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Hangzhou helps firms do global business
By Xu Wenwen |
June 12, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
SIX months ago, Yan Dan sent two containers of lighting products to a client in South America, but she was only paid recently. Once she almost made a deal with someone she met at a trade fair, until she discovered a fake company. Once she was asked to send samples, which she did, and the recipient disappeared.
Yan has run a lighting export company in Hangzhou for a couple of years and is eager to avoid these hazards of doing business.
Last month she attended the Hangzhou Policy Consultation Fair, where entrepreneurs? questions were answered by dozens of professionals from government departments related to economics and trade as well as bank staff.
Through this event, Yan was introduced to a bank, which later provided credit rating service so she could know the credit rating of potential foreign customers before doing business.
òIt is risky to run a tiny company in such a huge market, so understanding and being aware of policies, laws and regulations can protect me,ó Yan says, adding that she got most of her information from helpful fairs, activities and meetings sponsored by the local government.
Free consultation
Yan?s company is one of around 2,000 local enterprises aided by the government-sponsored policy consultation fair and other events.
Since 2004, Hangzhou has also been holding an annual fair offering free consultation to local foreign enterprises and foreign trade companies.
Around 400 people attended the half-day event this year, double the attendance of previous years. Many people were drawn by the unstable foreign trade situation and the issuing of new policies to hedge risks.
In addition to such consultation fairs, the city holds seminars about taxes and laws related to foreign trading companies. It also sponsors delegations of heads of private firms on promotional trips abroad.
Hangzhou offers many services to foreign-invested and foreign trade companies. From helping companies find financing to broadening the international market, the Hangzhou Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau aims to facilitate the work of foreign companies in the city.
For a long time, cooperation between private Chinese firms and foreign companies has played an important role in the city?s economy. This year as many as 100 private companies are expected to collaborate with multinational corporations, with an investment of around 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion).
The bureau plans to facilitate the settlement in Hangzhou of 50 key foreign investment programs. Ten leading local firms will be promoted by the local government to cooperate with world?s top 500 enterprises. Another consultation fair will focus on cooperation between private firms and foreign companies.
The bureau is cooperating with China Citic Bank to extend its credit guaranty service to cover 20 percent of local foreign trade enterprises this year.
The bureau, which collaborates with several banks, invites bank professionals to give lectures in enterprises, especially small and medium-sized companies.
Banking strategies are expected to cover more than 30,000 small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises, and arrange 15 billion yuan in financing.
Training sessions for local enterprises will include lectures by government professionals, bankers and lawyers about foreign currency policies, state taxes, customs policies, foreign trade laws and regulations.
Persistent problems
As a convenience, government staff will visit foreign trade companies in districts where there is a high concentration of foreign firms, so company staff need not go to government offices to complete annual inspection procedures.
òWe can?t solve all the problems, but we try to solve as many as we can,ó said Hong Qinghua, director of Hangzhou Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, at the beginning of the consultation fair.
He said persistent problems in Hangzhou?s foreign trade exports became severe this year, due to the rising exchange rate of the yuan against the US dollar.
Also, the slowdown in Europe and the European debt crisis have made it difficult for Europeans to place as many orders as in the past. And, as US signs of economic recovery are still uncertain, the demand for Chinese products is unlikely to improve in the short term.
According to the Hangzhou Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, from January to April this year, the new contractual foreign capital in the city was US$1.6 billion, 4.13 percent higher from a year earlier. But in previous years, the year-on-year increase was more than 5 percent.
Given the economic outlook, the local government started early this year to implement a package of plans and policies to promote more economic communication between Hangzhou companies and foreign countries.
The government will arrange for foreign-invested companies and foreign trade companies in Hangzhou to attend 10 important international exhibitions in China, such as the East China Fair, 20 important international exhibitions abroad like IMM Cologne, a furniture trade show, and 100 recommended international exhibitions that are held overseas like Hong Kong Fashion Week.
In 2011, Hangzhou approved the establishment of 500 foreign-invested companies, securing US$4.72 billion of actual foreign investment, up 8.4 percent from a year earlier. Contracted foreign direct investment increased 6 percent year-on-year to US$8.17 billion in 2011.
Yan has run a lighting export company in Hangzhou for a couple of years and is eager to avoid these hazards of doing business.
Last month she attended the Hangzhou Policy Consultation Fair, where entrepreneurs? questions were answered by dozens of professionals from government departments related to economics and trade as well as bank staff.
Through this event, Yan was introduced to a bank, which later provided credit rating service so she could know the credit rating of potential foreign customers before doing business.
òIt is risky to run a tiny company in such a huge market, so understanding and being aware of policies, laws and regulations can protect me,ó Yan says, adding that she got most of her information from helpful fairs, activities and meetings sponsored by the local government.
Free consultation
Yan?s company is one of around 2,000 local enterprises aided by the government-sponsored policy consultation fair and other events.
Since 2004, Hangzhou has also been holding an annual fair offering free consultation to local foreign enterprises and foreign trade companies.
Around 400 people attended the half-day event this year, double the attendance of previous years. Many people were drawn by the unstable foreign trade situation and the issuing of new policies to hedge risks.
In addition to such consultation fairs, the city holds seminars about taxes and laws related to foreign trading companies. It also sponsors delegations of heads of private firms on promotional trips abroad.
Hangzhou offers many services to foreign-invested and foreign trade companies. From helping companies find financing to broadening the international market, the Hangzhou Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau aims to facilitate the work of foreign companies in the city.
For a long time, cooperation between private Chinese firms and foreign companies has played an important role in the city?s economy. This year as many as 100 private companies are expected to collaborate with multinational corporations, with an investment of around 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion).
The bureau plans to facilitate the settlement in Hangzhou of 50 key foreign investment programs. Ten leading local firms will be promoted by the local government to cooperate with world?s top 500 enterprises. Another consultation fair will focus on cooperation between private firms and foreign companies.
The bureau is cooperating with China Citic Bank to extend its credit guaranty service to cover 20 percent of local foreign trade enterprises this year.
The bureau, which collaborates with several banks, invites bank professionals to give lectures in enterprises, especially small and medium-sized companies.
Banking strategies are expected to cover more than 30,000 small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises, and arrange 15 billion yuan in financing.
Training sessions for local enterprises will include lectures by government professionals, bankers and lawyers about foreign currency policies, state taxes, customs policies, foreign trade laws and regulations.
Persistent problems
As a convenience, government staff will visit foreign trade companies in districts where there is a high concentration of foreign firms, so company staff need not go to government offices to complete annual inspection procedures.
òWe can?t solve all the problems, but we try to solve as many as we can,ó said Hong Qinghua, director of Hangzhou Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, at the beginning of the consultation fair.
He said persistent problems in Hangzhou?s foreign trade exports became severe this year, due to the rising exchange rate of the yuan against the US dollar.
Also, the slowdown in Europe and the European debt crisis have made it difficult for Europeans to place as many orders as in the past. And, as US signs of economic recovery are still uncertain, the demand for Chinese products is unlikely to improve in the short term.
According to the Hangzhou Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, from January to April this year, the new contractual foreign capital in the city was US$1.6 billion, 4.13 percent higher from a year earlier. But in previous years, the year-on-year increase was more than 5 percent.
Given the economic outlook, the local government started early this year to implement a package of plans and policies to promote more economic communication between Hangzhou companies and foreign countries.
The government will arrange for foreign-invested companies and foreign trade companies in Hangzhou to attend 10 important international exhibitions in China, such as the East China Fair, 20 important international exhibitions abroad like IMM Cologne, a furniture trade show, and 100 recommended international exhibitions that are held overseas like Hong Kong Fashion Week.
In 2011, Hangzhou approved the establishment of 500 foreign-invested companies, securing US$4.72 billion of actual foreign investment, up 8.4 percent from a year earlier. Contracted foreign direct investment increased 6 percent year-on-year to US$8.17 billion in 2011.
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