In China with Michelle Zou: Recent Episodes
Michelle Zou
“In China with Michelle Zou” features interviews of thought leaders and executives combined with experts in a range of industries. We reveal their thoughts and personal stories about the various opportunities manifesting with China’s economic development and social changes. From our guest Chinese and foreigners who have lived in China, you will learn valuable information about today’s China and how it relates to you. China has risen to become the second largest economy in the world. China’s incredible opportunities are attracting people from all over the world, no matter if you are a business leader, a manufacturer, a trader, a professional, an artist, or a student. What does China look like today? What opportunities does this huge market has for you? How can you seize those opportunities? This show will help you find your own answers. You will discover opportunities that you can tap into in China and understand how you can ride with the tide to grow your career or business.
In the June 2020 report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasted that global GDP would contract by 4.9% in 2020, the U.S. economy is expected to contract by 8% and the European area by 10%. But China's economy is forecasted to grow by 1%, the only country with a positive growth over 2019, in part because the country got a head start on its recovery. Therefore, China may become a more attractive market to many western companies. However, selling to China may not easy, especially for small and medium companies who lack of expertise in the China market and Chinese culture, and don’t have a sizable marketing budget. Digital marketing can be an affordable way to help you grow business in China. This time, I invited Mr. Jie Zhang, Co-Founder & CEO of GoDigitalChina and AdChina.io to talk about how to enter and succeed in the Chinese market through digital marketing. GoDigitalChina is an Advertising Agency offers one-stop-shop of online marketing in China for western companies.
Effective communication is very important to a company’s success in markets, especially when western brands enter and operate in China. We have heard stories of well-known American or European brands stumbling in China. In this episode, Mr. Steve Drake, a long-time public relations veteran who has helped launch Walmart and Budweiser into China back in the 1990s, will share with us strategies for brands that went to China, issues they have met, and learnings from those experiences. Steve is founder of Steven Drake Associates and cofounder of RFP Associates. He has 35 years of experience in developing and leading strategic, global communications programs, especially in the United States and China. He lived in China in the 1990s when he launched and managed PR firm FleishmanHillard’s presence in China.
Many Israeli startups are very successful in the US market, so what is the secret sauce for their success in the US? And what part of that recipe can be relevant to another big, but very different market, China? What would work or not work when foreign startups come to China? Rami Blachman, a US/Israeli technology entrepreneur and venture capitalist, and founder of the China Israel Innovation Accelerator (CIIA), will share with us about his observations, experiences and framework through years of work with Israeli startups going to USA and China. CIIA works closely with Israel-based technology companies in pursuing a China strategy and commercializing in the Chinese market, and Rami splits his time between China and Israel these days.
Aaron Rose, an investor, board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of multiple companies, has been doing business in China for near 20 years. His blog “Solutions for a Sustainable World” offers useful research information, resources, and his thoughts about the technology industry. In this episode, Aaron will share with us the trends he has observed in China, what opportunities he has seen as an investor, and his personal experience of investing and working in China. Ultimately, he will share his opinion on if NOW is a good time to invest in China.
What can the combination of Blockchain and IoT (Internet of Things) help industries transform in today’s world? What are some examples in the market today? Karl Weaver, Global Business Development Director of aitos.io, a Chinese startup builds trusted identity authentication and privacy-preserving data computation solution for the enterprises of AIoT, made a claim that “China is leading in Blockchain and IoT Industries.” I invite Karl to the show and explain why he thinks so. Karl is a Globally trained, bilingual Mandarin Chinese speaking senior mobility executive with vast experience selling wireless & mobile device technologies from both sides of the Pacific Rim to the global OEM/ODM handset/tablet PC ecosystem supply chain.
Covid-19 has changed the life for every human being in the world, no matter where you are on the earth. The pandemic started two to three months earlier in China, and by June, most people have returned to work or school, thanks to the Chinese government’s effective control of the virus. How does it look like in China now? Is people’s life back to normal? How has Covid-19 changed business in China? And, very importantly, what can businesses in the rest of the world learn from China when they consider reopening or adapting to the new norm? In this episode, I invited Mr. Cameron Johnson, Partner at Tidal Wave Solutions, and Vice Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, to share with us his observation in China. Cameron is based in Shanghai.
Small and medium companies often find it is difficult and expensive to get legal services when doing business in a foreign jurisdiction, especially when language and culture are different than your own country. What are some fundamental legal side factors that companies should know when doing business in China? What can be potential risks if not considering these things? In this episode, Mr. Tianpeng Wang, a New York and China qualified lawyer, and Founder and CEO of Trustiics (https://www.trustiics.com/), will share his thoughts to these questions. In addition, he will share resources that can help SMEs and individuals to get quality and affordable legal service on demand in China.
In mid-May of 2020, US President Donald Trump said the US 'could cut off the whole relationship' with China as tensions escalate during the pandemic. Experts say ‘the US and China have entered the beginnings of a new Cold War’. What impact has this situation brought to the Washington State, a state whose No. 1 trade partner is China? How can American businesses maintain relationships with China during such difficult times? In this episode, Mr. J. Norwell Coquillard, Executive Director of Washington State China Relations Council (WSCRC), will share his thoughts about the history of the US-China relationships, the current political situation, and WSCRC’s role in helping the local government. He will also give some advices to businesses that are collaborating with China. WSCRC is the nation’s leading statewide organization dedicated to promoting stronger commercial, educational, and cultural engagement with China.
By 2025, China will be the largest aviation market in the world. Analysts forecast, in the next 20 years China will add an additional 8,000 new passenger aircraft, and this demand will create huge opportunities to the entire aviation supply chain. In this episode, Mr. Van Yun Gao, Managing Director of IASC (International Aviation Supply Chain) Leadership Summit, will share with us their research and market insights of the China aviation industry (IASC.com.cn). We will talk about the impact from COVID19 to China’s aviation industry, the current opportunities and gaps in the supply chain, the aviation clusters in China, and how to find the right partner(s) to seize the opportunities in China.
In our last episode, Dr. Badri Narayanan talked about the impact of the tariffs to the US and China Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry, and what companies can do to deal with this impact. In today’s episode, I invite Dr. Narayanan back to talk about his latest research in understanding the potential economic impact of COVID-19, and share with us his insights from this work. Dr. Narayanan is an Economist with McKinsey, and Co-Founder and Partner of Infinite Sum Modelling, a leading economic modeling firm providing advice to a wide range of clients including government and non-governmental organizations, and companies.
Our last episode was with Seattle Economist Spencer Cohen on the Impact of the Phase I trade agreement between the U.S and China, and the unexpected COVID-19 to this deal. In today’s episode, Dr. Badri Narayanan will help us deep dive into the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry and understand what kind of impact the tariffs are bringing to US and China, and what companies can do to deal with this impact. Dr. Narayanan is an Economist with McKinsey, and Co-Founder and Partner of Infinite Sum Modelling (, a leading economic modeling firm providing advice to a wide range of clients including government and non-governmental organizations, and companies.
What is the Phase 1 trade agreement between the U.S and China? What does it mean for businesses in the US and China? And what is the impact of the unexpected COVID-19 to this deal as well as to the businesses? In this episode, Dr. Spencer Cohen will share his thoughts on these questions. He is a Senior Economist from Community Attributes Inc., a Seattle-based research and data analytics consulting firm. He has lived and studied in China for extended periods, and has in-depth knowledge of China-related economic and political issues.
The number of Chinese students studying in the US colleges and universities has increased 3.7 times in the past ten years, from 98,235 in the school year of 2008-2009 to 369,548 in the school year of 2018-2019, according to statista.com. Why have so many Chinese students chosen US for their higher education? And what kind of opportunities have been generated by this trend? In this episode, Professor Yan Zeng, CEO & President of U.S. Asia Education, and President of Davis Institute of Education Information, shares with us her observations of the inflow of Chinese students to the US in the past ten years, the challenges these students are facing when they are studying in the US, and how American universities can help these Chinese international students succeed in college.
Mobile payment is ubiquitous in China and it is enabled through a different way than in the western world. According to eMarketer, in addition to the pervasive usage at ecommerce through online mobile payment, proximity mobile payment users in China is 577.4 million (by far the largest in the world), with a penetration rate of 81.1% of smartphone users. China is steadily marching toward a cashless society, enabled by Alibaba’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay. Those two leading payment systems have introduced QR code-backed payments into the daily habits of consumers, from purchasing in supermarkets or convenient stores to buying a subway ticket. How did this happy in China? And what is coming next? Please join me to the dialogue with Karl Weaver, a wireless and mobile device ecosystem specialist in the Smart Card sector of the wireless industry, and China/Asia-Pacific Business Development Director for Rivetz Corp, an ICO and Mobile Devices Security firm.
If you are visiting China for the first time, you will be amazed by its modern cities with stunning high-rise buildings scoring to the sky. Today’s China has a strong appetize for innovation and creativity, and that also reflects on how the government wants its cities look like. Real estate development in China is booming for the past 4 decades, and developers are not shy from recruiting world-renowned architects to turn rural areas into brand new contemporary cities. Mr. Ming Zhang, an award-winning designer and Founder of Seattle based company MZA Architecture, has worked on over 130 projects in more than 60 cities in China over the last 20 years. I invite him shares his experience in helping to create a new image for major cities throughout China and the U.S., and tips on how to win contracts and work with Chinese on those projects.
Chinese investors have been riding the US commercial real estate (CRE) wave, the total investment in the US rising up rapidly from the ground in 2011, peaked at $16.2B in 2016 then dropped over 55% in 2017 after China's government announced efforts to restrict outbound investments in foreign real estate, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Ms. Hui Tian, architect and Founder of a Seattle company Studio 19 Architects, shares with us her observations of the changes in the CRE investment trend related to China investment, and her experience on how to work with Chinese real estate investors. You will learn how the cultural differences bring in practice differences, and when you understand this, you can work with these investors more effectively.
We all know China has emerged to the second largest economy in the world during the past decades and Chinese are rich, however, some rural areas in China are still underdeveloped, and school children are studying in poor condition and hardship. In year 2000, a group of volunteers in Seattle started a charity China Tomorrow Education Foundation (CTEF) to help support schools and students in rural China to improve education, and Dennis Su, a retired architect living in Seattle, is the founder of that charity and is deeply involved in the operations since his retirement 20 years ago. In this interview, he shares with us his observations of the changes in rural China's education system and Chinese government’s support to those areas, and why he thinks there is still a need for help to the schools and children there.
In our last episode, we talked about the trends of Chinese investment in the US commercial real estate market. In todays interview, I invited a US Top 1 percentage real estate agent Janice Cai to share with us some insights she has gained in the residential real estate side. More importantly, Janice will help you understand what the cultural differences are between American and Chinese people, and how important it is to understand the differences to make business and negotiation more effective. Janice appears monthly at the CBS real estate TV show “American Dream” and at the US Chinese Radio talk show Today's Focus to share her knowledge on the real estate industry.
In the past decade, Chinese investment in the US commercial real estate market was like riding a roller coaster, rising up rapidly from the ground in 2011, peaked at $16.2B in 2016 then dropped over 55% in 2017 after China's government announced efforts to restrict outbound investments in foreign real estate, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Holly Yang, senior vice president of Kidder Mathews, the largest private commercial real estate company in the west coast of the U.S., shares her experience and knowledge about the industry, and tips on working with Chinese investors such as Create World Group in commercial real estate projects. To seize the opportunities with China, Holly founded the China Services Group at Kidder Mathews Seattle to provide bilingual brokerage solutions to US and Chinese developers, investors, and owners in the Great Seattle region. Over the past few years, the team has successfully represented over 300 transactions with near $1 billion values in the region.
Intellectual Property Protection is one of the major hot negotiation points in the US and China Trade Talks. What is the IP protection situation today in China? What can foreign companies do to protect its IP? What are the different categories of intellectual properties you should consider protecting? In this episode I have invited International Business Attorney Ian Yanhui Yang back to the show, to share his knowledge and real cases about IP protection strategies when going to China. Ian has many years’ experience in advising foreign investors to set up business in China. He is now living in Seattle, Washington State.
When foreign companies want to establish a business presence in China, they generally have the following options: 1. Representative Office (RO), 2. Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (WFOE) 3. Joint Venture (JV), 4. Variable Interest Entity (VIE), etc. What are the differences of these entities? What are the pros and cons for them? And what is the right one for your company to register in China? Please listen to my interview with International Business Attorney Ian Yanhui Yang, to explain what you should consider when choosing the right type of business entity in China. Mr. Yang has many years’ experience working in law firms in China to advise foreign investors to set up business in China. He is now living in Seattle, Washington State.
In our last episode, I shared my interview by ChinaBiz Connect about trade shows in China. As I pointed out, one of the first steps in doing business in China is establishing relationships with potential partners and customers, and attending trade shows can help foreign companies leverage the venue to attract a crowd and to have many conversations in a short period of time. I talked about the reasons why foreign companies should include trade shows in their China go-to-market strategy and provided recommendations for choosing the right shows and getting expert advice. In this episode I will share the 2nd part of the interview, focusing on tips to attend trade shows in China, such as what you should do before, during and after a trade show to take full advantage of it. An example is the China International Technology Fair (csitf.com) in Shanghai. Understanding the uniqueness in Chinese culture and people will help you have a great experience and outcomes at trade shows in China.
One of the first steps in doing business in China is establishing relationships with potential partners and customers. To do this, you will want to meet people face-to-face. A trade show is a great venue to attract a crowd and to have many conversations in a short period of time. I will talk about the reasons why foreign companies should include trade shows in their China go-to-market strategy and provides recommendations for choosing the right shows and getting expert advice. This episode was an interview I did by ChinaBiz Connect, and I think it is helpful to share my knowledge here too. The key takeaways are: Trade shows are a low-cost, low-risk means to gain intelligence about the China market and engage in business development; Many Chinese trade shows provide opportunities for foreign companies to showcase their products; Trade show marketing in China requires a different approach compared to other countries.
Fashion is a $2.4 trillion-dollar global business (2% of world’s GDP), and is one of the most polluting industries in the world. Sustainability is a complex and critical issue in today’s fashion industry. China is the largest textile producing and exporting country in the world with $110B exports of textiles and apparel (2017). “Made in China” is on 50% of the world’s apparel (Business of Fashion). This also means that an estimated 53% of the world’s textile production waste comes from China - an estimated 70,000 tons produced every day, and 2.5 billion tons of polluted wastewater produced annually. In this episode, Rayne Reed will discuss what each of us can do in sustainable fashion, what companies can do to increase sustainability while meeting consumers’ demand, and share some industry best practices. Rayne has 30 years’ experience in the fashion industry, has worked for Gap as Senior Director of Product Development and Buying in China, and lived in USA, Europe and Asia.
The global apparel market is always changing, attempting to adapt to customer trends and cultural differences. Chinese companies in the fashion industry have evolve their global role from providing textiles, to manufacturing for western brands, to today many Chinese designers are building their own brands. In addition, more and more western brands have adapted their designs for Chinese customers. So, what is the influence from Chinese customers on the fashion industry? What is the uniqueness of the Chinese fashion market? What are some trends of the Chinese consumers and what is the impact of those trends? Please join me to have a discussion with Rayne Reed on these topics. Rayne has 30 years’ experience in the fashion industry, has worked for Gap as Senior Director of Product Development and Buying in China, and lived in San Francisco, New York, London, Shanghai and Singapore.
Going global is a survival strategy for many tech companies, and China is too big of the global market to ignore. If you are a tech company leader and are wondering if you should expand to the China market, what should you do first? And who should you talk with? Tim Lindeman, VP Operations for a Boston-based data analytics software company, Dimensional Insight, shares with us about his story of starting business for the company in China in 2006. There were mistakes made, lessons learned, and experience gained. With his 15 years’ experience of doing business in the China market, Tim and his partner wanted to help other leaders like them succeed in China, so they are launching a platform ChinaBiz Connect (www.chinabizconnect.com). Let’s hear from Tim about ChinaBiz Connect, why they started it, who can benefit from it and what you can get from this platform.
The 2019 CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas was a big success with over 4,500 exhibiting companies attended the show during Jan 8-11. I attended CES, and I was amazed by the number of Chinese companies at the show. I estimate that about 1/3 of the exhibiting companies were from China. There is a similar show in China called China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair (CSITF) which is organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Commerce of China and the Municipal Government of Shanghai. This is a gateway for companies to enter the China market, test the market, find customers, partners, and investment. I interviewed the Managing Director of CSITF, Mr. Eric Cai at CES, to understand more about CSITF, what is the difference between CSITF, who should attend it, and what is the benefits for going there. For more information, please go to csitf.com.
Blockchain technology is one of the new technologies that will build a new game-leading advantage, cited in China’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020). On the other hand, in 2018, China government has banned trading via cryptocurrencies (ICOs) in China and closed cryptocurrency exchanges operations in China. In short, China is taking a “Blockchain not Bitcoin” strategy. The fact is, Blockchain startups have been hot in China in the recent years. According a report published in November 2018 by iyiou.com, Beijing alone has 275 blockchain companies, and Shanghai also has over 100 companies. So, how to make sense of China’s Blockchain strategy? What is the impact it will bring to our economy and lives? Listen to Blockchain expert, founder and CEO of Adgetec Corporation, Mark Mueller-Eberstein, share his thoughts about Blockchain and China.
China hosted the first ever China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, Nov 5th – 10th, 2018. The official result from that event was significant, with the value of intended deals topping over $57.8 billion, and total of 3,617 companies from 151 countries and regions showcased their products in the business exhibition at the expo, according to the CIIE Bureau. Pacific Technologies Consulting Group (PTCG) has helped Washington State Department of Commerce organized small and medium businesses to exhibit at this expo. So, what was the experience from the eyes of a small business exhibitor? Please listen to my interview with Bradlee Williams, the founder of EEG, an agricultural and energy commodity wholesaler, about what we have experienced at CIIE, and the impact we think it will bring to our businesses.
In a previous episode, Why Did Some Companies Fail While Others Succeeded in China, Mr. Weidong Chen, founder and CEO of HAORAY LLC (haoray.com), shared his thoughts about the healthcare sector segments (Diagnostic, Therapeutic, Rehabilitation and Assistant Living) and opportunities in China. In today’s show, he will address the key steps for medicine and medical equipment companies to enter into the China market. By understanding these practical elements, businesses can evaluate and prepare themselves before putting more resources into the market. This also helps decision makers gain insights on what kind of market entry strategies they should take and set the business structure up for success in China. Mr. Chen will share some examples of US companies entered China that he was deeply involved in the early stage. For more information about the previous show, please go to https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/105585/why-did-some-companies-fail-while-others-succeeded-in-china
Many multi-national companies have set up manufacturing sites in China over the past 30 years to leverage China’s cheap labor and low-cost materials. Keeping a dozen or more sites operating efficiently and profitably is one of the top priorities that MNCs strive to achieve. Mr. Qinghua Pei, a senior management consultant from Competitive Capabilities International (CCI) has helped well-known MNCs to improve operational excellence through its unique integrative improvement system TRACC, will share with us his observations of management challenges for MNCs in China as well as solutions that CCI can provide. Mr. Pei has worked on multi-national companies such as Coca-Cola, Heinz, Dupont, DSM, and large Chinese state-owned enterprises such as Snow Beer of China Resource and Mengniu Dairy of COFCO. You can learn more about CCI at https://ccitracc.com/, and contact Qinghua Pei at LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/qinghua-pei-bb15b331/
Grew up in China and then moved to the US in the 1980s, Dr. Austin Huang is the founder of Merit Engineering Inc, and he has been on this show in the episode “China’s “Toilet Revolution” and Environmental Water Resources Sustainability “. In that show he was talking as a Geologist and a well-respected expert in the field of Geotechnical & Environmental Engineering in Civil Engineering. Today Austin will come to this show as a musician and music composer, and share with you how he combines the western and eastern cultures in his music, how he reflects Chinese philosophy through the western symphonic composing technics, produces unique symphony and delivers concerts in both US and China.
Mr. Y.P. Chan, a successful business leader and consultant, as well as a researcher and lecture, has conducted a research to understand why some companies can last one hundred years while most cannot? In that research, he has explored world class enterprises with a unique lens of culture, and summarized his finding of common characteristics of greatness, and by four aspects: Path, Morality, innovation and cultural DNA.
As the world’s manufacturer, China has been the place where many consumer products are being produced. From “Made in China”, to “Made by China”, China has gone through a journey from using its cheap labor and materials to manufacture products designed and branded by overseas companies, to having an end-to-end ecosystem to design, produce and sell its own branded products. Jacob Rothman, an American living in China has evolved his career along with China’s path. He started his trading business in China 15 years ago to source products, then changed to own a factory, and advanced to build a platform to help startups and crowdfunding campaigns to design, engineer, and manufacture innovative consumer goods. If you have an idea and you don’t have experience in industrial design, engineering or manufacturing, where can you go to turn your idea into a real product? Jacob’s Platform88 might be the kind of place you want to check it out.
China’s GDP was 150 billion USD in 1978, and has grown to 12.25 trillion USD in 2017, it is 82 times in 40 years. What has driven this amazing growth in China’s GDP? Mr. Y.P. Chan, a successful business leader and consultant, as well as a researcher and lecture, will explain what he thinks the key drivers behind China’s economical miracles in the past 40 years.
The western world has a perception that China is a copycat, and Chinese people do not innovate. The intensifying US-China trade war has further led Americans’ opinions on China through western mainstream media, and many American technology companies become more cautious about their IP protection when partnering with Chinese companies. However, China’s rising on economy is not deniable, and China is filing more patents than the US since 2012. Mr. Y.P. Chan, a successful business leader and consultant, as well as a researcher and lecture, will demystify the misunderstanding and share his own thoughts on the reality of Chinese technology innovation from a historical and a modern view. He will explain what China’s innovation looks like and why he believes innovation is one of the key forces driven China’s high-speed growth over the past 40 years.
China's ZTE, which the US government has accused of repeated sanctions violations, has paid a $1 billion fine, and put $400 million in an escrow account, so that it can continue purchase technology, including semiconductor products, from American companies. What impact will the proposed ban bring to ZTE and the worldwide market? What position of the Chinese companies and American companies in the semiconductor industry? What kind of collaboration in that industry between US and China? How will China catch up to fill in the core technology gap that is revealed by the ZTE instance? And what opportunities exist for professionals and companies in the industry? Dr. Bo Xia, Founder and CEO of Mingchip Technology in Shanghai, China, shares his observation of the semiconductor industry between US and China.
Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Qingdao, China, Haier Group is a global leading provider of better-life solutions, with its white goods business brand more famous than others for nine consecutive years ( Euromonitor data). Under the guidance of the enterprise management philosophy and business philosophy of CEO Mr. Zhang Ruimin, Haier Group has 10 R&D centers, 24 industrial parks, 108 manufacturing plants and 66 marketing centers across the world, and owns Haier, Casarte, GE Appliances, Fisher & Paykel, AQUA and Leader as its smart home appliances brands. Their “Rendanheyi” management model has disrupted the western traditional classic management model. Harvard Business School has added Haier to their case studies. James Wang, a partner at HCH Ventures from Haier Group, will talk about his personal experience of applying this Rendanheyi Model in his own work and how the HCH Ventures is enabling other entrepreneurs achieve their goals.
China’s GDP has grown 30x from 1990 to 2017, and the annual per capita income of urban households has increased 22x within the past 27 years. Chinese consumers have a lot more disposable income to spend and their needs and purchasing behaviors have evolved. On the other hand, China’s population structure has changed with the aging population ratio growing rapidly. The population of 60-year old and above reached 220 million in 2015, counted as 16.1% of the total population. This has created tremendous opportunities in healthcare products and services that can slow down the aging process, reduce the health impact from aging, maintain and improve health condition, and keep a good quality of life. The 505 Group is a Chinese enterprise has focuses on this segment since 1988 and has built a well-known consumer brand in China. Let’s hear from Lily Dong who is in charge of the overseas market to share her observations of the demand and trend in China’s healthcare product market.
Since 1980s, companies took advantages of China’s low cost labor, land and materials to compete in the market. However, today labor and land cost is no longer competitive in China, and Chinese companies are looking for new ways to improve efficiency and stay competitive. In the meantime, many US companies have developed advanced solutions and have been leading the industry with continuous R&D. Experts like Michael Rawding are serving as the bridge to help the needs find solutions. Rawding, a former executive from Microsoft who served as the President of Microsoft Greater China, Japan and Asia, now advises US companies on both entering and optimizing their operations in Asia and supports Chinese and Japanese organizations in finding US technology partnerships and enhancing their US market knowledge and execution capability. He will share with us what opportunities he has seen for advanced enterprise solutions in China.
“Made in China” is almost everywhere in our life, no matter which country you are living. Today we will talk about the apparel industry and the trade with China, with Mr. Benjamin Lee. For four generations, Mr. Lee’s family has been in the textile industry and later the apparel industry. They started from Shanghai then Hong Kong and expanded to many Asian countries. From 1970s, Benjamin came to the US and continued the family business with import and export in textile and clothing. What has changed in the apparel industry over these many decades? What is the competitive advantages of China today? Is China still going to play a big role as the cost is constantly increasing in China recent years? What should you know when you are considering getting in the apparel industry with China? Please listen to Michelle Zou’s interview with Benjamin Lee about trade with China in the apparel industry.
Located at the Northwest corner of the United States and by the Pacific Ocean, Washington State is the No. 1 state in USA in terms of trade volume with China. It is interesting to investigate Washington State’s value proposition, understand what major industries that are trading with China, what types of investment it is attracting from China and what kinds of projects are being invested from China. In addition, what has created such kind of characteristics that Washington state possess today which helped to shape its position with China? Please listen to Allison Clark, the Managing Director of the Business Development unit at the Washington State Department of Commerce, share her insights about these questions.
Just like an individual person, every company or brand also has certain image in public’s eyes, no matter if it is the kind of image you prefer or not. Your company or brand may have already established an image locally, and when you are penetrating the business to the China market, what messages do you want to deliver to the audience there? And what kind of perceptions do you want to establish there? You need to understand the difference between your home market and the China market, clearly craft your key messages, and utilize marketing, public relations, government relations and many other means to help build a positive image for your company or brand in the China market. In this episode, Sheila Shang, PR and marketing expert with a special focus on the US-China cross-border business communications, will share her thoughts and tips to you.
China launched a toilet revolution across the country in 2015 with an aim to make such facilities cleaner and more regulated. In 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “China should continue to upgrade the country's toilets as part of its toilet revolution aimed at developing domestic tourism and improving people's life quality”. What does this mean beyond having cleaner and better equipped hardware? In this episode, Dr. Austin Huang, Fellow of American Society of Civil Engineering, and Diplomate of Geotechnical Engineering, Academy of GeoProfessionals, will explain his interpretation of China’s toilet revolution, and the impact to environmental water resources sustainability. He will also illustrate the problem of China's toilets in rural areas today and potential solutions to the problem. You will learn the vast opportunities that may be brought by the needs of this campaign and the associated impact in a broader social context in China.
Many people know China is a huge market and they cannot ignore it, but they also have concerns about working in a market they are not familiar with, and especially after having heard stories about intellectual property protection challenges in China. What should a successful partnership look like? How do you build business partnerships in China? Who should you work with? What resources you can tap into? What are the industries you need to concern about IP protection and how? In this episode, Andy Wilson, Chair of the Washington State China Relations Council, will share with you his thoughts about these questions. Andy has been a leader in international economic development, innovation, and China-U.S. trade for more than 25 years. Working predominately in the corporate sector, he has led the growth of a series of technology and consumer products companies across Europe, North America, and Asia – and particularly in China.
In 2017, Chinese citizens made about 130 million overseas trips and 4.53 billion domestic trips. Among them, about 3 million Chinese visited United States, which is about 4% of the total international visitors visited US in 2017, and the number is forecasted to be increasing. The average spending by Chinese tourists on the location (exclude international flight tickets) in the US is $4,462. In addition, in the academic year 2016/17, there were 350,755 international students from China studying in the US. What does this mean to business in the United States? Why would the Chinese tourists and students come to the US? What has changed in them compared to 10 years ago? Why we believe Chinese international students are a win-win to the tourism industry in the US? Please join me to discuss these questions with Felicity Wang, President of the Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and owner of a tour and travel company in the US.
The General Aviation industry in China is still a relatively green field, with vast market opportunity but a few competitors. This industry started to boom since China announced the 13th Five-Year-Plan, which is a strategic planning by the Chinese government for 2016 - 2020. To seize this huge opportunity, a Chinese company purchased Top Cub’s type certificate and all its relevant intellectual properties, after a lengthy process and lots of patience over 5 years, and finally approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. in May, 2015 along with the signature of the Secretary of State of the United States of America. Then it set up the Washington based company Topcub Aircraft LLC (topcubaircraft.com) to serve the international markets, and China based sites to serve the China market. Please join me to hear Mr. Changjia Ge, General Manager of Topcub Aircraft LLC, talks about the general aviation industry in China and their plan in anticipating the surging demand.
When an expatriate is moving to China, it is incredibly challenging, not just for the expatriate, but also for the whole family to adapt, transit, and assimilate to the unfamiliar environment and culture. Cross-cultural Development with families is an essential ingredient to assist families in their adjustment and adaptation to a new culture and environment. Lesley Lewis, a psychologist, executive coach, author, culturalist, and the founder of Culture3Counsel Limited (www.culture3counsel.com), has worked with many families in transitioning into a new home. She also works with cross-cultural families and couples to understand how the dynamics of two or more cultures can affect the family unit. She has worked with TCK’s (Third Culture Kids) and ATCK’s (Adult Third Culture Kids), which is one of her special interests. Lesley has been living in Hong Kong for over 30 years, and lived in Canada and the United States. She has over thirty years in the Human Services Field.
Do you know, as a business owner, you have access to many kinds of resources that can help you export products or services? When we, the consultants at PTCG work with American companies to grow business in the China market, we have noticed that many don’t know the resources that are available to them. Therefore, I invite Ava Bao, President of Chinese American General Chamber of Commerce (CAGCC, http://cagcc.com/), to share with us what they do to help businesses bridge the opportunities with China. In addition, Michele Ko, Business Development Manager from Washington State Department of Commerce, will explain how small businesses can leverage the Export Voucher program to offset their exporting expenses, using the China International Import Expo as an example. The Expo will be held in Shanghai in Nov 2018, and many companies expect to find buyers from China. For more information about the Export Voucher program, please go to http://www.commerce.wa.gov/.
Professor David McHardy Reid from the Albers School of Business and Economics in Seattle University has published around 100 papers, three books and numerous articles in management journals, mainly on international strategy with respect to China and Japan. He has extended experience in both industries and academics and has consulted to major corporations on both corporate and business strategy. In his most recent papers he talked about China’s innovation, and that China is going through a period he called “Absorptivity Capacity”. He also researched on which are the top cities in China with most innovations and provided practical guidance on how we can use this research to strategize our business in China. Please listen to the interview with Professor Reid to understand more about the pace of innovation and the implications to your business. More information about Professor David McHardy Reid please check his LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mchardy-reid-73955b/
Many small businesses in the US are exporting to China today. David Liu, a Chinese who has lived and worked in the US for 30 years, and was a technical consultant in the IT industry, is exporting wine to China. He is one of the businesses that are planning to exhibit at the China International Import Expo in November 2018 in Shanghai. Why did David transit from his technology field to the wine business? How is he doing with his export business? What is the impact of the US/China trade war to his business? What is his plan? Please join me with David Liu to hear his thoughts about the trade and his small exporting business between US and China.
China International Import Expo (CIIE 2018) is the biggest import trade show in China, and is estimated to attract over 150,000 corporate buyers to spend tens of billions of dollars and is a unique opportunity for worldwide businesses to market their products and services to public, private and state-owned enterprises in China. The CIIE was announced by President Xi Jinping in 2017 and is hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and Shanghai Municipal People's Government as well as being supported by the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. So why should you attend CIIE? What is the difference of this Expo vs. other events? What to expect from this event? How to make the most out from this expo? Let’s hear from Yun Gao who is leading projects in facilitating CIIE to share with us his thoughts on this event.
China’s healthcare spending is projected to reach 1 trillion US dollars in 2020, growing rapidly from $356 billion in 2011. What is driving the market growth in China? What kind of challenges and opportunities are behind it? In this episode, Ms. Jing DiPiero, the founder and CEO of DPR Consulting LLC(http://www.dprconsulting.net/), will share her insights with us. Located in Portland, Oregon, USA, DPR Consulting is an organization established by industry leaders in healthcare and global business. It introduces, educates and offers comprehensive medical solutions to Chinese patients, medical practitioners and administrators. It also works with Chinese hospitals and local governments in the field of medicine, innovation and health.
We've talked about China’s healthcare market opportunities in the previous episodes, some audience are interested in how to seize these opportunities. For example, if you are a manufacturer of medical products, who should you work with to market and sell to Chinese customers? What kind of partnership should you look for in China? What is the process for your medical products to register and be distributed in China? In this episode, I will discuss these questions with Christina Zhao, Founder of two companies, Pharmed and Polycare, to understand from the agent and distributor side, how they have been helping worldwide manufacturers sell into China over the past decade. Her perspectives and experience from starting as a distributor inside China for foreign manufacturers, to becoming a source agent to introduce worldwide products to China, and to becoming an investor to develop and manufacture medical products for Chinese customers, will be informative to you.
Since China opened the door to the world in the 1980s, many foreign companies have made efforts to invest and establish subsidiaries in China, mainly for the relatively low-cost labors and materials or for the massive Chinese market. The Chinese government has issued many policies to attract foreign investment, experts and know-hows. However, some of those foreign companies have failed and retreated from China, while some have thrived and China becomes a major growth market. If we take out the macroeconomic factors such as political impact and global financial crises, and focus mainly on factors that companies have more control on, what are the major reasons for the failures and successes? What can business leaders learn from the lessons of those companies? In this episode, Weidong Chen, Founder and CEO of HAORAY will share his observations through management consulting practices. We will also discuss some opportunities and trends we have seen in the recent years in China.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a hot buzz word today. Any device that is connected to the internet is part of the IoT and is exposed to potential risks. As the biggest market that manufactures many types of devices and with the 5G infrastructure deployment is leading in the globe, China has played a critical role in the IoT world. But why China will be the leading IoT market in the future? How far away is IoT to our lives? Why IoT is important to everyone today? What are the potential risks of IoT brings to consumers and businesses? In this episode, Mr. Song Li, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Co-founder of NewSky Security, will share with us about his thoughts on this topic. Mr. Li is an expert on CPU architecture, communication protocols, web applications and cybersecurity, and an invited expert of W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) for their connected cars initiative.
With a population of 1.4 billion and among which 21% are over 55 years old in China, it is easy to understand that healthcare is a huge opportunity there. But before you jump into this market as a foreigner, you may want to understand these questions: how does the healthcare industry look like in China today? What is the difference of the China healthcare infrastructure compared to that in the US? What is the trend in healthcare delivery in China? What are the areas you can touch or should not touch? You will get valuable information from this interview with Dr. Tingting Zhang, who has graduated with a PHD in Cancer Biology from Columbia University and then returned to China with a dream to improve Chinese patients’ health.
Many people know China is a huge market and they cannot ignore it, but they also have concerns about working in a market they are not familiar with, and especially after having heard stories about intellectual property protection challenges in China. What should a successful partnership look like? How do you build business partnerships in China? Who should you work with? What resources you can tap into? What are the industries you need to concern about IP protection and how? In this episode, Andy Wilson, Chair of the Washington State China Relations Council, will share with you his thoughts about these questions. Andy has been a leader in international economic development, innovation, and China-U.S. trade for more than 25 years. Working predominately in the corporate sector, he has led the growth of a series of technology and consumer products companies across Europe, North America, and Asia – and particularly in China.
The Chinese New Year in 2018 is right at the corner on Feb 16, and how would businesses in China celebrate this holiday and how is it going to impact your business? China is a big country, what different social customs and habits do people have from different regions in China? In this episode Michelle Zou and Alex Lu will share with you how global and local companies in China run their rhythm of business accordingly to the Chinese traditions and holidays, and what you want to know about the sub-cultures inside China. Knowing these basics will help you be more effective in communicating with Chinese and running your business.
Major social media services such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube are not accessible in China today. But China has its own social media service and is being used by over a billion users. The China market is incredibly unique and dynamic. With the increasing purchasing power of Chinese middle-class consumers and the desire of living a quality life, international brands now have a fantastic opportunity to sell to this 300-400 million lucrative Chinese population. But how can foreign companies reach this group of Chinese consumers? How much would it cost? How difficult it is to do so? Brad Chen, the CEO of ecommerce solution provider WeMart, will introduce you an ecommerce-through-social media approach to help international brands sell to its target consumers in China.
How big is the China market? What kind of purchasing power do Chinese consumers have today? Why should your business consider the China market? For foreign small and medium size businesses that want to sell into the China market, what are some ways to do that without spending a big budget? Why digital marketing works? What are some successful examples from western companies selling into the China consumers? What industries can consider using digital marketing to sell into China? And what to look for in a good Chinese partner? If you have any of the above questions, you will find the answer from Anderson Liu, CEO of Westwin. By collaborating with major search engines and social media platforms in China and globally, Westwin provides cross-border digital marketing strategies and solutions for Chinese and foreign advertisers and serves as the window for businesses to enter into the China market.
As the second largest economy in the world, China offers boundless opportunities and potentials for worldwide companies to develop business there. What are the opportunities and challenges in doing business in China? What are the tips for leaders to prepare a trip and negotiate at the meeting table? What are the important things to remember when working together with Chinese partners or leading Chinese employees? Listen to the discussion between our host Michelle Zou and guest Jim Fredricksen. Both have worked at Microsoft in China and have done businesses with many Chinese companies. If you are interested in doing business in China, or working with Chinese people, you will learn a lot of tips and tricks through this discussion to help you have a successful international career to China.
How does China look like today? What do Americans like about China? What kind of opportunities for Americans come to China? Working in the US Embassy and have lived in two big China cities, Guangzhou and Beijing, Janice Englehart has observed China with her unique way. Through her professional work, and through her personal life, Janice has deeply engaged in the energetic working style and life style in China. She will help you demystify what China really is. If you are interested in exploring China, or working with Chinese people, or looking for opportunities to bring your own product or services to China, you will find this discussion highly informative and exciting.