Understanding How to do China Business

April 27, 2010

There’s a reason my wife warned me to never do business in China; then she went and lost money doing business there herself—and she’s Chinese. However, being Chinese in China is the same as being American in America—there is no guarantee that anyone is going to be a success and fill buckets with money.

If you want to read the nightmare side of doing business the wrong way in China, see Showdown at Changsha by John Alley. “Western companies felt they had to be players in the China market, and dozens of the world’s largest corporations fell over themselves losing money in abortive China joint ventures.” Source: Asia Review of Books

Walmart in China

Google appears to have failed because they did not learn that doing business in other cultures means changing the way you think and present yourself. On the other hand, Bob Grant’s guest posts on iLook China are examples that there are success stories in China. Recent news shows that GM is making profits in China—more than in the US. McDonald’s announced recently they are opening hundreds more fast food outlets in China this year.

Anyone wanting to do business in China should consider going back to school. I checked one of America’s top universities, Stanford, and found a course taught by an expert. There’s even a Doing Business in China for Dummies book.

Learn more about Doing Business in China

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

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3 Comments | America, American culture, business, China, Chinese Culture, education | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

I Miss the Smell of China

April 27, 2010
Bob Grant

Originally Published at Speak Without Interruption on April 16, 2010 by Bob Grant — publisher/editor for Speak Without Interruption. Posted on iLook China, April 27, 2010 at 12:00 PM

 For various reasons, my business in China declined a little over two years ago, and I have not had occasion to visit there during that time period. A lot has happened—both within the U.S. and China—since my business went south.

I do miss China – its people – its culture – its smell. This might seem like an irrational statement since China is suppose to be one of the most polluted countries in the world, but it is not the smell of pollution that sticks in my memory.

Our China office was located in Guangdong Province, which is in the southern part of China near Hong Kong. Traveling around that province, I always remember the fresh scents of flowers, rain, trees, grass, and meals being prepared for daily consumption.

I tended to visit factories that were in outlying areas—their conference rooms, factories, reception rooms, and gardens all had a smell that I grew to welcome during each of my visits. As I made trips and visits to other parts of China, I felt they each had their own unique smells and aromas that I have not found any other place in the world that I have traveled.

I have written other posts regarding my feelings about the Chinese people—those have not changed.  I am not certain that I will ever have occasion to visit China again but the smells and memories of that country and its people will remain with me forever.

Follow this link to see more by Bob Grant “Transporting Goods by Road in China” http://wp.me/pN4pY-jf

Leave a Comment » | business, China, Chinese Culture, Chinese food, economy, food, tourism | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Twin Disasters Shine a Light on Bias

April 10, 2010

In China, a coalmine is flooded and traps more than a hundred. The Huffington Post reports this and says, “The real issue for the government (China’s) is to learn the lessons from this…The fundamental issue is, the miners should never have been put in this situation in the first place.”

In another piece, “A West Virginia coal mine explosion demands action”, Washington Post. “A huge explosion at the Upper Big Branch coalmine…claimed the lives of 25 miners.” This happened even after Congress passed the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response act to make it safer.

After the US Congress passed this tougher law, the company that owned the West Virginia mine was cited with several safety violations prior to the explosion but was allowed to continue operating.

It seems the miners didn’t speak out for fear of losing their jobs. True Slant.com said, “Interesting how the West Virginia state police are necessary to allow the mining company CEO to speak now. He probably wouldn’t need them if the miners had been allowed to speak months ago.”

The US Bill of Rights protects freedom of speech but that freedom was written to protect US citizens from the government—not to protect people from corporations. The Huffington Post was right about one thing, “The miners should have never been put in this situation in the first place.”

See Human Rights the Chinese Way http://wp.me/pN4pY-m7

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Leave a Comment » | America, business, China, economy, environment, government, media, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Evil Tobacco in Big China

March 30, 2010

Cigarettes are evil.  The person smoking the cigarette may not be evil but the pain and suffering that cigarettes cause is. I watched a father-in-law, a neighbor, an aunt and my father die from the ravages from tobacco.  The last few years of my father’s life, he wore a breathing mask attached to a tank of oxygen.  His freedom was limited to the fifty-foot hose connected to that tank.

Smoking Kills

Margie Mason (Associated Press) wrote about smoking and listed some frightening statistics.

  • Thirty percent of the world’s smokers are in China.
  • In the next 15 years, an estimated 2 million will die from it.
  • The largest tobacco grower in the world is in China.
  • Heart disease, linked to smoking, is already killing a million a year.
  • China has more cases of diabetes than any country.

Dr. Judith Mackay said, “You have to price them (cigarettes) out of the hands and pockets and the mouths of children.”

Hong Kong may be showing the rest of the mainland how to cut back on tobacco use by putting high taxes on cigarettes as we have done in America. The Chinese government may be watching and hoping that this cycle of doom can be slowed.

Learn more from Smoking Gun

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

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1 Comment | business, capitalism, China, Chinese men, economy, health care | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Double Standard

March 29, 2010

Drug possession is different from bribery. However, I am going to compare the two to make a point that when things happen in China to a foreign national, the reaction is different in the Western media than if it happened in a country like Turkey, a member of NATO.

In Turkey, penalties for violating Turkish laws, even unknowingly, can be severe. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Turkey are particularly strict, and convicted offenders should expect jail sentences with heavy fines.

In China, there is a bribery trial taking place. It has to do with several executives from Rio Tinto Ltd, the world’s # 2 iron ore producer. Stern Hu, an Australian citizen and a Rio Tinto executive, is on trial for bribery and stealing commercial secrets. Hu says he has been treated fairly and admitted guilt.  Yet, the Australian government is concerned about equal treatment in Chinese courts controlled by the Communist Party. Hu may get five years in jail. Source Reuters

In another case in America, Tai Shen Kuo was a spy for China. He bribed a CIA agent who had the highest clearance. Kuo was born in Taiwan but became a naturalized American citizen. Kuo was sentenced to fifteen years in jail and there was no outcry in the Western media. The CIA agent, a Caucasian, got five years.

Do you see the double standard?

See Power Corrupts http://wp.me/pN4pY-40

 

2 Comments | business, China, media, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

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