The general shareholders meeting at Carrefour (2nd largest retailer in the world) recently took place. Many newspapers wrote about the complaint from a small shareholder, speaking in public to the CEO (see this article from Le Monde, 10th … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2009
How can importers renew their product line regularly?
A few weeks ago, I was asked what a small importer can do to "keep his pipeline full". Many importers of general consumer goods need to renew their products regularly, for many reasons. But how to get new product ideas and develop them on … [Read more...]
Garment inspections: assessing the conformity of measurements
Earlier this week I was with a client, during one of their China trips. They import garments, and one of the most important criteria is the respect of size charts. If measurements are out of tolerances, the garments might be … [Read more...]
Who is responsible for China quality problems?
In a recent post, I was wondering whether many importers calculated the fully-burdened cost of imports. Today, I came upon an interesting article on Knowledge@Wharton (Can China Meet the Quality Challenge?) where Mr. Pinney, from BCG … [Read more...]
Are Chinese courts unreliable?
Most companies buying in China don't take the precaution to write a contract with their suppliers. Even when large sums are at stake. The common perception is that going to a Chinese court is a long and expensive process, for a highly … [Read more...]