Video: A discussion on doing business in China

On October 27th a panel of experts made up of Stewart Beck, president and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation, Colin Hansen, president and CEO of AdvantageBC, and Ananth Krishnan, national head of business development, global trade and receivables finance for HSBC Bank Canada, joined fellow business leaders and entrepreneurs at the 2015 BCBusiness Doing Business in China Breakfast event, presented in partnership with HSBC.

The morning’s discussion—guided by the results of BCBusiness‘ 2015 Survey on Doing Business in China, published in the July 2015 issue of BCBusiness—revealed many reasons why now is the time for B.C.-based companies to do business overseas, specifically in China. At the same time, however, it was clear from the experts that despite a strong global demand for our goods and services, there continues to be several barriers causing companies to think twice about making any business investment in China. According to the survey, 75 per cent of respondents said that they or their company are not currently conducting business in China, with some of the reasons being political differences, regulations and unfamiliarity with the market. Although these barriers aren’t going away anytime soon, HSBC Bank Canada’s Ananth Krishnan says that companies shouldn’t feel they have to face the unknown all by themselves, and that having success in China is very possible. 

“Companies are trying to navigate, on their own, a lot of the issues. There’s help out there,” says Krishnan. “There’s financial institutions, crown corporations and accountants who have the experience who can help you navigate some of these risks.”

AdvantageBC’s Colin Hansen also noted that the Chinese government is seeing the benefits of increasing trade with other countries, especially with the growing middle class in China.

“The Chinese government has had a very deliberate strategy of internationalizing the renminbi, and opening up the country to investment and the private sector.”

Click here for our complete Doing Business in China package, and find out what you need to know about doing business in the Middle Kingdom.