Proudly made and sold in China. So much for "made in America."

The CEO of American icon Coca-Cola, Muhtar Kent, let his country have it in an FT interview, saying China's now a better place to do business than the US.

The problem?

Political gridlock and over-burdensome regulations and taxes.

China, Brazil, and other emerging countries are the promised land, Kent says, clamoring to do business:

“You have a one-stop shop in terms of the Chinese foreign investment agency and local governments are fighting for investment with each other...

They’re learning very fast, these countries... In the west, we’re forgetting what really worked 20 years ago. In China and other markets around the world, you see the kind of attention to detail about how business works and how business creates employment.”

And as for specific complaints about the US... taxes and regulations, which put US companies at a disadvantage relative to their global competitors.

“If you talk about an American company doing business in the world today with its Chinese, Russian, European or Japanese counterparts, of course we’re disadvantaged,” Mr Kent said. “A Chinese or Swiss company can do whatever its wants with those funds [earned overseas]. When we want to bring them back, we are faced with a very large tax burden.”

More from Alan Rappeport in the FT >