Conquering the Chinese market is not easy. Fortunately there are many organizations that have the knowledge and experience to guide you in making your first steps on strange soil as successful as possible. One of these organizations is the Benelux Chamber of Commerce. China Success Stories trotted to the office of this Chamber of Commerce to speak with the General Manager, Helmy Koolen.

The Benelux Chamber of Commerce (or BenCham, as they call themselves) arose out of a merger between the Dutch Business Association and the Belgian Luxembourg Business Association in China. “In 2001 the Benelux Chamber of Commerce started a chapter in Shanghai and in November 2004 we opened a chapter in Beijing. At this moment we have over 550 members. We therefore are strong representatives of the Benelux community in Beijing and Shanghai. The BenCham offers three sorts of activities: Read the rest of “China jump-start” or post a comment

It is true: China has a large market area, where you can make a very decent living, but don’t expect miracles. Rob Groeneweg believes thát is the essence of doing business with China. His friendship with the Chinese Anne Xu is what started his hands-on experience; selling Chinese art on the Dutch market, through his newly founded business, Xuro. The sale of Chinese art still needs time to flourish, the demand on Xuro’s services as a business developer on the other hand grows rapidly. “Lots of entrepreneurs only think of China’s potential, having 1.3 billion consumers, and therefore are too eager. However, a bad deal remains a bad deal. Don’t be too greedy. The real market potential often is much smaller then you think.”

Working for Cross Ocean Cosco Container Lines, Rob comes into contact with China in 1990, because this company has been working with Chinese employees and trainees for decades. “In the Netherlands, there are approximately 8.000 Chinese students and they Read the rest of “China and the Art of Xuro” or post a comment

One of the trends inherent to the economic growth in China, is the fact that more and more people are taking Chinese language classes. The best way to do that? Go to China and talk to Sally Zhang. She works as Program Director at the Chinese Language Education organization in Beijing. Conveniently located in the middle of Beijing’s business center.

Beijing is home to most of her students. “At this moment, we are teaching Chinese to 82 students. Mostly Westerners, but also people coming from Japan and Korea. The continuously increasing amount of students can to a degree be explained, by the steadily increasing number of foreign companies in China. A few years ago, there was only the Chinese bank, nowadays I have five students who work for foreign banks operating in China. These financial professionals need to be able to read newspapers and documents in English as well as in Chinese. Fortunately for them, they work at companies where English is, at this point in time, the most common language.”

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Although Stanley Chow from Hong Kong hasn’t come from far, China is still an eye-opener for him. Two years ago he got invited to China by CCG (Communication Central Group) to help amalgamate five smaller companies. He discovers a thousand and one differences between people, cultures, skillsets, experiences, work atmosphere, and lifestyles. His assignment? To establish a harmonious collaboration. How he manages to do that? “Being honest is the key.”

As a real ‘Hongkie’ (people born and raised in Hong Kong) Chow is brought up in the knowledge that his future is rosy. “There is a very well-respected writer in Hong Kong who wrote an article named ‘I am a Hongkie’. He explained that Hong Kong has had very good prosperity over the last twenty years, and that chances are Read the rest of “Hongkie talks Chinese” or post a comment