Secrets
To Surviving In China
Learning
What It Takes To Make It In China ~ By Glenn Frost
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| I
have been living overseas and am involved in numerous business operations
including start-ups. While living in Seoul, South Korea, my wife and I
built www.SeoulSearching.com,
endorsed by the South Korean government and featured on Arirang TV's show
called Heart To Heart. My wife and I now live in Beijing, China, minutes
from the Central Business District where we both run multinational companies.
My wife has three Bachelor's degrees in Chinese, Spanish, and International
Affairs. She reads, writes, and speaks several languages to include Mandarin
Chinese which really helps when doing business. Based on my experience,
people tell me I should write a book. So I am writing this article to touch
on the key points that you should know about to survive in China.
Visas
If you are
coming here for business, it is faster, and cheaper to come into China
on an L visa (tourist visa) and upgrade to an F visa (business visa) later.
You can also extend a tourist visa near the expiration date for another
30 days for about $15.00 USD. Usually, to extend a visa, you can use a
local visa service. However the police will give you an extension on your
30 day tourist visa and you do not need a visa service for that. Most local
visa services speak English. You can get a business visa for three or six
months with either zero or multiple entries. A six-month multiple-entry
visa costs about $150.00 USD and a three-month zero entry is far less.
The service usually returns your passport in five business days. Meanwhile,
the visa service will issue you a receipt. Banks and embassies have accepted
this in lieu of a passport, but carry a copy of your passport and current
visa with you. It is very important to keep your visa current as you may
be subjected to fines, hold-ups at immigration when entering or leaving
China, or deportation. Another visa option is the Z visa. This allows you
to work in the country for a year. You are required to get a resident card
which requires a health exam and blood test. Most employers pay for the
Z visa and they will give you a letter of invitation required for the visa.
Housing
Most employers
pay for housing, but if you come on your own, housing in Beijing for expatriates
is expensive. However you can find inexpensive accommodation with a short-term
lease. You can find a place that needs some work, but meets all of your
needs for as low as $305.00 USD per month. It includes Western-style furnishings,
telephone and no security deposit. Some have broadband Internet hook-ups.
Upper-end housing costs $2,000.00 to $20,000.00 USD per month. Most
of these homes come with furniture, electronics, and home appliances. It
is probably better to put your furniture in storage. Shipping your furniture
from your home country can be very expensive. |
| A photo
of the Three Gorges along the Yangtze River in China. Three Gorges stands
for the three towering limestone cliffs of Qutang, Wu and Xiling that stretch
for 200 kilometers from Sichin province to Hubei province. The Yangtze
River will soon be dramatically altered as the world's largest dam is being
constructed along it. The dam was first concieved in 1919 by Dr. Sun Yet-Sen,
the founder of the first republic of China. The idea was pushed along in
the 1930s when over 200,000 people were killed in floods along the river.
As a result of the hudge loss of life in the 1930s floods, the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation came into the area and surveyed it for a possible dam. Afterwards
the dam idea was picked up by Mao Zedong in 1956 when he swam in the Yangtze;
after his famous swim he wrote the poem "The Lake Among The Gorges" which
described what the area would look like after the mighty river was dammed. |
| The Three
Gorges have been honored for centuries in Chinese paintings and poetry
due to their breathtaking beauty. After the dam is built many of the most
beautiful areas above the dam will disappear. |
| To build
the dam over a million people have been moved, cities abandoned, archeological
artifacts destroyed and wildlife killed. Many feel the dam is a mistake.
The dam will take 15 years to complete; it was started in 1994 and will
be completed in 2009. Upon completion it will be the largest man-made structure
in the world. |
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Many local
real estate companies are Chinese-owned and they have at least one person
who speaks English. There are no standards for leasing, so make sure you
have it written into your lease that you will have working air-conditioning
and heat. Some places will not turn on the heat until late in the winter.
Some real estate agents will try to get you to pay for an entire year when
you move in! Since they offer no discount off of your rent, you should
avoid doing this. Get them to agree to let you pay one month at time. If
they do not agree, find another place to live. Remember, there are many
empty apartments in Beijing and it is difficult for landlords and agents
to fill these places up. Usually you can negotiate your rent. Real estate
in Beijing is a buyer's market.
Employment
Potential
Beijing has
many foreign firms and major corporations such as IBM, Nokia, Motorola,
and others. What most people do not know is that many offices and operations
here in Beijing are only representative offices, with the some exception.
These are small offices that only employ a small number of employees, mostly
Chinese. The issue of communication is critical here. Communication barriers
in China will destroy any potential you may have for success if you're
not careful. I've seen communication failures ruin business deals while
making major corporations look bad. Communication can be a problem if you
are trying to negotiate a contract with the Chinese. Any holes in your
contract, or ambiguous language can be left to the interpretation of your
employer. This can mean that you can be expected to perform extra duties
or work additional hours not within your job description. Do research on
the Internet about contracts, as it can make or break your China experience!
If possible avoid using a Chinese law firm for contractual issues. I have
two law degrees and have seen many Chinese law firms and I am not impressed.
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| A photo
from Anhui province. Anhui has always been an important agricultural center
in China, but the province has been stricken over the years by a series
of terrible droughts and floods leaving it one of the poorest regions in
China. |
| During
the Cultural Revolution many young people were sent to northern Anhui where
they lived in agricultural communes. |
| Anhui means
Peace
Emblem in Chinese. The people of Anhui are known for their high intelligence. |
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Job
Search
To test the
market, I created experimental resumes here in Beijing to examine the employment
market. I created resumes for lawyers, doctors, advanced high tech, engineers,
consultants, and infrastructure development experts. All of my experimental
resume candidates are Beijing residents, had China experience, spoke Chinese
and English, and had a valid employment visa. I used various experience
levels, from mid-career to senior levels. Next, I had them reviewed and
approved by respected experts in all applicable fields and by three resume
writing services. I posted these resumes on Monster.com and local employment
boards. I also sent these experimental resumes directly to over one hundred
Chinese companies, foreign-owned companies and joint ventures.
The results
of this experiment were not promising. Not one of my resumes received a
call for an interview. Therefore, I believe that finding employment in
Beijing is difficult, if not impossible to find from inside Beijing. It
is easier to join a company from your home country and then be sent to
Beijing. In fact, that is what many expatriates in Beijing do.
Many people
who come here on their own do freelance work, consult, entertain or teach.
Although the hours and the pay is not consistent like regular permanent
jobs, many people, both college-educated and not, enjoy the freedom to
explore China on their own and earn a good living. |
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Sabotage
And Espionage
In Chinese
society, it is a civic duty to help with national progress. This can mean
relative progress, or slowing the progress of other countries. That is
why espionage and sabotage are common here, especially in foreign government
operations. I have called an embassy on my cell phone in view of the reception
desk and watched the Chinese operator ignore the call! At another embassy,
I met with diplomats about another business I run to discuss promoting
their culture abroad. Their Chinese secretary kept injecting China into
this meeting. I politely told her that the meeting did not involve China.
When these diplomatic officers told her to send me several documents relevant
to my business, she did not comply. I never received them.
Where Chinese
employees were in charge of operations of promoting other countries I have
had problems with the cancelling of appointments, refusal to transfer calls,
lost faxes, eavesdropping of telephone calls, and unauthorized opening
of letters. I am not alone. High-level diplomats and C-level executives
I have talked to have had similar experiences when dealing with Chinese
employees in positions of trust. I want to clarify and stand firm with
my own opinion that not all Chinese citizens are spies. I am stating various
incidents that I have personally witnessed or was informed about by credible
persons with no outside motives or other agendas. Some foreign governments
deal with the problem by just lowering their voices when speaking, others
physically throw Chinese personnel caught spying or engaging in sabotage
out of their buildings.
Copycats
China is notorious
for copyright infringement and stealing ideas and representing them as
their own. This includes trade secrets, intellectual property, and sensitive
materials. Even shows produced by Animal Planet and NBC have been recorded,
had their logo blurred and presented on government-run TV stations. DVD's,
CD's are pirated here daily, costing the owners of those service marks,
logos, trade marks, and other branding tools billions of US dollars annually.
North Face, Rolex and several other top-end labels are reproduced and placed
on substandard products.
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| Some
tips on avoiding espionage problems
Business persons
should be careful by avoiding talking about sensitive business matters
at restaurants, on cell phones and hotel phones. Use encrypted faxes,
e-mail on secure servers and shredders. Watch what you say around Chinese
janitors; many have been known to carry recording devices. Avoid serviced
apartments, homes or offices. Do not use a Chinese driver if offered
a company car and driver for your place of employment. They often sell
information on your schedule and daily whereabouts. Check your telephones,
wall outlets, house plants, and some of the more obvious possible places
for electronic listening devices after you assume control of an apartment,
home or office. Do not tell anyone except people you trust where you are
going and keep your personal movements confidential. Vary departure and
arrival times, and change your routes at random. Do not tell people where
you are from. Do not show or release your passport to anyone such as security
guards, and hold onto it at banks, Western Union or other transaction locations.
Place your ID card or passport against the bullet-proof glass so the clerks
can read it. Offer them a copy of your passport and recover that when you
are done with your business. Do not surrender it. If police demand your
passport, do not give it to them. They may be fake police. That's a new
scam here. Demand they bring foreign affairs police, immigration, and customs
officers. That way you won't be paying any fines for "visa errors" or other
creative problems. Recently we had 12 security guards appear at our
door demanding our papers. Needless to say, they got nothing.. |
| Mt. Lushan
in Jiangxi province is the spirtual home of Taoism and Buddhism in China.
It was also the mountain resort of Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Guomindang.
In 1959 the Chinese Communist Party led by Mao Zedong met at Lushan to
discuss the progress of the Great Leap Forward. Some spoke out against
the Great Leap Forward: the most famous being Peng Dehuai who at the time
was defense minister. Mao, as always, outmaneuvered his adversaries
and then had them all purged. |
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The Bottom
Line
In light of
these problems, why come to China? One reason is that there are several
growing markets, like health care, that are needed but underdeveloped.
Another reason is the huge labor pool. Properly trained and monitored,
Chinese employees can be a inexpensive and inexhaustible labor force. But,
you had better know what you are doing. This takes careful research. Talk
to companies that are already here. Talk to people who live here. You can
open a representative office to get your feet wet before fully entering
the market. Use foreign-owned services, like law firms, accounting, and
real estate. This helps avoid miscommunication problems. Above all, learn
about the Chinese. Study the government, the law, the people, culture and
language and especially the way they are educated. Knowing what you are
getting into will prevent the shock of doing business, working or studying
in China.
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| Glenn Frost
is
an American expat who is well educated and well traveled. He and his wife
own and operate http://www.SeoulSearching.com
and http://www.VirtualNiche.net
where they do live Web casts about the expat lifestyle from their home
in Beijing, China. Glenn Frost is an international private investigator,
bodyguard, and entrepreneur with clients to include celebrities, dignitaries,
diplomats, executives, governments, and royal family members. His direct
e-mail address is GlennFrost@Yahoo.com |
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