so far, seem to lead merely to a feeling of impunity and entitlement.

* The writer remains anonymous to protect his position in China.