Top 3 Disadvantages of Doing Business in China

The 3 main disadvantages are:

-The understanding of the English language: As you know, the language of business is English. What happens is that they have learned the language like a textbook. That is, they will be very good at writing and reading but their “listening” will be quite poor.

Keep in mind that there are many and every day more exceptions to the above, especially with the huge number of Chinese students studying abroad and then returning home to do business.

Due to the foregoing, you should understand that COMPLICATED WORDS SHOULD NOT BE USED. Try to speak simple English and you will avoid many of the disadvantages of doing business in China, which mostly arise due to communication problems.

-The meaning of a customer for life: Chinese have a very short-term mindset mainly due to cultural and historical factors. Because of this, they don’t see the long-term business relationship. No matter how much you tell them, and no matter how much they talk about it, they believe that sooner or later the client will go to someone else. It’s like they don’t really care because they know that if you don’t buy or invest, someone else will.

Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, and I suggest that when you find a long-term minded supplier or partner stick with it, it will save you a lot of time, effort, and money.

Therefore, you must realize the fact that you always need to have a variety of potential providers and “friends” to turn to in case the service you receive goes down. Many foreigners simply believe that they hit the jackpot once they make a deal and just sit back and wait for a level of service like they get in their country without realizing that the provider in most cases will look at the money first. is going to win. in that deal rather than for the duration of the relationship.

-The meaning of quality: I love this word. It is the most used word in China other than “yes, no and sorry”. Everything seems to be of such high quality in China that the word itself has lost its meaning. As Timothy Ferris says in his book “The Four Hour Workweek”, the more a word is used, the more it loses its meaning.

For China, quality means “it looks the same”. I emphasize the words SEEMS. Their way of seeing reality is different and you can’t blame them. They don’t know how to create things (unlike the Japanese), they just know how to better copy it so that it LOOKS the same.

Due to the above, it is a normal disadvantage when doing business in China that you have to stress and stress over and over the fact that you don’t want it to look the same, but you WANT IT THE SAME. This means the interior, the exterior, the raw materials used, the finish, the resistance, etc, etc, etc.

I hope this short summary has been helpful as a start to your success doing business in China.

Best for you, Manoj Shivnani, http://www.starskycorp.com