Across industries, it is noticeable that the type of research commissioned is markedly different from the situation in Europe and North America. In the West, research reflects the objectives of companies operating in mature markets, who want to establish customer loyalty, achieve differentiation through branding, monitor the satisfaction of their employees, develop new concepts or segment their target audience…

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By Sebastien Breteau

Quality Control is a crucial part in the process of importing from China. Pressure on production costs, distance, time and cultural differences make it unavoidable.

Implementing Quality Control allows the importer to:
• Minimize the risks (and associated costs) linked to quality, loading, warehousing or non-compliance issues: “My products have been rejected by customs because the labelling done by my Chinese supplier does not comply with European standards.”

• Make sure contractual obligations are met (specification, packing, printing, delivery): “My client rejected my delivery because the colour code of his logo has been wrongly printed on the production lot.”
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On matters economic, I generally give the Chinese government high marks. Starting in 1978 with an economy that could barely feed its people, the government has guided China through 30 incredible years of economic reform and development.

I have been here for half that period, and have personally witnessed how China has built out its infrastructure, deregulated one industry after another …

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By Shaun Rein
This commentary is based on an article appeared in Forbes 

While massive amounts of money is being spent on marketing in the run-up to the Olympics to capture China 250 million strong emerging middle class, unfortunately most marketing campaigns are failing to deliver the results that the sponsors like Coca-Cola or Adidas were hoping for. My latest piece looks at the effectiveness of Olympics sponsorship and whether or not it is helping companies win the hearts, minds, and wallets of China’s middle class. Some of the results were surprising:
 
1) the vast majority of respondents said that they did not care who the official sponsor was when trying to make a purchase and in most categories people had little idea who the official sponsor was. Instead, consumers were more concerned with the quality and safety of the product and how the brand image fit with their lifestyle. Read the rest of “Beijing Olympic Sponsorship’s A Waste” or post a comment

The subprime debacle has rattled retail sales in the U.S., forcing many companies to downgrade sales estimates as consumers shy away from checkout counters. Luxury retailers and credit-card companies in the U.S. have recently reported bearish projections for the coming quarters.

China, however, is a retail market on the rise. In 2007 China posted 17% growth in retail spending.

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