Business challenges China is overcoming - Part 2

Business in China – part 2

Challenges China is overcoming for the benefit of customers

Doing business in China comes with its challenges but also if you are lucky it can be a very positive and even life-changing experience.

Overall the Chinese know and understand the importance of business relationships but there is a heavy culture of cutting corners with a good dose of corruption and scandal. They have been well known as a culture to often make orders the first time well; then the second order is made using different, lower grade materials and poorer finish.

This type of business practice isn't reserved for the importing customers who are rude and derogatory to them and treat them badly and haggle on price, what I am referring to has been just typical business practice.

China has a reputation for

• copying 
• overcharging
• poor quality materials
• only half filling containers
• or not delivering at all – but will keep your money.

The list of bad behaviours and lack of respect goes on to

• plagiarism
• ignoring copyrights
• patents and branding
• overpromising and under delivering on timelines

– no wonder there is so much caution when considering doing business there.

What they are realising and acting upon

• They are learning about integrity as defined by the western world; this is difficult for Chinese as they also have a strong culture to “save face”.
• They rather say “yes” than “no”, to not disappoint or delay telling you they can’t supply; until it is too late.
• All too often say "yes” they understand when they don’t; generally, they are too embarrassed to say they “don’t know”.
• As Australians, we want clear open honesty so we can then move on for a solution to fix a situation and minimise the direct impact on our customers.
• Integrity is big for us as a family, as a business, and as Australians, we have spent a lot of time going over what it is in broken English and Chinese for them to understand.
• Many factories; largely unknowingly lose international work for this reason.
• They are slow to understand that each importer might be one customer to them, buying one container but in that one container the result of faulty product or non-delivered product can affect hundreds of people and the very business that is buying from them either won’t grow as fast as a business or will take their business elsewhere.
• We talk a lot about our customers as being their customer, bringing personal emotion to the table, talking in terms of faults, how it could harm a child like one of their own.

With a slight slowdown in the Chinese economy there are and will be benefits for importers; the Chinese businessmen will come to value customers and work harder to keep them. Competition is rife with so many factories all able to do much the same thing and a ready workforce on standby they are taking a little more care.

• We are ever grateful our new factory is so honourable.
• Overall I think the Chinese do a great job given they are the ones speaking English and most importers Chinese is only a handful of basic words. 
• The next article I will go over some key points to do when starting to work with Chinese.
• Scroll down for other articles already written about importing and working with China.

Photo - Flickr - Spezz