Savio Chan, president and CEO of US China Partners Inc., presented five principles for doing business in China using the letters of CHINA as a mnemonic. The points below report his advice.
C—Culture. Understand the complexity of Chinese culture; business customs may differ from what visitors intuitively expect.
H—Harness government relationships. Develop relationships with local government and use that network to make local business connections.
I—Intellectual property rights. Chan emphasised filing promptly in China and the risks of others applying first for brands or technologies. He noted that large companies had spent millions of dollars recovering rights to their own names or logos from earlier applicants.
N—Navigate markets with strong local partners. Chan stressed the value of a Chinese business partner who can identify pitfalls specific to the local market.
A—Anticipate fierce local competition. He advised engineers to design products in ways that reduce opportunities for copying, warning about copying risks and enforcement difficulties.