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A magnet for new business opportunities
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THE recently ended Rio Olympics was not only a venue for athletes to show off talents. It was also a venue for companies around the world to showcase goods and services.
Companies like Huzhou Global Xingyifeng Environmental Protection Technology Co, a Zhejiang Province firm that supplied US$500,000 worth of disposable tableware used to feed Rio athletes.
General Manager Xie Zidong said he was proud his company was chosen to supply the merchandise. It provided an opportunity to market the company’s green technology. All the dishes, knives, forks and bowls mostly decompose with no chemical trace within three months.
“The Olympics was a platform for us to show the world the latest in ‘made-in-China,’” said Xie, noting that almost all the company’s products are exported to Europe, the US, Brazil and Japan.
Indeed, Zhejiang is a province known for its dynamic economy, creative entrepreneurship and global perspective. Over a century ago, Zhejiang residents crossed oceans to settle overseas, where they first operated small businesses like laundries and restaurants, and then went on to build more substantial companies.
When China began its policy of economic reforms and opening to the outside world, Zhejiang businessmen were at the front of the line in delivering what was then cheap merchandise to the world.
That’s all changed. Contemporary policies create a revolving door of Chinese businesses expanding overseas and foreign businesses welcomed to these shores. The emphasis now is on quality and innovation.
In the past two years alone, 22 industrial parks have been built in Zhejiang to marry the money and expertise of foreign companies with the talent and drive of local businesses.
The China-Australia Modern Industry Park (Zhoushan) Project is one of them. It is a 10 billion yuan (US$150 million) free-trade zone focused on importing Australian dairy products, beef, lamb and seafood.
“China and Australia are highly complementary in terms of resources and markets,” said New Hope Group Chairman Liu Yonghao, a local company that invested in the project. “There is huge potential for mutual business.”
The Zhejiang Sino-Dutch (Jiashan) Industrial Cooperation Park, now under construction, will be focused on businesses related to clean energy, ecological agriculture and tourism. Windmills will generate electricity, and vegetables will be planted on office building rooftops. There will also be a beer museum and a shop dedicated to products from the Netherlands.
“This place is like America was 100 years ago, full of opportunities,” said Lauri Tammi, a Finnish entrepreneur who lives in Hangzhou and is currently producing a documentary about expatriates in China.
“China today is becoming more and more like the prosperous Tang Dynasty,” he said, “and I want to help China tell its story abroad. China’s renaissance is critical for peace and harmony in the world, but mistrust remains. I feel it is our generation’s mission to try to change that.”
Tammi studied in Shenzhen, worked in Beijing and came to Hangzhou two months ago to enjoy what he calls a “combination of modernization, relaxed lifestyle and historic culture.”
Meanwhile, the French Federation of Women’s Ready-to-Wear has opened an office in Hangzhou. It’s manager is Frenchman Pierre Tabli.
“Shanghai is a platform for China to go to abroad, but our priority is to bring business into China,” Tabli explained. “Hangzhou is known as an economic hub for technology and industry. It is the top province in China for the ready-to-wear clothing industry because of its history of investment in textiles.”
The federation helps mid-sized French fashion brands find Chinese partners, open stores online or offline and arrange for local production of clothing.
According to a report from the federation, China’s ready-to-wear fashion market surged 17 percent last year.
“Asia is rising, and Europe needs to catch up,” he said. “With globalization, the rules of international trade have been changing. China is the center of the luxury goods economy, and India is catching up. ”
The federation has introduced more than 10 brands into China, including IKKS, Nathalie Chaize and Mado.
According to Tabli, French fashion businesses have had trouble in the past adapting to the trends and tastes of Chinese customers. There were language and cultural barriers with partners, and shipping products from France to China wasn’t fast enough.
“E-commerce has changed the way Chinese people purchase things,” said Tabli. “They don’t want to wait for months for new clothes to arrive.”
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