Final Oberservations from China

Ni Hao Journal,

A few final observations from my 2 weeks in China...

1) Chinese goods appear to actually be higher quality than people give them credit for. Remember, they are producing such a large quantity of goods to the world marketplace that of course there will be some shoddy products that make it out of their factors. I am sure this would be true of any other similar environment who were producing goods at such a scale.

2) Guanxi - is it really a uniquely Chinese concept? I do not think so. Wouldn't you try and develop a close relationship with any of your business partners regardless of which country you are in? I would.

3) Chinese infrastructure appears really good in the big cities. Highways being built everywhere, mass transit is common, streets did not appears as unsafe as I thought they would be.

4) The Chinese appear to be very well connected. Granted I was in the large coastal cities but I always had cellphone reception no matter where I was. I can't even get good cell reception in many large cities here in the States.

5) A lot of young, intelligent Chinese want to come work for large US companies. This is good for US companies as they can tap into a huge talent base with less of an investment.

6) If I were to open up operations in China I would do it in Suzhou. It is a fairly large city that is close to Shanghai with amazing infrastructure and no traffic! While not my favorite city, it does make a lot of sense to outsource here.

Ok, I am sure I will think of more but that is it for now. I had a great time in China and can't wait to go back again and learn more!

Paul