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Welcome to your Research Business DAILY Report, sponsored by 4i, the growth and foresight
analytics leader.
Back on March 13, we delivered 13 rules for doing business in China developed by Stanley
Chao for his new book, “Selling to China: A Guide to Doing Business in China for Small-
and Medium-Sized Companies.”
When Stanley viewed that RBDR, he wrote back to share 7 specific do's and don'ts for market
research in China, which we're proud to share with all of you today.
Rule #1: go to more than one or two cities in this gigantic country, which Chao says
has four distinct regions: the Northeast, East, West and South.
The Northeast, which includes Beijing, is dominated by heavy-industry and government-controlled
industries.
The East, which includes Shangahi, has more foreign enterprises and privately-owned businesses.
The South boasts high-tech manufacturers.
Chao tells us the West is attracting companies of all kinds with cheap land, labor and energy.
It is early in China's development cycle.
Chao's second rule is to meet with both state-owned and privately-owned enterprises for the very
different perspectives each will provide.
Rule #3 is to meet with both foreign-owned and Chinese-owned businesses for their differing
perspectives.
Chao's 4th rule is to have Chinese-speaking people handle your research and interviews.
This will elicit surprising "off the record" comments.
On to Rule #5, which is avoiding posing generic questions that are automatically asked around
the world. Translation: China is different, and it's important to comprehend how different.
Chao's has two excellent examples.
Cheating, nepotism and bribery are common practices in China, and somewhat acceptable.
So, you need to ask questions about how to deal with these or how to do business avoiding
these unsavory activities.
The second example is understanding that business laws are often not followed, so when you ask
how business is conducted do so knowing certain laws are not followed or enforced.
Rule #6 is to interview lawyers that are involved in your subject matter so you are in touch
with the legal climate as well as market drivers.
And finally, Rule #7, the top executives in companies are not often who you want to speak
with in your research.
In state-owned companies, these people are more interested in being promoted within the
Communist party than the business itself, while many at the top of private businesses
haven't necessarily earned their management position.
Focus your research on ground-level sales people, regional managers and even engineers.
Our thanks for Stanley Chao for sharing these insights exclusively with RBDR.
Again, the name of his book is Selling to China.
That's your Research Business DAILY Report, sponsored by 4i, the growth and foresight
analytics leader.
A group of 4i client testimonials are linked below this video. Including a pair of video
testimonies. Pretty impressive stuff.
Have a great research day. See you Friday with a special edition of RBDR.