Importing from China and Its Fundamentals

Centuries ago, China was popularly known for its monarchies and prehistoric civilizations. Now, China has changed. China continues to become a ginormous economy, overpowering Japan and positioning next to United States. China is indeed growing more and more in the import export business. China is now known to be the largest producer of hundreds of products that are exported to other countries like mobile phones. Aside from this, an over-populated China with 1.3 billions of people, have also turned into a major automotive market. If China’s developments in the import export business is predicted to continue on as the fastest growing economy and is growing 10% ever year. With this, China will likely overtake the United States as the world’s economic superpower.

So, here are the factors which contributed to China’s status for the past 30 years:
Undoubtedly, China’s goods can win over products from other countries. Mostly, people of hear false stories regarding the products imported from China. These products are believed to have quality problems. But producers have quickly dismissed these false stories and they claim that majority of their buyers are the ones ordering them the standards of the products they need to manufacture. Thus, China is not really at fault. There are those who resort to lessen the products’ qualities. But there are a lot of big companies too whose products are made in China utilizing all the best materials and adhering also to stringent manufacturing standards and quality control.

Before, the Chinese government has prevented foreign businesses from transacting or conducing business with Chinese suppliers. But when China linked with the World Trade Organization in 2001, it has continually enticed international businessmen to venture to a more liberated trade in the country. China’s connection with WTO has helped China draw in more international buyers. Through this linkage, China has totally embraced the international trade practices and laws which made product purchasing convenient and safe.
Because China is over-populated, it’s guaranteed that they have a lot of workers. China’s cost of living is also lower, so workers are not looking forward to grasping the same wages as the workers in US or Europe are having. China’s cheap labor greatly results to a reduction in its product manufacturing costs.

So, there you have it. But that’s not all there is to China because these benefits and opportunities are coupled with various risks.

Language differences can be a barrier. It’s often difficult to conduct business with companies not having an English-speaking employee or staff. But recently, large manufacturers have already employed multilingual sales staff to help foreign businessmen. Aside from language differences, various Chinese business etiquettes have a greater impact on business transactions. China may have gone through trade liberalization. But China’s traditions and culture plays a bigger role in the business. Thus, these should be given consideration especially when dealing with the Chinese.

Importers should not only rely on one or two suppliers. Different circumstances happen along the way. Most of the time, suppliers succeed but there really are times, when they do fail. So, it’s best to flex a little and look into several other sources of your products. As you start off with this business, it would be best to link with private companies who are already knowledgeable with China‘s trading practices and distribution channels. It’s also imperative to realize and value the Chinese businessmen and the culture they’ve grown of. To help you understand them better, you can find a lot of information in the Internet. You can even find import export coaches, import export training courses and e-books that continue to keep businessmen aware of China’s policies and practices. It’s also best to hire the services of import export agents and experts who totally know the ins and outs of the China import and export business.

Interest in TCM growing globally

In the balance: Traditional Chinese medicine is facing an awkward situation at home while gaining in popularity abroad.
While some Chinese scholars propose abolishing traditional Chinese medicine, foreign pharmaceutical institutions and industries are pursuing them.

More than 100 countries and regions around the world have set up TCM institutions, with the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea investing heavily in related research and medication development, industry, analyses show.

The UK-based pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline PLC announced its first TCM medication research and development program, which targets not just the Chinese market, but the global one as well.

“TCM is a well-established medical science based on thousands of years of clinical practices. It shows great promise treating complicated conditions that the single-target Western medicine has failed to handle,” said Zang Jingwu, senior vice-president and head of GlaxoSmithKline’s R&D in China.

“Our priority is to transform TCM from an experience-based practice to evidence-based medicines through innovation and differentiation,” he said.

Currently, a 10-person team in Shanghai is in charge of the program, with a medication candidate for skin disease in the works.

Zang, a US-trained neurologist, said TCM is more of a multi-target therapeutical approach, which might work to treat complex conditions.

He said an example of this is ginkgo biloba leaf extract, approved in Germany, which, according to China’s pharmacopeia, is TCM in essence. Globally, ginkgo biloba leaf extract is widely used to treat dizziness and ringing in the ears.

Industry insiders call such products “exotic TCM”. In ancient TCM works, ginkgo is known for restoring consciousness.

“That is similar to our approach in TCM R&D,” he said. He referred to skin diseases for which medications can demonstrate more evidence of effectiveness as a top candidate for TCM. Other areas of research that also show great promise include stomach and intestinal diseases and supplementary treatments for cancer, he added.

However, given that the culture and ideology of TCM is different from that of Western medicine, great innovation is required to integrate the two sciences, he said.

“In fact, many in Western medicine circles have recognized the importance of TCM, but the problem is how to prove and develop that,” said Huang Jianyin, deputy secretary-general of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies.

TCM is developed through empirical testing and refinement of herbal mixtures and relies on clinical experience, and many in the West don’t trust that, he said. TCM, particularly herbal products, are largely available in the US and Europe, but questions like how to prove their effectiveness in the context of Western medicine and how to best use them remain unanswered, Zang added.

Zhang Lingping, director of the international cooperation department of the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, welcomed the emerging trend.

“Their increasing interest shows Western medicine circles have begun to learn about the time-honored medical science, which originated in China,” she said. Zhang said traditionally, Western medicines have been highly targeted and such a method doesn’t seem to work well for complex diseases.

“They are beginning to closely look at TCM, which highlights a natural and comprehensive manner in healing,” she said.

The university also had partnerships with foreign academic institutions in TCM research focusing on cancer and cardio-cerebrovascular diseases.

A better approach for TCM development is to enhance its dosage and stability, she said.

“It’s more feasible and practical for them to improve the techniques during the TCM production, which the multinational pharmaceutical giants are better at,” she said.

But that might also pose a challenge for domestic TCM industries, she acknowledged.

Of the global herbal medicine sales volume, the Chinese mainland accounted for only 2 percent, industry analyses show. Japan has the share of the market at 90 percent.

Mao Zedong once expected TCM and Chinese cuisine would be China’s two major contributions to the world, said Huang. “He wouldn’t have imagined the tough situation today.”