BEIJING — In the spring of 1997 in a small hotel in a small town in the middle of Sichuan Province I met Mr. Zhao. He had a battered suitcase, tattered clothes and a desperate expression. Early on in our conversation he asked me if I knew any officials who could help him land some road-building contracts.

Mr. Zhao must have been very desperate because I had just graduated from university and was working as junior legal consultant for a state-owned company, and knew nothing about road-building contracts.

In today’s China, business deals are hardly ever carried out fairly. Mostly it’s a matter of who you know, or who you pay off, and then the proceeds are divvied up and down the chain of corruption.

Mr. Zhao was the lowliest link in the chain — the person who actually did some work. He claimed to be able to take on any kind of construction job. The price he was willing to pay for kickbacks was irrelevant because in his quest to make money, the more he had to kick back, the less he’d pay for materials. It was simple math.