Businesses raise their profile in China
Exporting manufactured goods to China might sound like trying to sell sand to the Arabs but some companies are proving that, with a little innovation, it can be done.
Watts Urethane, which makes squeegees in a factory near Gloucester, has sold more than 100,000 of its rubber cleaning tools to Chinese screen printing companies.
"The squeegee is a pretty basic product," said Mike Saunders, sales director at Watts. "But by continuing to improve the quality and packaging, we keep that little bit ahead of local brands."
With sales to China set to grow by 30 per cent this year, Watts is demonstrating what many companies have failed to grasp - that China is an export opportunity and not just a competitive threat.
France, Germany and Italy all sell more goods to China than does the UK. And although Britain is the largest European investor in China, spending $11.4bn in 2003, most this money comes from just two companies - BP and Shell.
Stephen Perry, chairman of the 48 Group, a business body formed to help companies enter the Chinese market, said: "We talk a good story because we have those big numbers. What is behind it is not very impressive."
Those keen to see more British involvement in China will receive a big boost this week with the arrival of Gordon Brown, the chancellor, in Beijing with a delegation from the Treasury.
The last time such a high-level politician visited China was in 2003, when Tony Blair, prime minister, went to the country. France, in contrast, flies its president - along with several aircraft full of business people - to the People's Republic each year.
"It is good to have the chancellor, the number two in the UK, going out now and engaging with China," said Mr Perry. "It is exactly what we need for a new era of British interest in China."
British business desperately needs to build a higher profile in China, according to Gerrard Lyons, chief economist at Standard Chartered, the London-based bank that has maintained a presence in south-east Asia for 140 years.
"The Chinese are very brand-conscious," he said.
BMW and Siemens have raised the profile of German business in the eyes of Chinese consumers, helping other manufacturers from the country to export their products east.
However, companies such as Standard Chartered and HSBC, which have large banking businesses in China, often do not register as British among locals because they have built a presence on being local.
Peter Nightingale, chief executive of the China-Britain Business Council, a support group for exporters to the region, said too many companies ignored the enormous opportunities offered by the Chinese market.
"Britain is good at high-tech products and services and that is what the Chinese want," said Mr Nightingale, who claimed that UK companies enjoyed a reputation for honesty in China.
B&Q is one of a few British high street names to gain a foothold in China. It has 21 stores in the country but plans to have 75 by 2008 thanks to a lifting of foreign ownership restrictions as a result of China joining the World Trade Organisation.
"Germany has a better reputation for engineering," admitted Ian Cheshire, chief executive of international and development at Kingfisher, B&Q's parent, "We have a reputation for quality and style."
Last week, Kingfisher announced sales of ￡68.9m in B&Q China, up 16.8 per cent on a year earlier and the strongest results from any of the company's foreign operations. Growth had not been easy, said Mr Cheshire. "The level of competition is much fiercer than people assume for a developing nation. They are very good traders and very sharp."
Although B&Q sources much of its material for the UK market from China, it initially found problems getting the same suppliers to stock their Chinese outlets because the companies feared losing their export licences.
The home improvements retailer also had to adapt its business model for the Chinese market, where people pay others to decorate their houses. B&Q now markets itself as BIY, or buy-it-yourself, where customers pick their paint and furnishings in the store, then hire a local tradesman to do the work.
Cheap labour makes this possible. In fact, B&Q China stores tend to have three times as many workers with its orange aprons on the shop floor because product suppliers tend to hire a lot of people to explain their wares to customers.
One thing that does not alter from Birmingham to Beijing is the taste in furnishings, according to Mr Cheshire.
"Most of our customers are young to middle-aged couples who live in apartments that look like they have been taken out of a Swedish design catalogue."
There are many reasons for British companies to be operating in China, according to Stephen Perry, of the 48 Group.
"The Chinese come to the UK to see West End shows and to watch football and they send their children here to go to school. We just need to be a bit more imaginative in selling these things back to them."
抓住中国契机
向中国出口制成品，这听起来好象和把沙子卖给阿拉伯一样，不可思议。然而，目前一些海外公司证实可以做到这一点，只要它们对经营思路稍加创新。
Watts Urethane是位于英国格洛斯特(Gloucester)附近的一家生产橡胶刮板的公司。截至目前，该公司已向中国的丝网印刷企业销售了10万余件橡胶清洁产品。
Watts公司的销售总监麦克?桑德斯说：“尽管橡胶刮板是一种相当初级的产品。但是，通过不断提高产品质量，并改善产品包装，我们能略微领先于中国本土品牌。”
今年，Watts公司在中国的销售额增长了30%。这充分证明中国不只是一个强大的竞争对手，同时也是一个出口机会。然而这个机遇，很多公司都没能抓住。
法国、德国和意大利对中国的货物出口量都比英国多。尽管英国是欧洲国家中最大的对华投资国，2003年对华投资额达114亿美元，但多数投资仅仅来自两个公司，即英国石油(BP)和壳牌石油(Shell)。
48家集团(48 Group)是一个意在协助英国企业进入中国市场的商团。该组织主席斯蒂芬?佩里(Stephen Perry)说：“我们之所以大力宣传中国所提供的诱人商机，是因为我们掌握有力的数据作为支持。但数据后面的东西并不很好。”
英国财政大臣戈登?布朗(Gordon Brown)先生率领英国财政部代表团一行本周到北京访问，这次访问将大大鼓舞那些迫切希望英国加大在华业务的人士。
英国上一次对中国的此种高层政府访问还是在2003年，当时是首相托尼?布莱尔到访中国。与英国相比，法国总统则是每年都率领大批工商界人士搭乘数架飞机造访中国。
佩里先生说：“此次作为英国二把手的财政大臣能够来华访问并参与在华事宜，意义十分深远。此次访问将开创英国在华商业发展的新纪元。这正是我们所期待的。”
总部位于伦敦的渣打银行(Standard Chartered)在东南亚已经营了140年。该银行的首席经济学家杰拉德?莱昂斯(Gerrard Lyons)认为，英国企业迫切需要提升其在华知名度。
他说：“中国人的品牌意识非常强。”
德国宝马汽车公司(BMW)和西门子公司(Siemens)提升了德国企业在中国消费者心目中的知名度，这促进了德国其它生产商向中国这个东方国家出口产品。
然而，渣打银行和汇丰银行(HSBC)等在华开展大规模银行业务的企业，却往往并未刻意在中国人心目中树立英国公司这一印象，因为这些公司是依据本土化原则在中国展开经营。
英中贸易协会是一家英国对华出口促进机构，该组织总裁黎鼎基(Peter Nightingale)先生说，太多的企业没能发现中国市场的巨大机遇。
“英国擅长于高技术产品和服务业，而这正是中国人所需要的，”黎鼎基先生表示。他说在中国，英国公司是以诚信著称的。
百安居(B&Q)是英国在华落脚的几家著名企业之一。目前，该公司在华拥有21家销售网点，并计划到2008年时，在中国因加入世贸组织而取消外资所有权限制后，将销售网点增加到75家。
百安居母公司翠丰集团(Kingfisher)国际开发部主管伊恩?切希尔(Ian Cheshire)承认：“德国在工程技术方面的声誉的确比英国要高，但英国则是以质量和时尚著称的。”
上周，翠丰集团宣布百安居中国公司销售额达到6890万英镑，比上年增长16.8%，在翠丰集团所有海外业务中销售额增幅最大。切希尔先生表示，实现增长并非易事。“在这个发展中国家，竞争的激烈程度远远超出人们的预想。中国人经商非常在行，非常精明。”
尽管百安居供应英国市场的原材料中有很大一部分来自中国。但在最初阶段，由于百安居担心失去出口许可证，遇到诸多问题，难以找到固定供应商为其在中国的销售网点供货。
此外，家居装修零售商也需要针对中国市场调整其业务模式，因为中国人习惯聘请装修队来装潢自己的房屋。百安居目前打出的旗号是“BIY”，即“自己购买”：客户在百安居自主选购油漆和家具，然后聘用本地工匠进行装修。
低廉的人力成本使得这一举措成为可能。事实上，由于产品供应商希望雇佣大量的员工向客户讲解自己的产品，因此百安居中国销售网点正试图再多雇佣两倍销售人员。
切希尔先生表示，从伯明翰到北京，有一样东西没变，那就是装修的风格。
“我们的顾客多数是青年或中年夫妇，他们住宅的装修风格，看起来都是出自瑞典。”
48家集团的斯蒂芬?佩里先生表示，英国公司有很多理由在华开展业务。
“中国人去英国欣赏West End的演出、来英国观看足球比赛，还把孩子送到英国读书。我们也应该更好的发挥想象力，把这些东西卖回到中国去。”
