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sors Dezan Shira & Associates, “but in China they're looking for people who are creating
new ones. They want that new thing, even if it might not be as good. There's a strong need
for indigenous innovation. If you can present ideas in a brand-new structure people will
want to start that conversation and have another drink with you.”
Having a new idea will give you a good head start, but launching into the Chinese
market isn't a challenge that everyone is suited to. The government can be heavy handed
and the cultural mores can be difficult to fully understand and mesh with. The
www.doingbusiness.org website of the World Bank and International Financial Corporation
doesn't place China too highly in its rankings for ease of doing business. In 2012, out of 185
countries, mainland China was ranked 91st for “ease of doing business,” 151st for “ease of
starting a business,” 181st for “ease of dealing with construction permits,” and even 114th
for “ease of getting electricity.” Its best ranking was 19th for “enforcing contracts.” In the
subnational report, which compared 30 of China's cities, Beijing ranked sixth for ease of
“starting a business,” ninth for “enforcing contracts,” and 12th for ease of “registering a
property.” Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Guangzhou claimed first prize for these factors, re-
spectively.
If your idea relates to manufacturing, then you should know that the days when China
was the cheapest place to have things made are numbered. Worker salaries are on the rise.
In 2009 the minimum wage was RMB800 per month, in 2013 it was RMB1,400 per month,
and the current Five Year Plan is pushing for it to continue increasing by no less than 13
percent on average each year. On top of that, you must factor in costs for quality control to
ward off what Paul Midler (in his book Poorly Made in China ) terms as “quality fade,” the
phenomenon that at some point in time quality of China-made products is inevitably going
to fade, no matter how good the first few shipments were. “Foreign buyers have to be con-
stantly on guard,” says Steve Dickinson on China Law Blog. “Active intervention is costly
and mentally exhausting. Most foreign buyers eventually tire of the process. However, such
active involvement is the price of purchasing from Chinese manufacturers. Buyers that do
not want to incur the cost should avoid China.”
If you are prepared to take on these challenges, then you're in for an adventure and there
are still plenty of advantages to doing business here. Chinese businesspeople move quickly.
What might take months in the West can often happen within a few weeks here. The country
might still be Communist, but in the workplace the Chinese are capitalists and the entre-
preneurial spirit is flourishing. There is a palpable energy and drive for innovation wherever
you go. “Just don't check your brains at the gate,” warns China Law Blog's Dan Harris.
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