E13: What’s with China? / Part 1

If you’ve contemplated doing business in China but haven’t made the great leap forward (pun intended) because you think it’s a dangerous, unregulated market with impenetrable customs that could land you in trouble, worry no more.

Life Collective’s Kristen Boschma has gathered a bunch of China specialists and myth busters - Doris Li, Tom Parker and Jennifer Connelly - to dispel the misconceptions that have cemented China’s reputation for being a tough place to make a buck.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 13 HERE

Peng Liyuan and Michella Obama

Links to some of the things Doris, Tom and Jen touched on:

• China’s tier city system explained - thanks South China Morning Post http://multimedia.scmp.com/2016/cities/
• Chairman Mao Zedong founding father of the Chinese People’s Republic of China, famously proclaimed that “women hold up half the sky”. Officially, women have the same rights as men in the workplace and the party has promoted this sense of equality over the past thirty years or so.
• More about women in business in China here
• Xi Jinping is the current General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. His wife Peng Liyuan a famous Chinese singer in her own right before her marriage is known as China’s First Lady. Mrs Xi is also referred to as Yoyomama on Chinese social media and is a much venerated fashion ambassador for China. Check out her style here
• Peng Liyuan’s ‘fashion with Chinese characteristics’ a symbol of China’s soft power - South China Morning Post - 8 April 2017
• Why did Uber sell its China business to Didi Chuxi? CNBC.com Tech Transformer Special Report from 1 August 2016 explains the five reasons here
• Cultural and linguistic diversity can pose a barrier to doing business in China - a South China Morning Post reports suggest competent intermediaries will have a key role to play in managing cross-cultural business relationships - that’s where Doris, Jen and Tom come in at Bastion S+Go https://www.bastionsgo.com.au China Advisory.
• Meeting the cultural diversity challenges of China’s “One Belt, One Road” plan - South China Morning Post - 21 October 2016

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