由Ashton Udall

在一次旅行向去年中國，我坐在機場和進入一次交談與第一次朝向對中國的商人。 他是一家小公司的CEO這裡在有一個非常獨特的產品系列和適當位置的美國，并且他在深圳驕傲地告訴我他的計劃出現和找到供應商做他的產品。 他沒有旅行日程表。 他沒有真正的想法怎樣他打算與正確的供應商連接，更不用說遊覽廣泛供應商開始有什麼的想法正確的供應商是。 他朝向得那裡。 它是，好像我在軟的機場地毯，當他高視了闊步地走，約翰・韋恩樣式可能安靜地聽見他的踢馬刺「叮當響」。

我經常也有交談與採取產品的發明者對市場，拒绝任何人是它中間人，商業公司，服務提供者，顧問，發現和成為夥伴的想法工作與製造商在中國。 為什麼？ 他們通過Alibaba或一些其他互聯網貿易的門戶發現了聯絡。 他們已經被聯繫。 為什麼他們將想支付某人在得到的中部連接，當互聯網徊避了所有那。

我的被推崇的同事 丹・哈里斯 在 ChinaLawBlog 培養了人們得到連接用中國供應商的另一個相關的情景 多麼不做生意在中國，分開I ： 旅行以政府 . The inspiration for the post came from Andrew Hupert on the DiligenceChina blog in Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Profit. Hupert explains his exasperation that government led (US government) trade missions to China with the purpose of connecting small-to-medium sized businesses with partners in China through Chinese government contacts are still occurring.

“I have lived in China for 5 years, speak reasonable Chinese and have achieved a certain familiarity with the Chinese operating environment. There’s NO WAY I would advice a client to start his China business by entering into a JV with a local Zibo company that was arranged by the local government. This is a very advanced move, and I doubt that I could pull it off. From what I understand from extremely knowledgeable associates, management teams from those smaller NE towns make Shanghai Sharks look like harmless guppies.”

Harris of ChinaLawBlog adds to this with a story of his own, in which a seasoned offshore manufacturing veteran spent months narrowing down possible locations to one city.

“My client met with government officials in both cities to explain its plans. Both cities strongly urged my client to partner with a particular company in their respective city that they touted as by far the best in the field. My client met with both touted companies. In conducting its due diligence on the various potential partners in both cities, it concluded these were by far the worst candidates. Both of these companies were at least five years behind the other companies in terms of technology and the buyers know it.”

Hupert, a seasoned China businessman, and Harris, a lawyer with considerable China experience, give it to us pretty straight: going through Chinese government officials to find partners in China is going to be trouble. There are going to be some times which working with the government is a good move, particularly if you are entering the market there. But I found out that even this is dubious at a recent seminar on entrepreneurship and China at Stanford University. A panel of Chinese entrepreneurs were asked to give one piece of advice to the audience in terms of conducting affairs in China. Out of the five, two men were Chinese nationals and had been doing business there for at least a decade. One said “go through the government”. The other said, “stay away from the government”. How’s that for consistency?

My own two cents..? One of the biggest factors in my own success in doing business in China has been getting connected through the right network of people. As Hupert and Harris point out, local US government is not really equipped to provide this and going through the Chinese government, well…

Trading portals on the Internet are even more sketchy. The bottom line is, you have no idea who you’re talking to and they probably have no idea what you’re really trying to say. One of the first sourcing companies I worked with was another example of this–not the greatest network of suppliers and people. If birds of a feather flock together, so do suppliers and people with similar business styles. My own advice? Find a China connection here, who does the kind of business you want to be dealing with in general. Work on getting connected to the correct individual on this side–whoever they are and however you can find them. If they are upstanding individuals and have been doing business successfully in China for years, chances are they are going to have found the right kind of network there. You’ll be starting out over there at a point where, if you used one of the aforementioned methods instead, it might take you 2 years of time, mistakes, bad partners, and searching to get to. Even John Wayne could tip his hat to that.

Ashton Udall, Product Global