China Prospects is the USA-based consultancy of Nick Zhang, a veteran leader of foreign invested start-ups and turnarounds in China.

Nick, born Zhang Xiaolong in Xi'an, PRC, studied English literature at the Xi'an Foreign Languages Institute and then earned an MBA from George Washington University in 1990. His return to Xi'an in 1991 as Director of New Business Development for Xi'an Janssen (Johnson & Johnson's earliest, largest and most successful venture in China) made him one of the first of the management class now commonly called "returnees" - native-born Chinese who return to the mainland after an education overseas.

After five years at Xi'an Janssen, Nick spent several years working at Richina Capital, a New Zealand based private equity firm. His ability to translate the objectives of foreign investors into strategies and organizations relevant to China made him a key member of turnaround teams at Richina portfolio companies in Shanghai, including Richina Leather, where he negotiated a buy out of the local partner and brought in a world class, multicultural management team for production, marketing, sales, and other departments.

Having worked in the senior management of foreign invested pharmaceutical, private equity, and manufacturing businesses, Nick moved into telecommunications when he became the founding CEO of Linktone, the now NASDAQ listed mobile date content provider that pioneered the mobile data sector in Shanghai. Later, his turnaround and subsequent sale of Mobile2Win (a company operating in India and China, with investment from Softbank, Siemens, Temasek and others) to Disney Interactive cemented his track record of success as a manager of Chinas-based start ups and turnarounds, regardless of the sector or the cultural diversiy of the workforce and investors.

Nick Zhang is a Charter Member of The China Business Network, the online community for people who make a living working between China and the west. Founded in 2008 by Janet Carmosky. Visit The China Business Network here.