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.

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.

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.

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 *!#$%

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.

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.

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.