Doing Business in China

Public Chinese Firm with a Maryland Presence

Our second day in Hang Zhou started with a site visit to the global headquarters of Hundson Electronics Co., Ltd. Hundson is a publicly-owned (Shanghai Stock Exchange GSE: 600570.SH) software development firm that specializes in providing customized software solutions for the securities industry. We were received by Yaron Zohar, Marketing & Sales Manager for Hundson Global Services, Inc. Hundson , who gave us an overview of his firm. Originally privately-owned and funded (Mr. Zohar mentioned that some of its initial funding came from Hang Zhou farmers) prior to its public offering in 2003, the firm represents a fast-growing domestic company pursuing growth on a global level, including a presence in the greater Washington, DC area (they have recently opened a sales office in Annapolis.) They have a CMMI Level 3 outsourcing license that allows them to be a qualified player in the software development and IT services markets.

We found it interesting that their pursuit of a global strategy was due to an increase in local competition and a decrease in demand in their traditional market as a result of the Chinese stock market downturn.
We also discussed the challenges associated with intellectual property rights fraud and logistical issues associated with globalizing a company headquartered in China. Our visit concluded with a tour of the Hundson software development offices and overview of their employee benefits programs. We discovered their employee break room contained ping pong tables and this reminded us of the sports equipment special place in American-Chinese relations.

UTStarCom

UT Starcom#3 Best Employer in Asia by Fortune magazineis a global leader in IP-based, end-to-end networking solutions and international service and support. Ju Wei, the senior director of UT Starcom University gave a presentation on the history, growth, and the strategy of the company and guided a tour of the facility. UT Starcom was formed when UniTech and Starcom merged in 1995. The company is headquartered in California and has more than 6,000 employees out of which 5,000 work in China in 30 branch offices and 5 R&D centers. The company has experienced enormous growth for the last 6 years, from $100 million in 1998 to $2.75b in 2004. UT Starcom was rated the #3 Best Employer

After the UT Starcom visit, we were honored to be invited to have lunch with Chinese officials from the Hang Zhou Municipal Foreign Trade and Economic Corporation bureau (FTEC). The banquet was hosted in the Great Hall of People, the location of the provincial legislative representatives of Zhejiang province. Mr. Wang, the director of FTEC, introduced the investment environment of the Hang Zhou Development Zones for Investment. Chinese offices shared the wonderful experience of their recent visit in US, especially in Maryland. The Smith MBA students expressed our delightful impression of the beautiful city of Hang Zhou.

The formal lunch banquet had many courses, both delicious and exotic. Smith students had a rare and unique opportunity to be exposed to the “official Chinese banquet culture” and diplomatic dining etiquette.
Some of the students audaciously tried the “Duck Tongue”

Lifeng Pagoda

We toured a reconstructed pagoda from the Song Dynasty. The structure, although boasting a glass enclosed elevator, still maintained the character of the original landmark. We were told a wonderful story related to its origin. It is said that a snake spirit dwelling in the hills, became infatuated with a local doctor. A monk foreseeing trouble for the doctor, contrived to imprison the spirit in the Lifeng pagoda. It was said that when the West Lake runs dry, and the pagoda collapses the spirit shall be released. When the pagoda actually did collapse in 1924, (from fire damage from earlier centuries as well as a lack of care) people believed the legend had come true. The serenity and lurking mystery of the place inspired this haiku.

Green hills caress her body into mist
But who will drain the bitter cup of longing?
Will thirst be quenched draining a lake dry
And passions lasting flame ignite a gilded prison?

Our guide through the tour of Hangzhou was Angela Lee from the Hangzhou Foreign Trade Bureau.

The famous Chinese Green Tea: Long Jing Tea

Tea drinking is an integral part of Chinese culture. In China, tea is considered the national drink and to have medicinal qualities. There are many different species of teas varied by region and climate. Zhejiang province is famous for its Long Jing tea – a type of green tea consumed by the locals. In general, this type of tea is consumed in loose-leaf form and served with a certain amount of ceremony. Smith class was accompanied by Angela Lee to a local tea shop – Zhejiang Camel Transworld Co. Ltd in order to witness and sample the Long Jing tea. As it turns out, there are different grades or quality of tea. The quality of the leaf depends on the timing of the harvest, which has a narrow window around April. The most expensive tea they had was around $100 a kilo! Overall, the experience was educational in that tea drinking is an important aspect of healthy living among Chinese. Click here to find out more about the Chinese perspectiveon teas. Not surprisingly, tea is also a very popular as gift in China. We took away a sense of appreciation for the tea culture (as well as many cans of tea!)

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 25th, 2006 at 10:03 am and is filed under Daily Group Activities Report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.