By Diana Wang

• Exhibitor analysis

Based on market research, you may already be able to get a list of remarkable Chinese suppliers. Then you cross-reference with the exhibitor list to see which remarkable Chinese suppliers will attend the show in China and which will not. It is likely that there will be some exhibitors which are not covered in your market research. You need to do some web research on each of them to see if they are remarkable as well. For all the exhibitors you are interested in, you may conduct some research and get some basic understanding on what product they supply, where and how many they export, what position they occupy in the industry and whether they can supply you.

By browsing the exhibitors’ websites and from conducting the research, you may find more information and get a better understanding of how you can cooperate with these suppliers. Read the rest of “Achieve Good Results From Sourcing Exhibitions in China – Part 4″ or post a comment

By Diana Wang

Do sufficient preparation

After you identify the right exhibition you want to attend in China, you will start with some preparation work. As far as I know, most companies will only prepare in terms of logistics, such as visa and accommodation arrangements. However, if you do a little bit more work on analyzing the targets of the trip, you will find it far more productive.

• Team set-up

Ideally, the team visiting the exhibition in China needs to include both a product expert and a decision-maker on commercial aspects, which means it should involve representatives of at least the technical and purchasing departments. The team should be given a clear target to meet during their trip to China, such as a thorough study of the Chinese market, Chinese supplier approach, or collection of proper samples.

• Material preparation

Because of the inconvenience caused by long travel, many persons only bring a few marketing materials or their company introduction and they sometimes do not even prepare a hard copy. Read the rest of “Achieve Good Results From Sourcing Exhibitions in China – Part 3″ or post a comment

By Desmond Wang

After your first study visit to China, you may realize that doing business in China requires a local presence of your firm to facilitate business communications, or you may wish to further assess a better understanding of the size and potential of the China market before investing committed resources.

The next step is to consider setting a representative office, which is the fastest and the most economical way to competitively position your firm’s presence in China. But first of all, you need to understand if a representative office’s structure is the most appropriate for your firm’s China’s market entry strategy.

A representative office’s primary function is to conduct China market research, and to coordinate parent firm’s activities in China. This includes liaison with local contacts, contract negotiations, warranty and after sales service, lastly import, export and distribution services. Read the rest of “Tips to Set Up a Representative Office in China” or post a comment

Earlier this week while meeting with a friend about their expansion throughout China, and their need to find a logistics provider who could support them, it was clear that many of the same issue I was working with 5 years ago are still found in many ways.

At the very basic level, it is important to think about logistics not simply as the process by which goods are moved, but by which they are moved safely. It is…

Read the rest of “China’s Logistics Zones” or post a comment >>

By Praveen Bhadada

Reflecting a broader trend towards R&D globalization, a number of developing and emerging countries are witnessing increased foreign investments in R&D. A number of emerging locations such as Ukraine, Dubai, Malaysia, Taiwan, Argentina, Bulgaria, Romania, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and many others have started promoting themselves as offshore R&D destinations.

However, both India and China are much ahead on the overall offshore R&D curve. R&D offshoring started in India way back in 1984 with Texas Instruments setting up its first R&D center in Bangalore. China’s R&D offshoring story began in the early ’90s with Motorola being the first company to take advantage of the local talent and low cost in China. Though India was about 10 years ahead of China, the current story is very interesting. Will China overtake India in terms offshoring R&D in days to come has become a favourite question for most of the analysts and most importantly for companies who are actually choosing either of these countries (or others) for their offshore/ outsourcing activities. Read the rest of “India & China: The R&D Offshoring Race” or post a comment