Starting up China
What drives entrepreneurs in China, especially when the risks and difficulties appear to be so numerous? "The New Elite: opportunism and Challenges faced by Chinese Entrepreneurs" brought several successful entrepreneurs' experiences in China to the session. Oddly enough the moderator started the session off with a list of questions that would not be addressed by the panelists. Unfortunately the banned questions would have made the session extremely interesting, instead of merely informational. What were the banned questions?
*Is western intellectual property safe?
*What is the state of corruption in China?
*Are western companies successful without connections?
*Do you need the support of a party member?
*Is the party above the law?
*Will China change now that it is in the WTO?
But regardless, one interesting thread in the session was all panelists believe the business climate in China is far better than conventional western wisdom would indicate. The key to doing business in China, according to the panelists, is to have a willingness to work with the government as well as locating a reliable, trusted local partner to provide support and management for your operations in China.
How then does one work in a climate that is widely seen as being exploitive and repressive? These entrepreneurs believe that the Chinese government is working hard to respond to outside criticisms, and what it needs is the partnership of the outside world, not necessarily our criticism. Only through patient partnership with the Chinese government will we see any real progress on human rights, freedom the of press and the freedom of religion.
What are the challenges for entrepreneurs? Market fragmentation and an overheated enterprenuerial atmosphere are making it hard for individual entrepreneurs to succeed. The other problem is the relative lack of native professional management, China does not have a deep talent pool to drawl from nor does it show to be improving, and strong intrinsic discrimination exists between those Chinese who've been overseas for education and business and those who've not.
For session details and speaker biographies, click here.
*Is western intellectual property safe?
*What is the state of corruption in China?
*Are western companies successful without connections?
*Do you need the support of a party member?
*Is the party above the law?
*Will China change now that it is in the WTO?
But regardless, one interesting thread in the session was all panelists believe the business climate in China is far better than conventional western wisdom would indicate. The key to doing business in China, according to the panelists, is to have a willingness to work with the government as well as locating a reliable, trusted local partner to provide support and management for your operations in China.
How then does one work in a climate that is widely seen as being exploitive and repressive? These entrepreneurs believe that the Chinese government is working hard to respond to outside criticisms, and what it needs is the partnership of the outside world, not necessarily our criticism. Only through patient partnership with the Chinese government will we see any real progress on human rights, freedom the of press and the freedom of religion.
What are the challenges for entrepreneurs? Market fragmentation and an overheated enterprenuerial atmosphere are making it hard for individual entrepreneurs to succeed. The other problem is the relative lack of native professional management, China does not have a deep talent pool to drawl from nor does it show to be improving, and strong intrinsic discrimination exists between those Chinese who've been overseas for education and business and those who've not.
For session details and speaker biographies, click here.
posted by z at 6:21 PM
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