The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) has published the second volume of “FCCC Members’ Portraits in China”. The booklet includes 17 portraits of member companies active in China. The China-based managers of those companies talk about how their firms became active in the country and the difficulties and pitfalls they faced to become successful in the largest and most challenging market on earth. They offer valuable insights and lessons about how to do business in China. Each manager interviewed makes a list of “do’s and don’ts” based on their own hard-won experience. “All of them, without a single exception, enjoy their work and stay in China, despite less pleasant phenomena such as the worsening air pollution,” says FCCC Chairman Bert De Graeve in his introduction.

Some of the companies presented in “FCCC Members’ Portraits in China” are well known, such as Volvo Car, which is now part of Geely Holdings. But the story of how the company is building two car plants in China has never been told as extensively before. Other companies, such as Huiyin Group, which is active in the solar power industry, and Klako Group, which is guiding its clients to become successful in China, are not so famous, but have an equally fascinating story to tell.

Trying to write a write a book “Doing Business in China for Dummies” is futile, one of the managers told the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce. More fundamental than that is an underlying attitude. Respect the Chinese you come into contact with and be interested in their culture. Remember, he added, that you are and will always remain a guest in their country. Above and beyond the usual tips and tricks, the managers telling their story in this booklet show the right attitude to become successful in China.

“The growth of the Chinese economy is slowing down a bit,” says Chairman Bert De Graeve in the introduction, “but at 7.8% last year, it is still growing strong to offer a myriad of opportunities.” For those companies which have not yet taken the step to open a representative office, set up a subsidiary or form a joint venture, it is probably not too late yet to enter the Chinese market. “Do your homework” is one of the most frequently tendered pieces of advice for companies contemplating their first steps on the China market. One might as well start with “FCCC Members’ Portraits in China, Volume 2”.

List of interviews (companies in alphabetical order):
ACEA (Dominik Declercq), De Wolf & Partners (Philippe Snel), Eurbridge (Jan Van der Borght), Huiyin Group (Juha Ven), Jones Day (Sébastien Evrard), Klako Group (Kristina Koehler), LMS (Luc Pluym), Moore Stephens (Andries Verschelden), Neuhaus (Frédéric Linkens), Orientas (Dirk Laeremans), procurAsia (Etienne Charlier), Proviron (Vanessa Doms), Soudal (Eddy Vloeberghen), Urban Stream (Sébastien Goethals), Volvo Car (Koen Sonck and Benoit Demeunynck), White Pavilion (Raf Vermeire), and Wyatt & Wang (Jacques Borremans).

FCCC members can receive one copy free of charge by ending an e-mail to: info@flanders-china.be