OPINION


A view of the East


asting my mind back to when I fi rst ventured to the Far East over 30 years ago I recall how exciting it was to travel to such a mysterious place as the Peoples Republic of China. I was very fortunate in having some good advice from a travelling companion and support from a company that had experience in journeying to and trading with China in the period after the Cultural Revolution. China was extremely diffi cult to get into and once there equally diffi cult to travel around. Local aircraft were not well maintained and often consisted of decommissioned Turbo Prop Russian military aircraft; there was a greater incidence of accidents than would have been acceptable in the West! As a trader I was able to establish advanced information about new factories being built often in remote areas. Great distance needed to be covered to get to the location and it was very much a case of fi rst one there got the golden apple. My offi ce in China was run by an excellent manager and often an enquiry about fl ying to the location from HK or Beijing would invite “ no, not safe” so it often meant a train journey of one or two days - basically using up a week of travel. If one factory turned out to be a gem it more than paid for the three or four visits that ended as a waste of time. Standards of accommodation and food hygiene


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were poor. Luckily with the constitution of an ox I was able to survive the inevitable bugs. Imodium, energy biscuits, dried fruit and nuts, chlorine tablets, antiseptic wipes, trusted bottle water and a good book were the must-haves. I often spent sleeping time in factory residences on top of the bed in my work clothes as the alternative was not the optimum option. Althrough these were exciting times I began to understand and admire many things about Chinese culture. Over the years this admiration has simply matured. Despite frequently hearing various snipes on sanitation, cleanliness and work ethics. I have often taken the view that to administer a country with a population of 1.2 billion is not the same as governing a population of 60 million. There have to be a different ways to administer and control everyday life to avoid chaos.


I have learnt that mutual respect and not loosing 22 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL


Introducing our columnist, Ray Windsor


Our columist Ray Windsor of Topchoice Industries recalls his experience of being introduced to business in the Far East


face are high on the agenda. Respect should be earnt and once gained should be treasured. Tough negotiations are expected but I have found honesty speaks volumes in China. Similarly as does not allowing someone loose face in front of a colleague. Disagreements are best sorted in a one to one situation or out of formal meetings. This was true 30 years ago and is still true today however other aspects have changed. I think the changes seen in China in the cities, airports and factories have been amazing and anyone who might criticise the Chinese government for not moving forward to improve the people’s lives should compare it now with


“One of the biggest changes is China as a consumer market. Currently running a double digit growth every year on luxury goods, China still remains in the primary stage of luxury buying compared with developed countries consumption”


what the country was like 40 years ago. Others may say that China has gone too far towards adopting western ways. Lets face it - there are some undesirable aspects to western life but if an idea is seen as good and workable it will be adopted.


One thing is certain, as seen in the recent visit to the UK by the Chinese Premier, the Chinese Government does not like being lectured to on the adoption of other culture’s ways of life and values. Discuss, yes, but do not lecture! This is very much the way to approach business in China. One of the biggest changes is China as a consumer market. Currently running a double digit growth every year on luxury goods, China still remains in the primary stage of luxury buying compared with developed countries consumption. The average age of Chinese luxury consumers is getting younger, almost three quarters of


Ray holds over 40 years association with the glass and ceramics industries, having worked as buyers for various department stores and later on to such companies as for Glass Export of Czechoslovakia and Teinshan Tableware Ltd before fi nally settling into his current position as General Manager for Europe at Topchoice Industries of Hong Kong. As a result of his active presence in these industries, Ray has also spent a long of time living and working in and around the Chinese region on business.


luxury consumers are under the age of 45 and about half are between 18 and 34. Although the considerable Chinese manufacturing base is trying to take advantage of this opportunity just under 60% of all luxury goods are made overseas. The main reasons reported for this are still more choice, strangely lower prices and, as the purchasing power on the mainland grows along with the development of the commodity economy, large numbers of consumers are becoming conspicuous in their drive for luxury goods consumption. The rapid urbanisation beyond major cities has greatly increased spending on luxury goods in medium and smaller cities and in 2010 around 65% of luxury spending came from new customers. The new battleground for spending is within these second and third sized cities where new brand awareness is already approaching the levels seen in Beijing and Shanghai. At present 100 top global brands are making adjustments to their trading strategies in China, Although the luxury goods at the moment tend to cover clothes, perfume, watches and jewellery this shift to high profi le consumer appetites is now taking in vacation homes, top class furniture, investments, art, yachts and also taking us into the area of fi ne dining.


At the same time the “middle class” is enjoying better lifestyle expectancy and has acquired a taste for better quality goods. This is projecting the Chinese people’s integration in the world to understand and partake in new fashion trends, even in part now possibly taking the lead and adopting the position of world leader in some areas in the years to come.


As mentioned earlier the Chinese people do not need lecturing on development direction; they will always make that decision themselves. Needless to say that decision has and will invariably have an enormous impact on the rest of the developed world. The moral being I suppose that maybe we should listen for once, rather than lecture?


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