Amway chairman upbeat about China’s economy
Print Edition
STEVE Van Andel, chairman of Amway Corporation, spoke positively about the trade relationship between China and the United States, and remained upbeat about the US direct selling giant’s business outlook in China.
In June 2013, Van Andel was elected chairman of the US Chamber of Commerce. It’s his second term after he served for one year as chairman from 2001 to 2002.
Later this month, Van Andel will host the annual shareholders’ meeting of the US Chamber of Commerce, which will elect a new chairman. “US businesses are happy to hear Amway’s success story here and they also see huge opportunities here,” he said last week in Guangzhou.
Having talked to many US businessmen in his capacity as chairman of US Chamber of Commerce, Van Andel said Amway’s experience served as a good example for other US businesses that are looking to tap the market potential in one of the world’s fastest growing economies.
During his visit to Guangzhou, Van Andel also met with Hu Chunhua, Party secretary of Guangdong Province, and said during the meeting that its continual growth in China demonstrated Guangdong’s favorable business environment.
Amway has expanded its manufacturing lines since it first set up a factory in Guangzhou 22 years ago.
Most US businesses were attracted by opportunities in the infrastructure sector several years back, but now that China has been shifting its economic structure and putting more focus on consumer-oriented growth, it gives room for businesses to expand, especially consumer goods companies, Van Andel said.
Commenting on China’s rising labor costs over the years, Van Andel said that Amway considers numerous factors when deciding where to locate manufacturing sites. “Factors such as proximity to raw materials, access to a vast consumer market and transportation are also every important, and it’s not only labor costs that we consider,” he said.
“We’re very positive about our business development here in the past 20 years as a direct-selling company,” he commented.
“We’ve successfully worked our way through and now that China already has a complete set of rules for direct selling businesses, we remain upbeat about the healthy direct selling business environment here in the future.
“Its Amway’s long-term mission and challenge to offer products that consumers desire and as long as we stick to that, we’ll be a successful business.”
Although the direct selling model is relatively new to the Chinese market, it was built on human relationships, which is a deep aspect of the Chinese culture.
When asked about how Amway would leverage the huge impact the Internet has brought to Chinese people’s dailylife, Van Andel said: “Building Amway’s business upon people’s relationships has been our core competence over the years and we’ve been promoting our business through various forms of communication with our staff and consumers. It’s important for us to leverage the latest technology to better facilitate our business.”
He added that a market economy is the “right match” for the entrepreneurship that he’s been promoting as chairman of the US Chamber of Commerce.
In 2012, Amway announced a 600 million yuan (US$95 million) investment plan in China to expand its production site in the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development District, and establish a research and development center in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province.
The China Botanical Research Center in Wuxi will use cutting-edge research techniques to bring the benefits of traditional Chinese medicine to a wide range of products for the international market.
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