Soaking in Beijing delights

My time in Beijing hasn’t just been just focused on work. Fortunately I was also able to soak in some of the city’s unique culture. Although I could have done without many of the death defying cab rides I took. I have chalked the terror of being driven around in Beijing upto the city’s charm- only cause I lived to tell the tale. It really is a must do..

Keep in mind though that if spending time on Beijing’s roads isn’t hazardous, the quality of air may do you in for good. Air pollution is a senior concern here. To put it in perspective, when the air quality index (AQI) is above 50 in Toronto, the elders and expecting mothers are cautioned against going out as it’s not safe for them. In Beijing, however, locals consider it to be a good day if the AQI hovers in the 200s.  Like I said, environmental problems continue to be a concern of the growing middle class population. Moving on for now though…

One of the highlights from my Beijing explorations involved visiting Tinanmen Square for the Changing of the Guards ceremony. While I have been to a similar ceremony in other countries before, nothing had prepared me for the volume of people present at one of the world’s largest public squares at 4am. Through conversations with locals, attending this ceremony is considered a huge deal in China as many Chinese dream of visiting this site. The ceremony itself was a great experience especially when those around us passionately began proudly singing the Chinese national anthem during the ceremony itself. Ofcourse, I do believe Chris (another participant) and I became local celebrities as many folks wanted to take pictures with us. We happily obliged (ps: you can see evidence of the smog through the 'glow' of the street lamps behind us)

Visiting the Forbidden City,for a little while (the site does cover 180 acres), was also quite memorable. The sheer magnitude of this complex was a wonder and I loved soaking in the Chinese architecture. The eye to detail present could keep me occupied for hours but alas we headed back to the main purpose of our journey- meeting more Chinese organizations representative! Fun fact about the Forbidden city though – the forbidden city is home to 9,999 rooms! I would imagine it to be the ideal site for a round of hide and seek..

Another highlight which you may have heard about is the Great Wall of China! My visit here left me quite breathless. Literally. Think about what it would feel like to be in a sauna. Placed right next to the sun. That’s how hot and humid it was. While I did not scale the entirety of the wall, I couldn't help but bring a piece of home with me during my visit!

All in all, the trip to Beijing was successful and I can’t wait to discover more of China in Chengdu, JTC’s next stop!  

Business in Beijing

Take Australia’s population of about 22 million people and try to fit it into roughly one city. That’s Beijing. This city is home to one of China’s largest populations and despite many environmental odds, it continues to be a prospering city.

The typical Chinese business environment is home to 2 types of companies: state-owned and private enterprises. While familiar to the North American market, it’s important to note that it is difficult to compete with state-owned enterprises which often have a monopoly within their respective sectors operating environments ie) banking, agriculture, and energy companies. That’s not to say that small to medium enterprises are not commonly found, they are in fact everywhere but often their Achilles heel is their own success which hinders further progress when they begin to get noticed by other competitors.

While in Beijing, I had the opportunity to meet with Lyndon Fung, partner at KPMG Beijing (pictured left) , and my conversation with him was quite insightful and candid about the Chinese culture. Majority of the Chinese population never stop working which makes for an incredibly competitive environment. The sheer size of the population (approx. 1.4 billion people) always ensures that any opening anywhere is quickly filled in an organization. In professional services industry, such as mine, one always makes themselves available to their clients who can contact you throughout the day and the norm includes a nearly instantaneous response time in order to maintain good client relationships.

While the Chinese work ethic is remarkable, it has been the main driver placing China onto a successful global platform to compete from. During my stay in Beijing, I had the opportunity to meet with management within Public Relations at Huawei Technologies Co, Ltd. 

Huawei is a leading Fortune 500, ICT solutions provider who service 45 of the world’s leading top 50 carriers including Canadian companies Bell, Telus and Wind Mobile. Through their customer base, they indirectly serve 1/3 of the world’s population. That’s a lot of people.

Until my initial meeting, I will admit that I didn’t fully understand the global impact Huawei has. Through operating in more than 170 countries (I can’t even name that many!), and employing more than 150,000 employees, Huawei’s impact goes beyond that of a typical Chinese firm. While there is a focus on being at the cutting edge of technology, and Huawei has certainly not lapsed in that regards (they are the #1 Chinese company with the largest number of patents in China), they have also paid considerable attention to long –term investment in innovation by way of making digital access for the masses both accessible and affordable. Of the many examples shared, one that stood for me is that in recent years Huawei has successfully focused on manufacturing a smartphone that costs a mere $50 to make it more accessible and affordable for the global middle class mass, when compared to a competitor's average cost of $300 per smartphone. Going beyond products and service offerings, Huawei has also invested substantial efforts in partnering with over 70 universities worldwide to facilitate ICT knowledge transfers and providing thousands of interested students with ICT training worldwide. An impressive feat all around don’t you think?

While in China, JTC’s goal is to meet with representatives from many different sector which included financial, agriculture, education and information technology. While I have been successful in this goal which included meeting with senior representatives of the China China Construction Bank, I noticed that scheduling more than two to three meetings a day has been a challenge due to numerous factors. Challenges primarily included in having slower paced meetings which focused more on relationship building and also traffic which was unlike anything I have seen! Hopefully this doesn’t remain a concern as we move on further into mainland China!

Ni Hao Beijing!

As you know this summer I am traveling to China as an ambassador on a Junior Team Canada (JTC) trade mission. My primary role is to promote more trade between China and Canada to further strengthen Canada’s global trade position. This trip would not have been possible without the generous support of my firm KPMG MSLP, the Rotary Club of Oakville-Trafalgar, and private sponsors.

 Well, the journey began on July 28th, 2014 with 28 excited ambassadors. After a grueling flight via multiple Canadian destinations (Vancouver for me), our group arrived in Beijing with a bang. We hit the ground running and went straight to the welcome reception hosted by the Embassy of Canada in Beijing. Guest of Honor? Minister John Baird of the Depart of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

After a rushed change at the airport, we received a great introduction to the close trade ties between China and Canada at the reception. Guests in attendance included prominent Chinese business players, former Chinese ambassadors to Canada and senior management of Canadian companies operating in China. I was also excited to meet with Minister Baird. His speech was really focused on the importance of Canada-China trade and the interest Canada has in strengthening trade ties with China. This was clear from the continuous attention the embassy and the consulates in China receive from both the federal and provincial levels of the government as these offices are frequently hosting Canadian representatives visiting.

 At the reception, through meeting with many Canadian and Chinese individuals, I learned that 'guanxi' (关系), forms the basis of building relationships in the Chinese culture. The idea is that through building relationships , or quanxi, an individual will be able to call upon those in their network to call in favours or be of use to another individual. Looking forward to tapping into Global Vision’s, the Embassy’s and the Consulates’ network when setting up meetings with individuals throughout our trip and building relationships that hopefully will extend beyond our trip.

 Like with anything however, the flip side of guanxi is that it takes an incredibly long time for relationships to strengthen. Chinese organizations want to get to know your personal character before engaging in any type of business with you. This means meeting with them multiple times over business and social visits. Often times this is a deterrent for Canadian small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as many may not have the time needed to invest in relationship building due to limited human and financial resources.

 Suffice it to say, really excited to learn about China as we continue to meet with prominent business representatives in many sectors of the Chinese market.

ps: these blogs have been uploaded upon my return to Canada as Google is not a supported platform in China and often my internet connection was shoddy at best. Enjoy!

Putting my best Canadian foot forward...in China