In China With Michelle Zou

When foreign companies want to establish a business presence in China, they generally have the following options: 1. Representative Office (RO), 2. Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (WFOE) 3. Joint Venture (JV), 4. Variable Interest Entity (VIE), etc. What are the differences of these entities? What are the pros and cons for them? And what is the right one for your company to register in China? Please listen to my interview with International Business Attorney Ian Yanhui Yang, to explain what you should consider when choosing the right type of business entity in China. Mr. Yang has many years’ experience working in law firms in China to advise foreign investors to set up business in China. He is now living in Seattle, Washington State.

In our last episode, I shared my interview by ChinaBiz Connect about trade shows in China. As I pointed out, one of the first steps in doing business in China is establishing relationships with potential partners and customers, and attending trade shows can help foreign companies leverage the venue to attract a crowd and to have many conversations in a short period of time. I talked about the reasons why foreign companies should include trade shows in their China go-to-market strategy and provided recommendations for choosing the right shows and getting expert advice. In this episode I will share the 2nd part of the interview, focusing on tips to attend trade shows in China, such as what you should do before, during and after a trade show to take full advantage of it. An example is the China International Technology Fair (csitf.com) in Shanghai. Understanding the uniqueness in Chinese culture and people will help you have a great experience and outcomes at trade shows in China.

One of the first steps in doing business in China is establishing relationships with potential partners and customers. To do this, you will want to meet people face-to-face. A trade show is a great venue to attract a crowd and to have many conversations in a short period of time. I will talk about the reasons why foreign companies should include trade shows in their China go-to-market strategy and provides recommendations for choosing the right shows and getting expert advice. This episode was an interview I did by ChinaBiz Connect, and I think it is helpful to share my knowledge here too. The key takeaways are: Trade shows are a low-cost, low-risk means to gain intelligence about the China market and engage in business development; Many Chinese trade shows provide opportunities for foreign companies to showcase their products; Trade show marketing in China requires a different approach compared to other countries.

Fashion is a $2.4 trillion-dollar global business (2% of world’s GDP), and is one of the most polluting industries in the world. Sustainability is a complex and critical issue in today’s fashion industry. China is the largest textile producing and exporting country in the world with $110B exports of textiles and apparel (2017). “Made in China” is on 50% of the world’s apparel (Business of Fashion). This also means that an estimated 53% of the world’s textile production waste comes from China - an estimated 70,000 tons produced every day, and 2.5 billion tons of polluted wastewater produced annually. In this episode, Rayne Reed will discuss what each of us can do in sustainable fashion, what companies can do to increase sustainability while meeting consumers’ demand, and share some industry best practices. Rayne has 30 years’ experience in the fashion industry, has worked for Gap as Senior Director of Product Development and Buying in China, and lived in USA, Europe and Asia.

The global apparel market is always changing, attempting to adapt to customer trends and cultural differences. Chinese companies in the fashion industry have evolve their global role from providing textiles, to manufacturing for western brands, to today many Chinese designers are building their own brands. In addition, more and more western brands have adapted their designs for Chinese customers. So, what is the influence from Chinese customers on the fashion industry? What is the uniqueness of the Chinese fashion market? What are some trends of the Chinese consumers and what is the impact of those trends? Please join me to have a discussion with Rayne Reed on these topics. Rayne has 30 years’ experience in the fashion industry, has worked for Gap as Senior Director of Product Development and Buying in China, and lived in San Francisco, New York, London, Shanghai and Singapore.

Going global is a survival strategy for many tech companies, and China is too big of the global market to ignore. If you are a tech company leader and are wondering if you should expand to the China market, what should you do first? And who should you talk with? Tim Lindeman, VP Operations for a Boston-based data analytics software company, Dimensional Insight, shares with us about his story of starting business for the company in China in 2006. There were mistakes made, lessons learned, and experience gained. With his 15 years’ experience of doing business in the China market, Tim and his partner wanted to help other leaders like them succeed in China, so they are launching a platform ChinaBiz Connect (www.chinabizconnect.com). Let’s hear from Tim about ChinaBiz Connect, why they started it, who can benefit from it and what you can get from this platform.

The 2019 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas was a big success with over 4,500 exhibiting companies attended the show during Jan 8-11. I attended CES, and I was amazed by the number of Chinese companies at the show. I estimate that about 1/3 of the exhibiting companies were from China. There is a similar show in China called China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair (CSITF) which is organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Commerce of China and the Municipal Government of Shanghai. This is a gateway for companies to enter the China market, test the market, find customers, partners, and investment. I interviewed the Managing Director of CSITF, Mr. Eric Cai at CES, to understand more about CSITF, what is the difference between CSITF, who should attend it, and what is the benefits for going there. For more information, please go to csitf.com.

Blockchain technology is one of the new technologies that will build a new game-leading advantage, cited in China’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020). On the other hand, in 2018, China government has banned trading via cryptocurrencies (ICOs) in China and closed cryptocurrency exchanges operations in China. In short, China is taking a “Blockchain not Bitcoin” strategy. The fact is, Blockchain startups have been hot in China in the recent years. According a report published in November 2018 by iyiou.com, Beijing alone has 275 blockchain companies, and Shanghai also has over 100 companies. So, how to make sense of China’s Blockchain strategy? What is the impact it will bring to our economy and lives? Listen to Blockchain expert, founder and CEO of Adgetec Corporation, Mark Mueller-Eberstein, share his thoughts about Blockchain and China.

China hosted the first ever China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, Nov 5th – 10th, 2018. The official result from that event was significant, with the value of intended deals topping over $57.8 billion, and total of 3,617 companies from 151 countries and regions showcased their products in the business exhibition at the expo, according to the CIIE Bureau. Pacific Technologies Consulting Group (PTCG) has helped Washington State Department of Commerce organized small and medium businesses to exhibit at this expo. So, what was the experience from the eyes of a small business exhibitor? Please listen to my interview with Bradlee Williams, the founder of EEG, an agricultural and energy commodity wholesaler, about what we have experienced at CIIE, and the impact we think it will bring to our businesses.

In a previous episode, Why Did Some Companies Fail While Others Succeeded in China, Mr. Weidong Chen, founder and CEO of HAORAY LLC (haoray.com), shared his thoughts about the healthcare sector segments (Diagnostic, Therapeutic, Rehabilitation and Assistant Living) and opportunities in China. In today’s show, he will address the key steps for medicine and medical equipment companies to enter into the China market. By understanding these practical elements, businesses can evaluate and prepare themselves before putting more resources into the market. This also helps decision makers gain insights on what kind of market entry strategies they should take and set the business structure up for success in China. Mr. Chen will share some examples of US companies entered China that he was deeply involved in the early stage. For more information about the previous show, please go to https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/105585/why-did-some-companies-fail-while-others-succeeded-in-china

Many multi-national companies have set up manufacturing sites in China over the past 30 years to leverage China’s cheap labor and low-cost materials. Keeping a dozen or more sites operating efficiently and profitably is one of the top priorities that MNCs strive to achieve. Mr. Qinghua Pei, a senior management consultant from Competitive Capabilities International (CCI) has helped well-known MNCs to improve operational excellence through its unique integrative improvement system TRACC, will share with us his observations of management challenges for MNCs in China as well as solutions that CCI can provide. Mr. Pei has worked on multi-national companies such as Coca-Cola, Heinz, Dupont, DSM, and large Chinese state-owned enterprises such as Snow Beer of China Resource and Mengniu Dairy of COFCO. You can learn more about CCI at https://ccitracc.com/, and contact Qinghua Pei at LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/qinghua-pei-bb15b331/

Grew up in China and then moved to the US in the 1980s, Dr. Austin Huang is the founder of Merit Engineering Inc, and he has been on this show in the episode “China’s “Toilet Revolution” and Environmental Water Resources Sustainability “. In that show he was talking as a Geologist and a well-respected expert in the field of Geotechnical & Environmental Engineering in Civil Engineering. Today Austin will come to this show as a musician and music composer, and share with you how he combines the western and eastern cultures in his music, how he reflects Chinese philosophy through the western symphonic composing technics, produces unique symphony and delivers concerts in both US and China.

Mr. Y.P. Chan, a successful business leader and consultant, as well as a researcher and lecture, has conducted a research to understand why some companies can last one hundred years while most cannot? In that research, he has explored world class enterprises with a unique lens of culture, and summarized his finding of common characteristics of greatness, and by four aspects: Path, Morality, innovation and cultural DNA.

As the world’s manufacturer, China has been the place where many consumer products are being produced. From “Made in China”, to “Made by China”, China has gone through a journey from using its cheap labor and materials to manufacture products designed and branded by overseas companies, to having an end-to-end ecosystem to design, produce and sell its own branded products. Jacob Rothman, an American living in China has evolved his career along with China’s path. He started his trading business in China 15 years ago to source products, then changed to own a factory, and advanced to build a platform to help startups and crowdfunding campaigns to design, engineer, and manufacture innovative consumer goods. If you have an idea and you don’t have experience in industrial design, engineering or manufacturing, where can you go to turn your idea into a real product? Jacob’s Platform88 might be the kind of place you want to check it out.

China’s GDP was 150 billion USD in 1978, and has grown to 12.25 trillion USD in 2017, it is 82 times in 40 years. What has driven this amazing growth in China’s GDP? Mr. Y.P. Chan, a successful business leader and consultant, as well as a researcher and lecture, will explain what he thinks the key drivers behind China’s economical miracles in the past 40 years.

The western world has a perception that China is a copycat, and Chinese people do not innovate. The intensifying US-China trade war has further led Americans’ opinions on China through western mainstream media, and many American technology companies become more cautious about their IP protection when partnering with Chinese companies. However, China’s rising on economy is not deniable, and China is filing more patents than the US since 2012. Mr. Y.P. Chan, a successful business leader and consultant, as well as a researcher and lecture, will demystify the misunderstanding and share his own thoughts on the reality of Chinese technology innovation from a historical and a modern view. He will explain what China’s innovation looks like and why he believes innovation is one of the key forces driven China’s high-speed growth over the past 40 years.

China's ZTE, which the US government has accused of repeated sanctions violations, has paid a $1 billion fine, and put $400 million in an escrow account, so that it can continue purchase technology, including semiconductor products, from American companies. What impact will the proposed ban bring to ZTE and the worldwide market? What position of the Chinese companies and American companies in the semiconductor industry? What kind of collaboration in that industry between US and China? How will China catch up to fill in the core technology gap that is revealed by the ZTE instance? And what opportunities exist for professionals and companies in the industry? Dr. Bo Xia, Founder and CEO of Mingchip Technology in Shanghai, China, shares his observation of the semiconductor industry between US and China.

Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Qingdao, China, Haier Group is a global leading provider of better-life solutions, with its white goods business brand more famous than others for nine consecutive years ( Euromonitor data). Under the guidance of the enterprise management philosophy and business philosophy of CEO Mr. Zhang Ruimin, Haier Group has 10 R&D centers, 24 industrial parks, 108 manufacturing plants and 66 marketing centers across the world, and owns Haier, Casarte, GE Appliances, Fisher & Paykel, AQUA and Leader as its smart home appliances brands. Their “Rendanheyi” management model has disrupted the western traditional classic management model. Harvard Business School has added Haier to their case studies. James Wang, a partner at HCH Ventures from Haier Group, will talk about his personal experience of applying this Rendanheyi Model in his own work and how the HCH Ventures is enabling other entrepreneurs achieve their goals.

China’s GDP has grown 30x from 1990 to 2017, and the annual per capita income of urban households has increased 22x within the past 27 years. Chinese consumers have a lot more disposable income to spend and their needs and purchasing behaviors have evolved. On the other hand, China’s population structure has changed with the aging population ratio growing rapidly. The population of 60-year old and above reached 220 million in 2015, counted as 16.1% of the total population. This has created tremendous opportunities in healthcare products and services that can slow down the aging process, reduce the health impact from aging, maintain and improve health condition, and keep a good quality of life. The 505 Group is a Chinese enterprise has focuses on this segment since 1988 and has built a well-known consumer brand in China. Let’s hear from Lily Dong who is in charge of the overseas market to share her observations of the demand and trend in China’s healthcare product market.

Since 1980s, companies took advantages of China’s low cost labor, land and materials to compete in the market. However, today labor and land cost is no longer competitive in China, and Chinese companies are looking for new ways to improve efficiency and stay competitive. In the meantime, many US companies have developed advanced solutions and have been leading the industry with continuous R&D. Experts like Michael Rawding are serving as the bridge to help the needs find solutions. Rawding, a former executive from Microsoft who served as the President of Microsoft Greater China, Japan and Asia, now advises US companies on both entering and optimizing their operations in Asia and supports Chinese and Japanese organizations in finding US technology partnerships and enhancing their US market knowledge and execution capability. He will share with us what opportunities he has seen for advanced enterprise solutions in China.