If you purchase from China, there is one thing you have noticed: prices are going up, often by 10-25% a year. The reason is not that manufacturers are increasing their margins, but that their costs are rising very fast. Yet, these same … [Read more...]
The crazy stories importers want to believe
A few days ago, I got a nice email from a reader. This was not just a "congratulations, very useful articles" message. It also pointed to some crazy stories that many importers want to believe: Very very well done! I have been importing … [Read more...]
New trend: many more Chinese importers
Last week I was discussing with a friend in Hong Kong. He is in contact with many companies all over China's coast, due to the nature of his job. He told me about a new trend that looks like this: Small Chinese company operates a few … [Read more...]
The changing nature of Chinese exports
The nature of products exported out of China is changing. This is an important trend, and all importers should be aware of its implications. China's manufacturing sector is "moving up the value chain", and it follows the same pattern as … [Read more...]
Why sourcing from China is so hard
I just read a very thoughtful article on David Dayton's blog: When your supplier is not arguing to win. David gives a list of reasons why it's so hard to get a Chinese manufacturer to deliver on spec, in time, and without last-minute price … [Read more...]
Why doesn’t China value intellectual property rights?
"Microsoft Corp.'s revenue in China this year will be about 5% of what it gets in the U.S. even though personal-computer sales in the two countries are almost equal", according to Steve Ballmer (in the Wall Street Journal). Foreign buyers … [Read more...]
Managing an employee based in China/HK
I read several times that it is easier to manage an employee than an external service provider. There are cases where this is wrong, though. Thousands of small to midsize importers pay a sole employee in China or in Hong Kong, to work … [Read more...]
Relocation of export manufacturing in China and low-cost Asia
The Li&Fung Research Centre just published an interesting study entitled China Distribution & Trading (h/t to Max Henry). It analyzes the recent trends observed in the sourcing industry. I am reproducing a couple of excepts … [Read more...]
China’s village community system
About 6 months ago, I wrote an article entitled Are Chinese Suppliers Trying To Screw The Foreigners? My point was that foreigners were an easy target because of their typical unpreparedness, but not more desirable as a target than other … [Read more...]
Why you should ignore guanxi in China
There has been a bunch of blog posts about guanxi recently -- on Chinese Negotiation, on the China Law Blog, on Silicon Hutong, and others. My audience is mostly interested in sourcing and QC issues in China. What should you do about the … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- Next Page »