Doing Business in China - Making the most of the free trade agreement

Don't forget these tips when doing the groundwork.

In this section:

› Prepare for China
› Researching the market
› Using and managing Chinese consultants

Prepare for China

Allow more time to get things done
"Whereas a business trip would take one day in Australia or the UK, you should allow three days in China. You cannot just put your agenda on the board and move it along."- Brian Dewar, General Manager of International Business, Healtheries

"If you have a misunderstanding, it can take a long time to uncover that. So I go back to the issue of really needing to spend the time, a lot of time, talking and communicating, because people will not necessarily get what you are really after the fi rst time." .- Glen Murphy, Managing Director Japan and Pacific, market information company ACNielsen

Visit and find out for yourself
"The advice that I would give to anybody trying to come to China to look at doing business here, is make sure you spend time here. Don't listen to what other people tell you without coming here and finding out for yourself - not just once, not just twice, but a lot. I could tell you something about China, my friend could tell you something about China and both of those would be completely opposite. But both would be completely right. So you have to come here. You have to actually see it for yourself and decipher and filter the information for yourself and for your own business. Listening to what other people tell you will only give you a part of the story." - Glen Murphy, Managing Director, Japan and Pacific, market information company ACNielsen

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Researching the market

Research, research, research
"A lot of the information is contradictory, so you need somebody with experience in China to give you that information in context. Don't try and do it alone. Get good advisors - lawyers etc - and talk to everyone you can who has been here [in China] or is here. Go to China and draw on the world's biggest pool of Chinese commercial talent." - David Mahon, Managing Director, Mahon China Investment Management

"Do your homework thoroughly and understand the numbers - your expenses and costs, the prices in Renminbi, exchange rates, tariffs and taxes, salary and wage costs, commissions, running costs and transport. Consider your own R&D and IP costs imbedded in your product and how the loss of your IP would impact on your business." - Trevor Lock, Managing Director, Functional Nutraceuticals

"As China changes, it is more useful for businesses to get advice on the specifics involved in any situation rather than on generics or basics." - Richard Yan, Chairman, Richina Pacific

"Research an entry strategy that will deliver your desired outcomes before committing major funds and check out your potential partners carefully." - Mark Templeton, CEO, Actronic

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Using and managing Chinese consultants

Form partnerships to get the right advice
"I guess what makes [finding the right person] difficult in China is that with various boundaries such as culture and language it makes it a lot harder to work out whether that advice is the right advice for you and how beneficial that is to your outcome. So I would suggest definitely local advice, but to me it's more than advice. You've got to form partnerships here and that can be in the form of your own staff that you employ or it could be again tapping into local consultant companies or the sort of companies in your industry." - Jade Grey, Beijing-based Kiwi entrepreneur and owner of Lush Bar and Pyro Pizza

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