China Sales Dog Blog

Phase II of the Chen Guangcheng story

Chen case resolved, maybe, and China wants an apology? Game is still on. Check out WSJ article for more.

Live and learn, always!

Chris

China and U.S. face choices in Chen case, none perfect - latimes.com

There is not rest for China watchers. Just when you thought there couldn't be another major US-China issue (i.e. think China and the Philippines disputing a South China sea rock while the US awaits on the Philippines' flank) enter blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, his escape from Chinese house arrest and apparent asylum in the U.S. Beijing emabassy. It sure will be interesting to see how this one plays out. See the LA times article for the whole story and a few cultural insights therein.

Have a good day,

Chris

From the LA Times - "No resolution of the diplomatic challenges facing the United States and China over what happens to blind dissident Chen Guangcheng is likely to both ease Chinese embarrassment and cast the Obama administration as a staunch defender of human rights, experts say.via latimesblogs.latimes.com"

Just can't find the right person to fill that position in China

You've been pushing your China team for over a year now to hire that new salesperson (or production manager, or purchasing employee, or ...) to help grow your China operation but they just keep coming up empty. The reasons they provide run the gamut from "too good", "too expensive" and "not good enough" to "nobody is interested". Not only is it beginning to drive you crazy but it's holding back your business in China. What gives?

Remember, China is not America or the country you might happen to be reading this in. China - and the Chinese will tell you this every time - is different. So to understand what's happening, you need to both understand and think like the Chinese. Yeah, it's not so easy to do if you haven't been hanging out in China, let's say for ... years! Fortunately, we have been and herein provide you a few possible reasons for your lack of recruiting success, reasons you should keep in mind as you continue your personnel search in China.

China economic and political update

Here's a good comprehensive video update by Li Daokui, director of the Center for China in the World Economy at Tsinghua University and former adviser to the People's Bank of China. Touches on the current state of the economy, China's monetary policy, the real estate market, the Bo Xi Lai scandal and continued reforms. Worth a look.

Chris

View Video on Washington Post.

Labor, your other competition in China

Assume you manufacture and sell "cherry picker" and other types of lifts used for maintenance work on buildings and structures. You've done well in the US but it's a mature market and you need to grow. There's a lot of buzz about China so why not try there. Not a bad idea but before you jump in, you'd better put on your Chinese thinking hat and size up the situation, from a Chinese persepective that is. Specifically, you must decide whether you can compete effectively with the local "competitors".

U.S. exports to China boom, despite trade tensions - The Washington Post

The surge is happening without much change in Chinese government policies and without much specific help from the Obama administration, which has a stated goal of doubling all U.S. exports globally by 2014. Instead, experts say, the main reason for the increase has been a booming China, where wealthier tastes include an increased appetite for meat — and hence for soybeans used as livestock feed.

via www.washingtonpost.com

Export opportunities to China increasing ... ! Time to get onboard.

China’s Xi Should Take a Lesson in U.S. Creativity: Junheng Li - Bloomberg

An executive in the Shanghai office of an American private-equity firm decided to conduct an experiment with two groups of MBA interns. He gave the same project to a team from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and to a team from a leading business school in China (CNGDPYOY).

via www.bloomberg.com

Interesting, something to think about, useful perspective in moving forward as a nation.

Chris

China's Top 10 Business Stories In 2011 - Forbes

As the year comes to a close, and we look forward to 2012, I continue the tradition I started last year and offer a brief look at the top stories that shaped China’s business and economic climate in 2011:

via www.forbes.com

Good summary of what was important in China in 2011 and still is as we move into 2012.

Enjoy!

Is China somehow limited by its culture and design?

Explaining the many nuances of China to an uninformed friend is always difficult. There are so many angles on everything China that the "uninformed" cannot begin to comprehend the "expert's" divergent seemingly disconnected explanations. You know that old concept of yin-yang, the one represnting "dark-light", "good-evil", "hard-soft" and a whole slew of other opposing yet intertwined forces in the universe? Originating in China, there is no other place it describes better than China. Even today, China is pulled by many "contradictory" forces, the majority being internal.

 

Read the below referenced article

The National Export Initiative: Why NOW is the Time for American SMEs to Export to China

“So tonight, we set a new goal: We will double our exports over the next five years, an increase that will support two million jobs in America.”

-President Obama

 

    The President’s ambitious plan to double America’s exports over the next five years, which he announced at the 2010 State of the Union, makes this the perfect time for SMEs to start to export. The details of this plan were laid out in the National Export Initiative (NEI), and an Export Promotion Cabinet was established to spearhead the effort. The NEI pools resources and leadership from the Small Business Administration, the Export-Import Bank, the U.S. Trade Representative, and from the Commerce, State, and Agriculture departments.

     Priority number one of the NEI is to increase government assistance to SMEs looking to export.