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Chinese flock to gurus for successBy Marianne Bray Editor's note: CNN International TV brings its global resources to China in early April for its "Eye on China" special programming.  John Coutis, one of Australia's top speakers, during a visit to the south Chinese province of Guangdong. SPECIAL REPORTYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSHONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Cecilia Yeung bounded into the meeting room of the office in downtown Hong Kong, clapping to the beat of Chumbawamba's "I get knocked down, I get up again...." "There are so many things in life that people don't show up for," the Hong Kong manager for Success Resources said, smiling broadly as she praised the 18 people who had gathered that evening. The young, mostly Chinese crowd, had come to learn how to "unleash the power within," and hear about U.S. motivational speaker Anthony Robbins, a man with superstar good looks that can whip his audience into a frenzy. "Do I have your commitment, raise your hands," Yeung shouted, alluding to the $619-price tag to hear Robbins speak -- via additional delivery. Hands filled the air. Each one of the crowd in this city of 6.9 million people on China's southern coast had come for different reasons. Teresa was seeking a way of connecting. Edmond wanted to tackle tasks without the worry. Rolf wanted to be rich. Abel was looking for love. 'Time to prosper'Across the border in mainland China, Raymond Tan has the enviable task of shipping in speakers to a verdant market rushing away from its communist past. Tan grew up in a China of few choices. Under Mao Zedong's vision of a classless nation, the state imposed strict controls over everyday life. When Tan finished school, the state gave him a job. "On the street the situation was grim," said Anthony Saich, a China expert at Harvard University who lived in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution. "At 6 p.m. everything was closed, there were no bars or restaurants, no markets, no lights." But that all started changing when Deng Xiaoping proclaimed: "It is time to prosper. China has been poor a thousand years ... to get rich is glorious." Now this nation of 1.3 billion people is one of the word's top exporters, and is attracting huge amounts of money as it zooms to superpower status. (Full story) "They never thought about being rich and successful," says Shanghai-born businessman Tan. "Only when the private economy came in, then all of a sudden, opportunities arose." 'Chuppies'Millions of Chinese have been lifted out of poverty, giving birth to the "Chuppie," or the Chinese yuppie, who are being bombarded with glitzy shopping malls, designer apartments and the latest cars. Incomes in the cities doubled between 1995 and 2004, says investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston, and will likely rise another 46 percent to 2014. During that same period, spending is seen quintupling to $37 trillion. "We might not be able to be rich man's children, but we can always be rich man to our children," is an oft-repeated quote in the world's fastest growing economy. Eager to tap into this massive desire to succeed that has come at breakneck speed and without much of a blueprint, a growing tide of Western self-help and business gurus have flooded into China. Joe Girard, "the world's greatest salesperson," has come, Tan says. So has Brian Tracy whom Tan calls "the God of sales." And don't forget Robert Kiyosaki, the "World's No. 1 financial intelligence adviser.". When Girard came, the people "went really crazy," Tan says."They will do anything to get near the speaker to just touch them sometimes." 'Very hungry'Personal coach to former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Robbins is the latest and likely the biggest name entrant into the China market. He made his debut in mainland China last year. Up and coming Chinese forked out 5,000 yuan ($622) to hear him via digital delivery say they can take action to achieve whatever they want. "Mainland Chinese people are very hungry for new information, new knowledge, and with the economy growing at such a pace, they are in need of spiritual development as well," Tan says. Last year he bought in John Coutis, one of Australia's top motivational speakers, a man with no legs who walks on his arms. A picture shows his upper body on a skateboard. When he toured 20 Chinese cities last year, he was mobbed, with 100,000 people coming to see him talk. In Jiangmen alone, as many as 15,000 turned up, Tan says. 'The power'But it is not just the Western gurus that are making it big. An insatiable demand is growing in China for "hard skills" such as management training, experts say. The demand is being fueled by the country's march from a centrally planned economy to one with more market schemes, and with the arrival of a greater number of multinational businesses. There are now around 160 MBA programs in China as companies rush to train locals, says Juan Antonio Fernandez, professor of management at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai. Fernandez estimates it will be at least 10 to 15 years before the management skill shortage in China is met. But "China has the advantage of backwardness," he says. "Because they are late, they can skip steps and go from state-owned enterprise to the latest systems. You can see that in the new generation who are fully prepared." Hong Kong's Yeung, for one, thinks things are rosy for China's youth, as they discover that "anything is possible." "You have the power to achieve whatever you want -- it is not set by environment or background," she says. 
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