{"id":4992,"date":"2023-06-27T13:41:01","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T11:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insights.ieseg.fr\/?p=4992"},"modified":"2023-06-27T13:46:22","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T11:46:22","slug":"doing-business-in-post-covid-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insights.ieseg.fr\/en\/resource-center\/doing-business-in-post-covid-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Doing business in post-Covid China: an interview with Laurie Ann Underwood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

According to the French Chamber of Commerce in China (<\/em>CCI France Chine) <\/em>France had more than 2,100 subsidiary companies employing close to 445,000 people<\/a> in 2022, making it the \u2018first European investor in China\u2019 in terms of the number of companies. The pandemic and China\u2019s zero-Covid policy had a strong impact on international companies working in (or with companies based in) China. We spoke to Laurie Ann Underwood, a faculty member at I\u00c9SEG and an author of several books on doing business in China, about how the business environment has changed since the zero Covid policy ended. She also gives some tips for companies looking to expand or move into China and how European-based companies can work effectively with their counterparts when travel can be difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has the business environment in China changed for international companies since the Chinese government ended its Zero Covid policy last December?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After three years of very strict restrictions, business travel into China reopened this spring. As of spring 2023, covid test requirements have eased greatly but travelers still do need either a business or tourist visa to visit China. Still, overall, the new mood is one of reopening and easier travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many companies, the biggest hindrance to business travel to China now are the still-high cost of air tickets (still far above pre-Covid levels in many cases) or new post-covid company policies against international business travel. Even though China is reopening to international travelers, these two factors are still keeping many would-be travelers from visiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What advice would you give to companies looking to move into or expand operations in the Chinese market?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the key pieces of advice that I and my co-author (Prof. Juan A. Fernandez) gave in our latest book, China CEO II (Wiley, 2020), continues to hold true since the book came out: cracking into or expanding in the China market really requires the right China-based partners and teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One reason for this is that managing government relations remains one of the absolute \u2018must have\u2019 abilities of any foreign company operating in China, and building and maintaining good relations with the government really requires a live presence in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018guanxi\u2019 concept (importance of relationships) has evolved a lot in recent years, and rule of law has become much more respected in many cases, but positive human relations with the right government agencies still helps significantly in China.  Because China\u2019s socio-economic structure is so unique \u2013 summed up by the famous description \u201csocialism with Chinese characteristics\u201d \u2013 the Chinese government is still more actively involved in many business decisions in China than is the case in many Western countries. For companies lacking strong Chinese partners to help to establish positive government relations, working through the foreign chambers of commerce or other business associations is a smart strategy.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can Europe-based managers operate effectively in China if visiting in person is still difficult?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is a big challenge now for many companies, but I do have a few suggestions. First, China is extremely digital and nearly all Chinese professionals have an \u201calways on\u201d work ethic. This means that it is quite possible and accepted to ask Chinese partners and team members to virtually join meetings held during working hours in Europe even if it is late in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few tips for successful online meetings with Chinese partners: Keep the meetings short, clear, limited to only the necessary contributors, and require all participants to keep screens on. Also: write down and send by text any decisions made or any \u2018next steps\u2019 to be sure your Chinese team was able to fully follow or respond to the meeting outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another way to connect: definitely use wechat (the #1 social media \/ ecommerce app in China) with your Chinese contacts. You can send text, video, voice message, or have live calls anytime, and you and your partner can instantly translate text sent in Chinese into French or English, or vice versa.  Chinese are used to responding to wechat instantly and constantly. In fact, most Chinese don\u2019t use email since it is much less efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another idea to consider: this could be a good time to bring your Chinese partners to Europe since many Chinese businesspeople were unable to travel abroad for the past 3 or 4 years.  Europe is a key destination for Chinese right now — not only due to \u2018pent up\u2019 travel demand due to Covid but also because trade relations with the US are quite poor<\/a>. This makes Europe, for the moment, an even more attractive destination for leisure, study and business.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Laurie Ann Underwood has co-authored 3 books on doing business in China, including:\u00a0\u201cChina CEO II\u201d (Wiley & Co, 2020). She also contributed a case study on change management to \u201cThe China Business Casebook\u201d (Ethics International Press, 2023), is a researcher for the annual \u201cESG Whitepaper\u201d (China Europe International Business School\u00a0\u2013 CEIBS), and volunteers at Asian University for Women. Her research focuses on cross-cultural management and sustainable marketing.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the French Chamber of Commerce in China (CCI France Chine) France had more than 2,100 subsidiary companies employing close to 445,000 people in 2022, making it the \u2018first European investor in China\u2019 in terms of the number of companies. The pandemic and China\u2019s zero-Covid policy had a strong impact on international companies working … Doing business in post-Covid China: an interview with Laurie Ann Underwood<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5009,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[488],"tags":[275,941],"article-type":[12],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDoing business in post-Covid China: an interview with Laurie Ann Underwood - I\u00c9SEG Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/insights.ieseg.fr\/en\/resource-center\/doing-business-in-post-covid-china\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Doing business in post-Covid China: an interview with Laurie Ann Underwood - I\u00c9SEG Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to the French Chamber of Commerce in China (CCI France Chine) France had more than 2,100 subsidiary companies employing close to 445,000 people in 2022, making it the \u2018first European investor in China\u2019 in terms of the number of companies. 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