IBSM 2007. Memories. Emotions. Thoughts

Part 4: Guang Zhou

Day 4:

Here we're at guangzhou.
had breakfast as usual
then visited ZhuJiang Beer Factory
广州珠江啤酒集团有限公司

IBSM'2007

Factory Tour~

It was a short visit at the factory.

The company, which 30% of their sales are made up of its export, currently works on 3 production lines. The main materials for beer: high grade rice, premium hops, purified and filtrated water from Dongjing River and high quality making barley.

What I have learned:
1) They have different targeted consumers at different areas and for different retail groups. For instance, their products distributed to supermarkets are cheaper while those at hotels or pubs are more expensive. This is one of the business strategies that we should learn to increase profits.
2) To better control revenue, the company distributes their products to major distributors, which they will then distribute to smaller ones. It is also easier to identify trends and consumer patterns which will be crucial for business development.

After that, we went to the tomb of the 72 warriors (I seriously can't recall the proper name of the place)
Upon arrival, we saw little kids !

kids are VERY precious in China?
This is because each family only allowed to bear one kid
and they ALL look very cute.
chubby/rosy cheeks!

I wanted to snap the slope actually.
it's upward sloping, then downward sloping.
The purpose of it is to sort of "force" people to bow when they are walking towards their tomb.
How interesting isn't it?

Xiao Deng demo-ing

and then we tried it.
We were trying not to bow down
but it's impossible.
winnie's action explains it all =X

Do we look like a pro bizwoman? =D

one of my proud-est shots

bY.

beth. she loves the greenery (especially after her comment on the trees of guangzhou are very green).

I encouraged her to do it.
If possible, please zoom in this pic to look at her expression.
george (at the background) had the -_- look.
wahahahahaha

As you can see, we really love the peace there.

we love this picture so much.

五羊像:

the girls

the sole 11 guys

Tea Session with Regional Director of International Enterprise Singapore (Southern China), Mr Nee

There wasn't much on the tea, but for once, we asked a LOT of questions, that there was not enough time for everyone's questions.

International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore) aspires to help bring ready Singaporean firms to the overseas market. Mr Nee is from the Southern China region, which comprises of Hongkong, Macau and the other 8 provinces (in the PRD). Their job scope includes to watch out for business opportunities (e.g. looking out for master planning jobs), do general visits, advising and helping Singaporean firms (in China) on problems. They may exert certain influence on the government if there is a need to.

LEARNING POINTS:
China & Singapore - Based on last year's statistics, China is the biggest investment destination and is the 4th biggest trade partner for Singapore. Singapore is also China's 4th biggest trade partner. The Guangdong province accounts for one-third of foreign trade of China, hence it is an important gateway for China.

"Guanxi" & "mianzi" - Mr Nee shared that this is more important in the less developed areas. Areas that are more towards the coastal areas less need "guanxi" and "mianzi". Like Mr Jeremy Mun (from Aztech) had mentioned, relationship with local government is important, but it does not mean that the company will for sure be successful. When black and white is not so clear, the local government, who have "control" over laws, may interpret to close to what you want/need. Thus, "guanxi" comes into its importance.

CEPA - A policy which helps Hongkong and Macau businessmen to China before China fully opened up. However, this agreement does not seem as attractive as it seems to be as it only helps in certain sectors (eg. logistics). It may not be one of the attractions of PRD anymore.

Why China? - Besides the huge market and low labour costs, Mr Nee said that quality of labour and the cost performance of China labour is stronger than the other countries in the region (eg. Vietnam and Indonesia). Also, Singaporean firms will have to move out of the country to the overseas market due to limited resources and having more of the infrastructure fixed. Businesses can also save a lot of costs - materials easily avaliable, easy to produce things, logistics cost is cheaper and there's a big market to sell products to.

Attitude - Adapt to the culture. Do not complain. Keep an open mind. Flexible in certain things. Establish relations here. MUST have something. However, some of our traits should still be kept eg. integrity. Don't fall into temptation of cheating.

Labour issues - Wages will be suppressed as China is overly exploited by foreign investment. With the better skilled labour moving to work in the cities, the labour from the rural areas are being left exploited by factories of foreign companies. As a result, people in the cities are having good lives while those in the rural areas continue their lives being exploited. The cycle carries on, thus wages does not affect much.

I really learn a lot from this tea session, not just regarding international business, but also on my general knowledge about a lot of things. It is an "ear-opening" experience in the sense that even though we did not get to see the things he mentioned personally, but it seems so real when he was sharing with us. Despite being a big country, China also faces domestic problems as a result of globalisation. which sets me to think that everything will has its pros and cons, nothing is perfect.

Guangzhou Leather Wholesale Market

We went there with the thought that we can buy a lot of things!
but it turned out to be the other way round.

The "strategy" that my group of friends adopted was to speak in English when we were talking amongst ourselves, and only to ask for the wholesale price after we had discussed what price we were settled at.
It was quite a scary experience as wherever we went, there would bound to be people staring at us (more specifically, our blazers). There was even a security guard who followed us.

After some time, we got really exhausted and disappointed that we did not get anything (because of the price and bargaining), hence we left the place sadly. But after sharing our experiences with our fellow IBSM-mates, I feel that our experience was considered not-that-bad already. Some of them were being chased off or scolded with vulgarities!

Still, I feel that it was an eye-opening experience. It was a totally different culture, different scenario (as we had to bargain/negotiate like we are businessmen) and different environment. I have learnt that we must ADAPT and act accordingly to the situation. 所谓，入乡随俗。这就是如此。There is no point complaining or feeling angry over what that had happened because nothing will be solved. After all, only the best wins!

If I am given another chance to visit this place again, I would use a different approach in handling it.

After "market research"-ing,
went back to hotel,
bathed.
and BEER!
hahahahahaha
With complimentary of Zhujiang brewery which we visited in the day.

drinking session in my room =)

i think we are very suitable spokeswomen

Day 5:
breakfast.
company visit:
Pearl River Piano Factory

one of the grand pianos

I love this shot

it's white! =)
doesn't it look glam?

the instrument that I'd love to play the most

punk rock gals will love this

and stephie played for us!
I believe playing on the grand piano is like.. WOW

Learning points:
1) Marketing strategies should be creative in order to create a lasting impression in the consumers. One of which the company does, is to hold a piano competition. On one hand, it helps to promote their products, on the other, it will simulate people's interest in music.
2) Problems faced when entering a new (overseas) market are:
- Proving that the quality of their products are also good (even when there is a strong competitor)
- Lack of knowledge of the market
Thus, employing an experienced and trustworthy retailer in that country to help open the market.
3) Problems faced on the whole: rising costs, protecting their brand name, and to be even more established.
4) Having a wide network is important in order to market more effectively. Communication is also vital to spread the right information around.

Being an established corporation with such massive production, the Pearl River Piano Company has emerged as a brand name after all these years of stiff competition. We should learn from the entreprenuers' determination, diligence and wisdom to walk though the tough challenges and never stop looking for more opportunities.

travelling time:

edward + george
i miss chewing-gums with them
whenever it's travelling time,
the 4 of us will be chewing and chewing non-stop.
hahaha.

陈家祠:

ppl playing "chapteh"
winnie was invited to play with them.
guess wad.
something unglam happened!!!
wAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
we all luffed.

It's those places which you may only see it in drama
and i gotta see it in real life!

I think it looks very magnificant
some people may find visiting such places boring
but i prefer these cultural visits (i'm a libran ;P)

I sense this studious atmosphere

oops. this wasn't intentional

广州经济大学

A presentation from 乐副教授

In their classroom.

a token with our appreciation!

Sitting in the classroom was a different feeling from the past company visits.
Looking at the powerpoint slides, it really minded me of our lectures!

We learnt that Guangzhou is an important gateway of China, which has an economic growth of 14.1% (that is one-eighth of the country). He also shared the 9 biggest industries:
1) 电讯与通讯
2) 电器机械
3) 石油化工
4) 纺织服装
5) 食物与餐饮业
6) 建材
7) 造纸
8) 医药
9) 汽车

Again, I could not be more amazed about the beauty of having abundant resources. Every country should be aware of its own haves and don't-haves in order to attract the suitable foreign investments to its own country.

On the other hand, China also faces 4 problems:
买房难
看病难
就业难
读书难
Investors might want to look into such business opportunities?

Something happened so 3 of us did not go for shopping.
We finally had a meal "off".
so we rushed for this:

we are SO deprived, can u sense it?

Walked along the pearl river for a while
and we saw ppl acting as beggers
I was also quite worried abt being robbed

Day 6:

breakfast-ed as usual
Before that, Xiao Deng was at the entrance of the restaurant telling us that the temperature dropped to 10 degrees.
He added that 10 degrees is bearable,
but it was raining
AND we were going to somewhere near the seaside,
thus, it would be REALLY cold.
We needed to wear more.

but i didn't haf extra thick clothing
could only depend on andrea's extra cardigan.

can u see that i was REALLY cold?
think i'm e only one in the group who's shivering like mad.

鸦片战争纪念馆:

nice scenery.
but it's VERY cold up there

my hair looks neat here.
andrea lent me her jacket
WOO.
nice smiles =)

WHEE~

miss the good times;