Ten things I have learnt about China
I have spent most of the past week in China. Despite a previous visit to Hong Kong, this was my first trip to the mainland. During the four days I hosted a CPO Agenda roundtable event, met lots of buyers and visited two supplier factories. Here are 10 initial impressions:
1. The standard of spoken English is incredibly high. If it isn’t already the case soon there will be more English speakers in China than in England.
2. The professionalism applied to procurement there is comparable to the UK. I met lots of Chinese and ex-pat buyers and they are tackling many of the same issues in many of the same ways.
3. Things happen quickly in China. Skyscrapers appear within months, roads and railways are constructed at breathtaking speed. Whatever advantage we may still hold will not last long.
4. And we don’t have any advantage in many sectors. Industry there knows there is no point in trying to compete in areas such as automotive. But for newer sectors such as wind turbines and solar power, China is starting from the same point.
5. China doesn’t want to remain the place that can compete only on price. They want to compete on products and expertise.
6. And while some workers in sectors such as textiles and electronics still suffer poor working conditions, the norm is much closer to conditions (if not salaries) that you would expect in a European factory.
7. The disparity between the haves and have-nots is vast. Allied to the heightened expectations of younger generations and sky-high process, social problems in the future are highly likely.
8. We all know about the issue with Google, but Facebook is banned in China. As is Twitter and YouTube.
9. There is disagreement about the extent of local corruption. A combination of a reluctance to bring prosecutions, for corporations to avoid bad press and the patchy nature of reference taking means the miscreants are rarely caught.
10. Unless you really have a death wish don’t try to cross the road in Shanghai
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Should one be surprised by the astonishingp pace of Chinese in picking up English and other, one has to follow suit by learning their languages and dialects, even
This facilitates 2-way communication in the context of our profession – purchasing and supply. Rest assured that China will lead the global economy in a few years. Don’t forget that their Hong Kong is one of Asia’s 4 Dragons. Hong Kong has learnt much from UK when it was under UK’s regime.
No point trying to compete in the automotive sector? Not even given the costs of shipping from the Far East, import duties, salary levels due to exceed Western levels and an exchange rate which is likely to be adjusted favourably? Conversely, for the newer technologies mentioned China may have advantages in raw material sources.
While English is widely spoken in areas such as Shanghai and Beijing this is not the case further inland in China. I visited 5 factories in early May and found only one person that spoke English.
China will soon consume all it’s manf output leaving little of value for export!
I would not cross the road or drive anywhere in China!
Glad you enjoyed your trip, I have lived here for nearly five years now, and never ceased to be amazed by some of the things you mention in your Top 10 list. Don’t be fooled though,every economic power has its heyday, and leadership in this category will remain cyclical. Business is not just about who has the biggest population, though China leads the way in cost led manufacturing,they still generally lack powerful brands, and this means those countries that can’t be cost leaders can still innovate in order to survive.
PS I agree very few people outside of the main cities speak English, (though this is changing rapidly), and good business communication is still a challenge.
Maybe you will have another new view visiting China after several years. Chinese are trying hard to get the recognization from all over the world.