My Views and Observations on China Essay

The class trip to China was actu bothy(prenominal) enlightening, and I learnt many interesting things about International melodic phrasees and relations in China during my visit. Some of these surprised me, as they were resigns that I hadnt actually considered before my visit. When I left for China, I knew that the Chinese remarket was peerless of the fastest growing economies in the world along with India, but I had no idea that it would be so serious for International companies to arouse involved in doing duty in China. This is nearlything that I altogether learnt during my trip.How forever, despite the delays and possible riddles that an International Company may realize to causa, I was ease truly impressed with the folksy bea and I believe that the potential for dispatchshoot would still outweigh the issues involved. Therefore I would be very(prenominal) concerned in doing business in China, and in fact, I catch already started aspect into doing that that. The first thing that stood out the most(prenominal) in every talk and site visit we do, was just how over much the Chinese Government influences businesses in Mainland China.As a communist government, they argon very influential, and spend a penny a say in almost every business practice that goes on, so much so that the economy is directly relate to the government. Dr. Jian Yuan and Dr. Sun were both very outspoken on this content during their presentations. They both mentioned that this much influence by the government could be the germ of problems resembling repulse laws, policy problems and an unfair distribution of wealth. Labor Laws in China are very strict and it is onerous to lay mountain off.However, the cheap cost of labor in China could in any case be seen as an advantage for immaterialers, who dope indeed lower their production be much more than if they were using labor from their own countrified. These low labor costs are a direct result of the huge macrocosm and the sheer numbers on available un hot workers. some some other problem that can affect foreign businesses due to the influence of the government is that, as a communist government, they generate complete control of information sources. This centre they control not only the media, but likewise the internet, and companies are inefficient to do business via websites etc.However, this is only a problem for some businesses, and your chosen business would have to take this into account before you made your purpose. In Hong Kong however, there is complete transparency and therefore this is no long a problem if you decide to work there. Dr. Sun said that he realized that the government was omnipresent and that Nationalism is the key to understanding the Chinese mentality, but hopes that in the future there allow be a change to a multi party system as there is in Taiwan.He in like manner said that since 1979 there have been radical changes in China, and that it is getting better every day. Chinese mass have also started to look toward the government to change its policies, and therefore I think back that if you are able to get started in China, despite the current problems, you may be able to expand in the future if the changes continue the personal manner they have been going and China becomes a more free coun cause. Currently, it is quite difficult for an international community to become involved in the Chinese economy.From my discourse with Mr. Jonathan Siboni, the chief operating officer of DEAL (Developing Euro-Asian Links), I learned that there are only three ways that foreigners can heap up a company in China. The first beingness that you only set up a representative office in China, and do not actually do any business such as retail in China. The plump for contingency has only been available since 2006, and that is to set up a WOFE (Wholly own Foreign Enterprise). This is advantageous for foreigners, but there are limitat ions set by the government.The final possibility is to set up a Joint-Venture, which is when a foreign company and a Chinese company join together to set up a company and then split the profits among themselves. In some sectors, this is still the only form of company that foreigners can set up, and in my opinion it is the best option. The principle of Guanxi, or relations, was discussed frequently by many speakers. This is the theory that it is vitally measurable to form serious relations with other citizenry in order to be successful at business in China.Another topic that was often discussed, was that the culture is very important to the Chinese and that you would have to fully understand it if you ever wanted to succeed in the Chinese Market. By forming a join-venture with a pre-existing company, Chinese members of the joint-venture would be available to explain the cultural intricacies that are vital to the business, and they would also already have formed many worth(pred icate) guanxi (relations), that would help your company immensely. The Chinese muckle themselves were another factor that influenced my decision to do business in China.The huge population is larger than that on the States and the EU combined and this means there are a high number of unskilled laborers out there that are looking for jobs and training. They are very sullen on the job(p) people and they take arrogance in their work and want to do a good job. At the shoe and textile factories, we saw that the average working hours were from 8am to 8pm, and all this hard work would definitely increase production. The visit to Ground Floor engineer also showed that they are also very fast workers, which would also positively influence production.The huge population also means that there is the possibility of an enormous target market and a huge demand for your product. The Wal market place that we visited, catered for a market of 7 million people per week, and because of this, had sales figures in 2006 of US $ 747 Billion. This large number of consumers is a definite draw flier for anyone wishing to invest in China. There are also problems with the people. matchless of which is the huge language barrier, as only a very midget population understands English, or any language other than Mandarin, and even fewer are able to read it.This could be another area, where having a Chinese business partner who understands the language would be very helpful. However, with training and painstaking selection of workers, this is not enough of a problem to put me off doing business in China. If you were doing business in Hong Kong, it also becomes less of a problem, as people here are more highly skilled and many are fluent in English as a second language. This is in part due to the fact the Hong Kong used to be a British Colony. Question 2The Chinese Culture is very different from any other culture that I have ever experienced before, and although I did notice a few simi larities with my home country of Morocco, I mainly realized just how different the cultures of both America and Morocco are to that of China. This was something that I had not been expecting to such a large degree. Firstly, I spy that the Chinese people are very proud of themselves, their country and their history, and this influences not only everything that they do, but also their relations with foreigners.They are also very sensitive to the actions of others and easily offended by wasted things that you wouldnt have thought they would be. For example, when sharing a meal with a Chinese person, it is considered urbane to always leave something on your plate uneaten, as this indicates to them that you have eaten enough. If you eat all the food that you have been served, they take it to mean that you are still hungry, and this could be contumelying to them. This is in direct contrast to all other countries I have been in, where it is considered polite to eat all that you have be en served.They also never forget their history, and still think about being defeated by the European Countries and by Japan. This may affect the way that they deal with people from other countries and culture. Another thing that I noticed is that structure and hierarchy is very important to the Chinese. The CEO of Days club told us that in a company or business, everyone knows exactly who is graded above them in the business hierarchy, and insubordination is not tolerated. In meetings, it is polite and expected that people enter the boardroom in order of Hierarchy, with the most senior and important people entering fist.Seats at the knock back are also fit to hierarchy, with the boss or host sit in the middle of the table, facing the door. This is very different from American culture, where they try to promote a sense of equality and camaraderie in the midst of members of the company. For instance, epoch you know who you report to and who you are supposed to being taking adv ocate from, there is a sense that you are both equally important to the company and that you would be able to speak freely and openly with your boss.The enormousness of Gianxi (relations) in China was surprising to me. In all countries, it is important to have good working relations with those around you and with your suppliers and clients, but in China, it is impractical to do business without them. The CEO of Days Inn told us that he needed 50 licenses from the government in order to start the hotel, and that if he didnt have good Gianxi relationships with influential people, this process would have interpreted much longer, and may never have gotten through.This seems to follow the old look Its not what you know, Its who you know whereby in American culture, people believe that its more important that you are good at your job, and if you are it shouldnt matter who you know, or what important contacts you have. Rather, there should be equality and you should succeed because of y our skill. The idea of Face, or Mianzi, being important to a business or individual was also very new to me. The CEO of Days Inn told us that giving face is a mark of personal pride and is the basis of an individuals reputation and complaisant status.Losing face is very embarrassing and it is vital not to lose face in the business world if you want to succeed. A public insult or chastisement is a way of losing face, and even something as small as contradicting someone in front of someone else, or declining an invitation on a weak pretext can lead to a release of face. This idea goes hand in hand with the idea of Gianxi, as a person who has lost face and has a bad reputation, would have a very hard time forming relationships with people that could help there business.Another cultural difference between the East and West is that Westerners are much more straight forward and frank with you, whilst the Chinese are much more conservative and it is difficult to know what they are really thinking. A Chinese person will never tell you No as they think it is rude, and this makes it very difficult to determine whether someone you are working with really agrees with you or just doesnt want to offend you. maxim No to someone can lead to a loss of Mianzi (face) and therefore someone will often say inconvenient or difficult rather than saying No. This is very different from the West, where people are told to say what they think. Another aspect of Chinese culture is that they hate confrontation, and will generally go out of their way to avoid it, even just in a business setting. They also dislike doing business with strangers and semi-formal introductions are necessary before they will do business with you. This is over again where Gianxi become necessary, and is very different from American culture, where they will do business with anyone, as long as it will benefit their companies.At the silk market, eve market and ladies market, I was surprised to find a similarity in culture between China and my home country of Morocco. In both countries, bargaining is an important part of the culture. It is a tradition, and people enjoy it and are not really happy to cuckold without it. They like to feel that they are working to get the best price, and take it as a singularity that they are using their skills to get the best price.It is almost like a game to them, and if someone doesnt bargain, they get disappointed. This is the same in Morocco, where markets or souks are a place where people come together to shop and bargain for good deals. The biggest difference in the cultures between China and other countries that I noticed was when we went on a visit to a local anesthetic village. Here, the people were mostly isolated, and had little to no contact with the outside world, and very little knowledge of westerners.They were also curtly educated, and had mainly spent the legal age of their lives living in the Village, involved in local farming. They were very poor and sometimes only had gas and water twice a week. They also ate and behaved very differently from the more civilized and educated people in Beijing. When we arrived, they looked at us like they had never seen people like us, and wanted to touch and feel us to see what the differences there were between us and them.The visit to the village also brought into light the class issue that is part of the Chinese Culture, and how people are treated differently according to level of education, class and their jobs (Master/Servant relationships). They dont seem to think that there is anything wrong with differentiating between people in this way, and see rural people as being below city people. This is different from the West, where people try to think in terms of equality and equal opportunities no matter your race, station in life, gender or class.