China Expert

By Shizeng Guo

China has 234 million Internet users, many people may want to know how they can advertise their website on Chinese Internet so that they can benefit from this huge market. Well, if you already have a website, let me tell you the how-to’s.

1. You need to make a Chinese website. Yep, you will need a Chinese website. The reason is that Chinese language is the dominant language in China. Even though there is a small portion of population in China who has good command of English, most people in China speak, read and communicate in Chinese language. There are quite several Chinese dilates including Gan, Guan (Mandarin or Beifang), Kejia (Hakka), Min (including the Hokkien and Taiwanese variants), Wu, Yue (Cantonese) and etc. But in writing, there are only two types of Chinese characters: traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese. If you are targeting Chinese speakers in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, you need to have your website translated into traditional Chinese. Read the rest of “How to Advertise Your Website in China” or post a comment

By Jack Perkowski

James Zhang and Vivek Raman, the two students who organized the “Asia Tomorrow” conference at Yale University several weeks ago, were very clear in what they wanted me to cover in my keynote speech. They wanted me to give my views as to how China and Asia would develop in the coming years, but they also wanted me to be very specific as to how Yale students might benefit from these megatrends.

This is what I told the assembled Yalies about how they might play the China card.

Filling China’s Gaps: China is a $3.8 trillion economy, which ranks it third in the world after the United States and Japan. However, it is also an embryonic economy that has many product, technology and service “gaps” that need to be filled. As China continues to develop, a continual stream of new gaps will surface and create opportunities to start exciting, new companies.

Therefore, a good way to approach the China opportunity is to come to China, identify one of those gaps, and then put in place a strategy to fill it. I did it in components, and I mentioned two other examples in my book, Managing the Dragon. Read the rest of “Playing the China Card” or post a comment

By Renaud Anjoran

Last month, on China Success Stories, I explained how importers can reduce quality risks with a better organization. I got an interesting comment pointing that practices that work in other countries should be adapted when it comes to buying in China. My opinion is that importers should put in place a stronger quality assurance system for their China procurement, but not necessarily different.

First, why is it necessary to have a strong QA system when sourcing in China?

1. Very high risk of miscommunication between buyer and supplier, and all the way to operators on the factory floor. Buyers should repeatedly ask for feedback and samples.
2. Poor (or nonexistent) quality systems in many Chinese factories, where widespread defects can go unnoticed until shipment. Buyers are advised to send inspectors to confirm whether production is up to their standard. Read the rest of “The Importance of a Strong QA System When Buying in China” or post a comment

By Ross Parsonage

“I have a patent in the UK. Can’t I use that to stop infringers in China?”

As in most jurisdictions, registered IP (trademark and patent) protection is territorial – if you do not register in China with the appropriate Chinese authorities you have no rights there. Failing to register may make it difficult, if not impossible to seek administrative or judicial assistance should problems occur.

As registering your IP rights is the most effective means of ensuring that your brand, packaging design or technology is protected and as China is a first-to-file jurisdiction you will need to identify and register your rights in China before introducing branded goods or services (or even earlier if possible), otherwise you run the risk of losing them to local companies that can and will register the trademarks and patents for themselves.

To ensure that you identify and obtain the strongest portfolio of rights at the earliest opportunity consider ways in which you can work closer with internal and external R&D, production, distribution, sales and marketing colleagues and partners during initial product, brand and media design processes. Read the rest of “Changing Attitudes to IP and Product Quality Issues in China – Part 2″ or post a comment

By Steven Chow

Price negotiation is one of the most tricky parts in international sourcing. But meanwhile it isn’t that difficult if you do enough homework, research and follow some basic principles.

Some misconceptions:
I have visited China, people seem to bargain for everything, oftentimes we can cut down the price from 100RMB/pc to 10RMB/pc, so it is really hard to figure out where the bottom price is.

Clarification:
Sellers in low-end markets and stores do quote ridiculously high prices, waiting for buyers to cut it down dramatically, especially in retailing. But  in international trade practise, the prices are quoted very reasonably as the price in the market is relatively transparent, so you shouldn’t expect to cut the price down dramatically, like from 100RMB to 10RMB. Read the rest of “China Sourcing Ultimate Guide – Part 3 – Price Negotiation” or post a comment