由粤XI

中国，以1.3十亿个人和兴旺的经济，是不可抗拒的对多数美国公司。 但梦想不做现实-多年来许多设法揭开中国市场的奥秘和许多发生了故障。 如果您与尝试了的公司谈话，包括某些受尊敬的公司在美国，反应是不可避免地“它是非常困难的”。 困难超出出现，当做生意国外，例如在语言、文化、章程等等上时的区别的典型的问题范围。 在中国，有更多对它。

这些区别变得明显对我，当我在中国的越来越花费了时间做生意和亚洲其他地区，在过去五年期间。 我幸运我感到舒适在两文化-我出生在中国，但我家移居到美国，当我是在初中，并且我紧接着成为了美国公民。

如此，从我的经验，这西部公司必须面对是成功的五令人不快的真相。

1. 汉语不遵循规则-，并且实际上，将显示发现办法的极大的机巧在他们附近。 下次您访问中国，正义步行下来到一块拥挤的街角落和手表什么展开。 当然，除非有站立在角落的警察没人将注意红绿灯或标志。

如此当心签署契约协定。 美国公司有几乎宗教信仰在法律合同，例如保密协定(NDAs)。 With their typical hubris, American companies expect Chinese companies to sign NDAs written in English, and enforceable in US courts. Chinese companies are happy to oblige, unlike for example Japanese companies. On the positive side, they want to get down to business as soon as possible and can’t understand why Western companies waste so much time conferring with their lawyers. On the negative side, Chinese companies generally never have any intention of actually honoring the agreement.

2. Chinese will copy anything. As part of their frantic drive to overcome the disasters of the 20th century, Chinese thirst for knowledge. They take pride in learning how to do new things, and duplicating them quickly and cheaply. There is very little respect for intellectual property - either from the West or home grown. A typical saying among Chinese is that “once we figure out how to make something, we will never buy it from you again.”

What that means for Western companies is that the Chinese will be very humble at first and will ask for training sessions to help with “knowledge transfer.” Once they get a product, they will take it apart piece by piece and figure out exactly how it works. There is nothing surprising about that - there is a long and rich history of reverse engineering in Silicon Valley - its a cornerstone of good engineering. But Chinese do it with the full intention of copying the product - and any parts that they can’t copy they will try to clone or buy locally.

3. The trap of joint ventures. Chinese love doing joint ventures with foreign companies and will tell you how profitable its going to be for both parties. Their logic is compelling - the Western company provides the cash and know-how, the Chinese company provides access to the local market and cheap labor. But want to know the real reasons Chinese love joint ventures? Its three fold. First, they get access to Western technology. Second, they get an infusion of cash overseas. Third, they get a nice tax break from the Chinese government. Needless to say, almost all joint ventures fail.

4. Expectations of high margins. When doing business in Chinese, most American companies expect to make the same profit margin as they do at home. Hah! This muddled thinking causes their products to be many times more expensive than local products. And it doesn’t take much insight to figure out that is not the path to success.

Even accepting lower profit margins, American products will still be more expensive than local products. Chinese companies have lower cost structures, and in extreme cases, can compete by giving away products for free and making up the revenue via services. And American companies simply cannot compete on services since labor costs are so much cheaper in China. So to succeed, you must offer a superior product that is worth its additional cost, but you must accept the fact you will not make the same margins in China as in the United States.

5. Last, and I hate to be so blunt, but the brutal truth is that most Chinese consider Americans stupid. Another Chinese saying sums it up nicely - “Taiwanese are old fashioned, Hongkonese are heartless and Americans are stupid.” Of course, they’ll never tell that to your face. In fact, many Americans love doing business in China because the Chinese will entertain them in a way that they’ve never experienced in the US. But don’t believe you are becoming friends, you are not.

Obviously, there are host of other issues you’ll run into, but these are the ones that have really struck me.

Yue Xi, Yue’s Yappings