Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Date of visit : 21/03/2007, Wednesday

Place of visit : Zhuhai Science and Technological Coast

Also known as Zhuhai Southern Software Park, this trade development area was established in August 2001. There are 11 trade development area in China, including Beijing and Shanghai.

The main objective is to target companies who are currently looking for R&D testing site. It offers a wide range of benefits, including tax benefits. Other than that, there are exclusive benefits that serves other specific businesses.

It provides a student area currently known as the Pioneer Undertaking Park for chinese studying abroad. The main aim is to discover talents.

They also target at young entrepreneurs who have completed their course of overseas studying to set up their own business in China. Many special benefits are also given to students if they set up their business in that area.
secrets revealed by IBSMsherly at 11:11 PM | 0 replies

Date of visit : 20/03/2007, Tuesday


Another day without company visit. Yayy.


Place of visit 1 : Cha Jia Ming


the four of us again





Toilet!



Place of visit 2 : Hakka Village


Things that you can do there:




1. Horse riding





2. pull cart


3. Archery

And I didn't try any of it. -.-

Place of visit 3 : Strawberry farm






Place of visit 4 : Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall




I told my dad I tried to steal this bonsai for him. But it's really heavy.


Entrance

Me & Weixuan. This place is restricted. But we sneak in.




secrets revealed by IBSMsherly at 11:05 PM | 0 replies

Date of visit : 19th March 2007, Monday

Place of visit 1 : Sunten Electric Co.










Products:
1. Dry type transformer ( RMB 0.8 billion ) --> largest production in China
2. Rector ( RMB 2 billion )
3. Substation ( RMB 2 billion )
4. Switch gear ( RMB 1 billion - 1.5 billion )




These products generate an annual sales of RMB 15 billion.



Problems faced by Sunten:

1. Increase in raw material (e.g. copper, steel) price by 2 to 3 times


When the product is manufactured, usually there will be time delay of around 6 months before the product is sent to the buyers. Hence, the differences in raw material price would affect the cashflow and profit of the company.


2. Competitors


Manufacturing industries in China is well known for its low cost production. Sunten has identified 5 local competitors. These competitors gain their market share by lowering the price of their products which would eventually affect the quality of their products. Sunten believe in superior quality of products to gain trust from the customers.


3. Internal factors


3.1. Fund/capital/cashflow
These difficulty arise mainly from the increase in raw materials price.


3.2. Employees
High turnover result in difficulty for Sunten to retain their talents





The speaker also shared with us the factors to success for MNCs:


1. Culture

1.1. Chinese believe in the concept of 'Guanxi' and 'Mianzi'

1.2. There are basic rules and regulations as well as laws for the company to follow. Be it written or unwritten, companies are expected to know it all.

1.3. Attracting local talents are they are more familiar with the local working environment.


2. Marketing

Company should plan for both short term and long term marketing scheme in order to achieve the best result in marketing the company's brand and products.


3. Market share

2 years ago, 90% of the sales for Sunten was from China itself. Now, there are 40% to 50% of the sales come from Middle East (e.g. Dubai, Iran), Malaysia, Austria and Korea. Hence, it is important to expand the company market share.



Place of visit 2 : Sun Feng San Park






Me and Lao Yao - our tour guide


Salute!!!


Eh. Dont snatch lei..




I got it. It s mine. Lala~




From left to right : Carol, Tiffany, Kezia, Me, Mingli

Bye2

Place of visit 3 : Zhongshan Torch


Zhongshan Torch is set up in 1990.





Population :
Local : 50,000 people
Non-local : 150,000 people

GDP : RMB 165 billion

Companies e.g. Poretech, EMC, Canon, Casio, etc

There 5 industries within the Zhongshan Torch :

1. Electronic and information technology
2. Biology and pharmacy
3. Fine chemical industry
4. Automobile fitting
5. Modern packaging and printing

Total invesment : RMB 30 billion

secrets revealed by IBSMsherly at 10:28 PM | 0 replies

Date of visit : 18th March 2007, Sunday

Place of visit 1 : CIFF 2007 Home Furniture Convention, Guangzhou

We visited the Annual Furniture Convention at the Chinese Export Commodities Fair Pazhou Complex. It is one of the large scale conventions in China. Representative from numerous international furniture companies set up booth there to display their products.



Sad to say, we are not allowed to take any pictures inside.




We entered as overseas buyer

Place of visit 2 : Yong Xiang Furniture

Yong Xiang Furniture had two factories within the same location. The one we visited was for the assembly purpose while the other one is the production factory. The two factories was separated due to the high pollution in that area.


The furniture set are mainly exported to Middle East, Europe and USA. Their yearly production total up to 2000 - 3000 sets of sofas.


Effort to increase competitiveness:
1. constantly improving on the furniture design
2. provide customization



Currently, the lack of electricity is one of the major problem the company is facing. The nucleated factories is the main cause why electricity is lacking in that area. There would be 2-3 days in a week whereby the electricity for the factory would be cut down. To solve this problem, the company have to use their own generator to cope with their need of electricity.
secrets revealed by IBSMsherly at 9:58 PM | 0 replies

Date of Visit : 17th March 2007, Saturday

It's a saturday. No company visit. Pure fun. =]

Place of Visit 1 : Site of Weiyuan Battery




Glenda, Me, Kezia, Christine, Peixuan




Tze Kee, Joyce, Kezia, Me, Peixuan, Denise, Jasmine




the four of us with zhi wen


Place of Visit 2 : Foshan Ancestral Temple






Place of Visit 3 : Wong Fei Hong Memorial Site




the real Wong Fei Hong
Place of Visit 4 : Foshan Ceramics



secrets revealed by IBSMsherly at 9:54 PM | 0 replies

Date of Visit: 16/03/2007, Friday, 10:00AM


Place of Visit 1 : Guangzhou Zhujiang Piano Co. Ltd


It started off in 1956 with 60 to 70 workers and a production of less than 20 pianos per year. Now, the company has a production scale of 12,000 pianos per year. Guangzhou Zhujiang Piano Co. Ltd carried the brand of Pearl River and Ritmiller (Germany brand). In 2003, the company opened up its market to Germany and USA, increasing the profit tremendously. In the same year, an American magazine rated Guangzhou Zhujiang Piano Co. Ltd as the largest piano factory.






Other products include electric guitar, guitar, violin, drum, etc.











Place of Visit 2 : Guangzhou Business University










We had a lecture by Prof. Le. I was not paying much attention to the presentation as it was very wordy. Worst still, it is all in Chinese. I can't read Chinese. -.-
However, one valuable lesson i learnt was to know how fortunate we are as a student in Singapore. After looking at the studying environment of Guangzhou Business University, i found out that the facilities are not as advanced as compared to our school.



I shall not complain much about my school anymore. I love Ngee Ann! muack.
secrets revealed by IBSMsherly at 9:43 PM | 0 replies

Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Date of Visit : 15th March 2007, Thursday

Place of Visit 1: GuangZhou ZhuJiang Brewery Limited
Zhujiang Brewery is one of the 500 Strongest Enterprise in China Manufacturing Industry and also the largest brewing centre in a single volume all over the world.

Started in 1985, Zhujiang Brewery undergo 21 years of transformation and it is now among the top 3 brands in China brewing trade.
It is the leader in technology, manufacturing, quality, scale and efficiency.
By the way, each of us were given a can of beer as sample.
However, I left my can of beer in the Guangzhou hotel room as it was quite bulky carrying it around..Hehe..
Place of Visit 2 : Networking lunch

After our lunch, we had a sharing session with Mr. Nee the Regional Director of Southern China, International Enterprise Singapore (IES).

Before April 2002, IES was known as Trade Development Board (TDB). In Singapore, IES is under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). IES has over 500 staffs and 37 offices worldwide.

The role of IES:
1) to help Singapore's companies that are ready to expand out and look for bigger market
2) to help Singapore's companies to strengthen their base

Mr. Nee shared with us that IES is actually not interested with company that intend to move out from Singapore. They are helping Singapore's companies to strengthen their base so that the money they earned would eventually flow back to Singapore.

Mr. Nee also mentioned the importance of 'Guanxi' and 'Mianzi' to us, saying that these two concepts are more significant in the less developed part of China (inner land) as compared to the coastal area.


He further explained that the government's law is left for the local government to interpret so that these law would be suitable in local context.


Other than that, Mr. Nee believes that in doing business overseas, attitude to adapt is more important than the language capability and knowledge of culture. However, there are certain things that we should persist. One of which that Mr. Nee highlighted was integrity. With integrity, we would do our business in a reliable way and people would see us as a trustworthy person.




Reason for Singapore to invest in China:

1)Singapore's market is limited. Hence for company to expand they need to go overseas.

2)Labour cost is relatively lower in China and the quality of labour is improving.

3)The supply of raw materials are available in various part of China for different industries.



Place of Visit 3 : Guangzhou wholesale market
Wholesale market vs Shopping centre
I went there with the expectation to shop for things at a lower price. Instead, people there aren't welcoming at all. When we first stepped into the shop and looked around, they knew we aren't their target customers. The shopkeepers didn't bother to entertain us at all. They would simply tell us that they don't do retail sale.
Bad experience no.1 - Shrewd belt seller
Taken place at : leather wholesale market
We went into this particular shop selling belts. The seller agreed to give us discounts if we a minimum of 10 belts. We took a long time choosing. When we tried to bargain more for the price, the seller werent' happy at all. She told us that if we don't want, we can just put down the things and leave. So, we did as she said and she blamed us for wasting her time. She even scolded us *!#$%
Bad experience no.2- luckily we discover her plot
Taken place at : the same leather wholesale market
A group of us tried to bargain for Coach pouch. So we counted in total how many we wanted and she agreed to sell us at certain price.
The seller then send someone to collect the goods from warehouse, while we were standing aside to collect $$ to pay her.
One of us actually heard her telling her fellow friends that she is gonna treat them a sumptuous dinner.
We felt cheated.
So we dont want to buy.
And we ran away.
Luckily she never chased after us.
Bad experience no.3 - open = die die must buy
Taken place at : watch wholesale market
A group of us again, happily purchasing earpiece at the price of S$3. We insisted that the seller should open and test all of the earpiece.
When Xiao Deng came, he told us that the earpiece might not be as good as we thought. When they test for us, they tuned up the volume. Hence, the effect may not be so good on our music player.
Again, we felt cheated.
And again we don't want to buy.
Also, we ran away.
Unluckily, she chased after us up to our bus. She refused to get down even when Lao Yao quarrel with her.
Finally, Lao Yao paid her in exchange for those unwanted earpiece. We felt bad. We paid him back.
Lesson learnt:
1. Learn how to establish 'guanxi'.
When you go into a wholesale market, you show them the intention of doing business with them. For example, you can tell them that you are representing certain companies in doing market research and would like to get some samples. Their attitude to you would be different.
2. Do not get intimidated easily
You should know how to refuse when you don't intend to purchase.
3. Do not ask the seller to open and test for the products unless you are very sure about buying it.












secrets revealed by IBSMsherly at 5:33 AM | 0 replies