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China Business Cast

Jons Slemmer

A Podcast from the Front Lines of Business in China

  • 57 minutes 31 seconds
    Ep. 129: M on the Bund closes after 23 years - my last afternoon tea with Michelle Garnaut

    About Michelle Garnaut

    Michelle Garnaut, AO is an Australian restaurateur and best known for her series of restaurants and philanthropic work in China. She began her career as one of China's most celebrated restaurateurs in 1989, when she opened M at the Fringe in Hong Kong. It swiftly grew into a city institution, and in 1999, M on the Bund opened, the first independent restaurant on the historic Shanghai waterfront. Like its predecessor, it soon became a beloved oasis for locals, visitors and lovers of good food and warm service. In 2009 she opened Capital M on Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

    Michelle is also a founder of the Shanghai International Literary Festival, the M Literary Residency, the Village People Project and has spearheaded Mentor Walks across Asia, where up-and-coming professional women can seek advice from experienced mentors. Mentor Walks now operates in Hong Kong, Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane and continues to spread around Asia.

    Michelle is the recipient of many international honours, including the inaugural award in Food at the Advance Global Australian Awards. She sits on various boards including the Advance Global Board. In 2015 Michelle was invited to the 'Legends Hall of Fame' which pays tribute to the leaders, ground breakers and visionaries of Australia and Victoria’s food and wine industry. 

    She was made an ‘Officer of the Order of Australia’ in the Australia Day Honours List 2018.

     

    Episode Content:

    Closing down one of the oldest Western restaurants in Shanghai might seem discouraging for some entrepreneurs, yet the founder has several learnings to keep us inspired. During the interview we spoke of business in China, women entrepreneurs and what it means to be ‘successful’. 

    Michelle says ‘being successful’ means a business needs to make money and allow her to do things that she really wants to do. And to get there you need to work hard and become the best at things you really want to do. She says it’s really that simple. 🤔

    The questions we discussed in the episode:

    • What is the most important thing to focus on when starting a business?
    • How to know when you should listen to someone's advice and when you should follow your own gut feeling?
    • How to build a social enterprise that is profitable and contributes to the society?
    • How to renegotiate financial structure with your business partner and gain control?
    • What are some of the most common limiting beliefs female entrepreneurs that stop them from becoming successful?
    • How did the local tastes change over the past 20 years?
    • What do Chinese people really want from a Western business?
    • Why doing 'discounting' on Chinese apps for a restaurant is a terrible advice?
    • What are some strategies that helped the restaurant adapt to the changing environment amidst COVID-19?
    • When to make an exit and how?
    • What can a great leader do to inspire their employees and partners to work with them for 30+ years?

    Episode Mentions:

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    22 January 2022, 6:02 am
  • 1 hour 4 minutes
    Ep. 128: Webinar: Mandatory GACC Registration for all F&B exporters

    About EU SME Centre

    The EU SME Centre is a European Union initiative that provides a comprehensive range of hands-on support services to European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), getting them ready to do business in China. Experts in the Centre provide advice and support in four areas – business development, law, standards and conformity and human resources. Collaborating with external experts worldwide, the Centre converts valuable knowledge and experience into practical business tools and services easily accessible online.

    The EU SME Centre is now managed by five implementing partners who guide the strategic development and management of the Centre through their knowledge and experience of the China market-- China-Britain Business Council, China-Italy Chamber of Commerce in China, Danish Chamber of Commerce in China, EUROCHAMBRES and European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. 

     

    About Alessio Petino

    Mr. Alessio Petino has been living in Beijing since 2011 and is very fluent in Chinese. As a frequent speaker and moderator at various meetings and expert-level discussions, he was regularly involved in the activities of various European networks and platforms in China. For the past 5+ years, he has been working on various EU-funded projects in China, mainly doing research and analysis in the following areas: R&D and innovation policy, high-tech zones, investment attraction policies and market access. His key areas of expertise are China’s R&I funding programs at both national (NKPs, NSFC, Megaprojects) and local level, international R&I co-funding mechanisms, government incentives and subsidies, as well as market access and opportunities for SMEs. 

     

    About China Customs Officer

    The Customs Officer is the Director of TBT Research Centre of International Research Center for Inspection and Quarantine Standards and Technical Regulation of GACC and the main drafter of Orders 248 and 249 of the General Administration of Customs. 

    He has been engaged in the research of food, chemical technical trade measures, risk analysis and risk warning. He has been awarded with the second and third prizes of the scientific and technological inspections at the ministerial for the research projects he participated in.  Additionally, he edited and participated in a dozen of related books. He has played a positive role in removing foreign technical trade barriers, establishing China’s technical preventive measure system, and promoting the development of foreign economic trade.

     

    About Lina Bartuseviciute

    Ms. Lina Bartuseviciute has been in Shanghai for almost 12 years. Due to her cultural know-how and language proficiency, as well as International Relations Master's Degree in Fudan, she has been included in multiple high stakes governmental meetings and negotiations, hosted numerous delegations and bilateral talks. Since 2015, she has founded LITAO www.litaogroup.com - a business consulting firm focusing on China Market Entry, which works to bring quality European F&B brands to China market, with support from European Union.

     

    About Raymond NG 

    Mr. Raymond Ng is the Regulatory Affairs Consultant at Accestra Consulting. He has a Master’s degree from University of Nottingham and has extensive knowledge on Chinese Food & Beverage, Cosmetics and Pharmaceutical import & export regulations. His research specialises in China’s national standards and the impact it has on international businesses. He has vast insight and practical experience in dealing with Chinese market access requirements and accumulated a successful track record with supporting international exporters with market entry in to China. 

     

    About Lavinia Yao 

    Ms. Lavinia Yao is the Senior Regulatory Consultant at Accestra Consulting. She has a Master’s degree from Zhejiang University in Food Science and Engineering. Ms. Yao has years of experience in the food industry and is an expert in China food laws, regulations and national standards. Her daily work involves solving practical food regulatory problems for global food businesses, covering regulatory compliance in food labelling, food additives registration, health foods, food contact materials related regulations and others. She is often invited as a keynote speaker to numerous high-level conferences organized by the government; an indispensable asset in her line of work for responding to international client's needs. 

     

    Episode Content:

    In April 2021, China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) issued two regulations, Order 248 and Order 249, that will prevent businesses to export their products to China if they have not registered on the GAC platform before the 1st of January 2022.

    We cover all kinds of questions around the mandatory regulations, but in short, it comes down to the following:

    • What, why, where and who needs to register on GAC’s platform
    • Procedures for registration: recommendation from national authorities and self-registration
    • Step-by-step guidance for self-registration on GAC’s platform
    • Labelling requirements
    • Impact of the new regulations on market dynamics EU exporters
    • Insights on successful factors for F&B products, B2B distributors and Chinese consumers preference
    • Tips and pitfalls

     

    Episode Mentions:

    15 December 2021, 2:59 am
  • 54 minutes 26 seconds
    Ep. 127: Selling imported ice cream online during COVID-19 with Bjorn van der Veen

    About Bjorn van der Veen:

    Originally from the Netherlands, Bjorn is an experienced Digital Marketing and e-commerce professional who has been living in China for 15 years. He has worked in Online and Digital Marketing for 12 years and is a trusted Tmall Partner.

    In 2015, he launched Arctic Solutions, a full-service e-commerce solutions provider, that focuses on temperature-controlled products for the Chinese market.

    Ranging from -21 to 21 degrees, Arctic Solutions covers everything from logistics, customs clearance, temperature controlled warehousing, last mile delivery, customer service, cross border payments, technical solutions and marketing.

    Episode Content:

    Recently we hear food exporters started worrying that the Chinese consumers are afraid of buying imported foods, especially frozen, because of the severe COVID-19 outbreaks associated with the facilities where imported foods were stored and handled. We wanted to know what are the actual impacts of COVID-19 in the food sector and what can be done to improve the cold-chain  management during the pandemic.

    We cover all kinds of things around e-commerce and cold-chain, but in short, it comes down to the following:

    • Market demand for immune-boosting and authentic imported products
    • Practical process to evaluate your potential in China
    • The need to be agile and flexible when launching new products
    • Importance of online reviews and keeping good reputation
    • New strategies to build trust in your brand during COVID-19
    • Different customer expectations in e-commerce and offline stores
    • 4 types of digital influencers: KOL, KOC, KOS and KOF
    • The value of having local partners for China Market Entry
    • D2C cold-chain hurdles and the importance of nationwide warehouse coverage
    • Seasonal and regional differences in China

    Episode Mentions:

    29 November 2021, 4:52 am
  • 31 minutes 48 seconds
    Ep. 126: Navigating Business Leadership Styles of China & the West with Athena Zhu

    In this episode, we will mainly focus on the following questions:

    • What are the key differences between Chinese and Western companies and the way they do business?
    • How to integrate the Chinese style of doing business with Western companies?
    • What should a leader do when the team makes a mistake? 
    • What is the required change in brand identity to become a brand suitable for mass market?
    • How to stay authentic in the transformation?
    • When working in a corporate structure, how to navigate the very rigid environment and still bring forth vibrant and dynamic decisions?
    • What can be considered as a good leader? What are the key elements?
    • How to communicate with people with different jobs in a team? How can you mentor and coach them?
    • What are the current challenges for an established company to transform themselves in this rapidly changing environment?

    Episode Mentions:

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    13 November 2021, 7:16 am
  • 33 minutes 48 seconds
    Ep. 125: Women in China Business Leadership with Helen Ye

    In 2001, China became a member of WTO, and thousands of Chinese companies wanted to go abroad. One big problem was that these Chinese companies didn’t understand the culture, policies and regulatory requirements there. Helen started her career in this field since 2007 when she joined a consulting company which helps Chinese companies to have their presence in other countries. Now she is still working in this field but mainly helps foreign companies enter the China market.

    It has been only 20 years since 2001. During the first decade, Chinese local companies wanted to go abroad. But in the past ten years, there were incredibly increasing numbers of overseas companies who are quite interested in the China market and want to understand how China market runs. 

    In this episode, we will mainly focus on following questions:

    • What are the biggest differences in selling consulting services to the foreigners as compared to the local Chinese companies?
    • How to sell services such as consultancy service to the clients? 
    • What are the key points of maintaining a sustainable relationship with the clients?
    • How to preserve the core members of a team? 
    • How to make sure that the team fits into the same vision? How to motivate the team?
    • How to make sure that the messages of the leader go across effectively?
    • How to talk to the staffs as a CEO when there are mistakes?
    • How to manage the company like a family? How to find a balance between a CEO and a mother-like person?
    • What can be considered as the biggest achievement of a company?

    Episode Mentions:

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    10 October 2021, 8:39 am
  • 49 minutes 36 seconds
    Ep. 124: Business Leadership in China with Elijah Whaley

    About Elijah Whaley:

    Elijah Whaley has over two decades of experience as a content producer and marketer, with eight years focused on KOL marketing in China. Until acquisition in 2020, Elijah was the CMO of PARKLU. Elijah is now the VP of Marketing APAC at Launchmetrics. Elijah was also the Co-founder of one of China’s top-ranking beauty KOL, Melilim Fu.

    Episode Content:

    I have admired PARKLU for their ability to simplify the complex world of China marketing, and I have admired Elijah for giving out all the most valuable industry secrets to everyone who is willing to listen.

    No wonder PARKLU has become the go-to-platform for most foreign luxury fashion & cosmetics brands, and Elijah got featured in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Vogue Business and many other valuable publications for his exclusive knowledge and understanding of Chinese consumers.

    We have known each other for some time, but only got to meet last year - and found out that we have a similar perception on the value a business should create for the clients, yet work in a very different capacity [LITAO works on building a B2B network and sales, while Elijah helps brands sell to B2C network online].

    I promise our conversation is going to be very interesting for anyone thinking about China! Subscribe and enjoy!

    • What do technology start-ups mean in Chinese context?
    • How do you make sure a brand's communication stays coherent across different channels when working with different KOLs ?
    • What role do the KOLs and influencers play when building up a brand’s communication with consumers?
    • Why do some foreign brands fail in their communication strategy? What can they learn from the Chinese brands?
    • For a leader, how to better achieve a common goal with the team? 
    • What can be considered as “professional” in China? What’s the differences when comparing to the West?
    • How will the soft powder of Chinese business affect foreign companies?
    • What criteria can be used to measure the results for a marketing technology company in China?
    • What is the innovator's dilemma?
    • For a leader, how to rephrase the task-setting without focusing on the details or the process? What can be the risks?
    • What’s the differences between been a leader in China compared to the West?

    Episode Mentions:

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    25 September 2021, 7:08 am
  • 54 minutes 38 seconds
    Ep. 123: New Retail & Leadership Training Programme with LITAO

    When the digital payment technology got integrated to social media platforms, China changed. And now is becoming an inspiration for global corporations when trying to foster innovation and leadership. 

    Chinaany is famous for its de-centralized network of shopping channels, and the speed of transformation which is unprecedented elsewhere in the world. The aim of this episode is to help global decision-makers develop awareness to what is possible in business, have a better understanding of the current China market and to help foreign brands build cross-cultural competences by showing real-life examples of leadership, new retail and consumers in China.

    • How to manage a national team in China?
    • How does the brand successfully maintain its mission and integrity while changing appropriately with the current environment?
    • how the regulator environment has changed in China in the last 2 years?
    • What is Cross-border E-commerce?
    • How to work with a Chinese company?
    • How does offline pop-up stores work?
    • How do you keep your audience focused?
    • How do brands build their awareness?
    • What are the differences in understanding of the same products regarding cultural differences?
    • How do Chinese consumers make their consuming decisions?
    • Why is a Chinese company profile so important?

    Episode Mentions:

    4 September 2021, 2:53 am
  • 37 minutes 41 seconds
    Ep. 122: Attending Trade Fairs in China with EU SME Centre

    Online trade fairs have become very popular in recent years in China, especially after the outbreak of covid-19. Some foreign companies find out that there are markets for their products and want to attend the trade fairs in China, not only online fairs or hybrid fairs, but also physical fairs. 

    However, in many cases those companies may encounter with problems on how to introduce them to the visitors, or how to attract people’s attention, etc. In this webinar the experts mainly focused on the question listed below and shared their insights and stories from their experience.

    • What options do European companies have when they want to participate in Chinese fairs, especially now when they are not able to come to China? 
    • What is IPR in recession and what should foreign company do with it when entering China?
    • What are important factors to take into account when preparing for the fair?
    • What should people do during an exhibition? How can a company maximize its benefits?
    • How to make social media particular useful when introducing yourself to others?
    • When company joins an exhibition for branding, what kind of visitors you expect the most?
    • What should a company do to follow up after estimating, preparing for and participating in those fairs? 

    Episode Mentions:

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    28 July 2021, 5:36 am
  • 50 minutes 40 seconds
    Ep. 121: Understanding the Health industry with Jonathan Chapon

    Bio Jonathan Chapon

    Jonathan is a very humble guy with an impressive track record as an international health insurance broker. After coming to China as an exchange student in 2007, he returned in 2009 and have been climbing the corporate ladder at Abacare ever since. As he says basically the only thing he did not do is cleaning the carpet. It is quite rare to find an expat working at a company for 12 years with full passion and dedication. He is an inspiration and we are excited that we can share his story and industry knowledge with all of you.

    Episode content:

    • Jonathan shares his internal journey until and after takeover by a Chinese company
    • Why Chinese consumers are buying an expat health insurance
    • How the China health and social insurance system works as a business owner for your employees and the importance of having this understanding
    • Main differences between Chinese and Western health issues and awareness
    • What are the health trends in family structure and with ageing population
    • Understanding the Chinese health system so you can be a better leader, colleague and friend
    • Technology developments in the health industry
    • Local hospital arrangements requires a lot of waiting and queuing. What will be the solution to solve this.
    • Managing his team in both Shanghai and Beijing
    • Where to engage with other C-level leaders and entrepreneurs
    • His two highlights of his 12 years China

    Episode Mentions:

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    15 July 2021, 7:46 pm
  • 51 minutes 4 seconds
    Ep. 120: Protecting your IP Rights in China? With China IPR SME Helpdesk

    Things in China are always changing faster than any other place in the world, especially when connected with technology, with patent and with laws. Because of the constant change, there are always huge market in China, which attracts companies all over the world. However, when a foreign company enters China market, it will definitely encounter with problems in rules, in trademark registration process, in patent protection, in communication with local agents and distributors, etc. 

    Sometimes it may find that the products or the name is already existed in China. Sometimes the problems are caused by misconception. Sometimes they are caused by choosing the wrong categories and classes where the company wants to protect itself. What can we do? Today, we will be focusing on the following questions:

    • How can foreign companies protect themselves?
    • How to prepare the trademark protection strategy? Why should a brand register under different classes in China vs. overseas?
    • What can we learn from the wine case?
    • What is the preference of Chinese consumers?
    • Is it over when you have already registered a trademark successfully? What's next?
    • Why must a foreign company pay attention to cultural differences when entering China?
    • Why is it important to invest in human resources?
    • What suggestions will the China IP SME Helpdesk provide for its clients?
    • What can you do to protect your IP rights when there are similar trademarks that exist in the market already?
    • Why should a brand invest in building their Chinese name?

    Episode Mentions:

    26 June 2021, 7:34 am
  • 39 minutes 11 seconds
    Ep. 119: Thriving in China's Eommerce Ecosystem with Sandrine Zerbib

    Bio Sandrine Zerbib

    Over 25 years’ experience in consumer business in China, out of which the last seven years working on cracking the code of Chinese digital native millennials.

    Sandrine Zerbib founded and is currently running a Shanghai based and China focused brand management and digital agency specialized in digital brand strategy, e-commerce operations and 360 marketing – from performance marketing to community management and event digitalization. Most Full Jet clients are international fashion, lifestyle and sports labels, such as G-Star, Dr. Martens, Lacoste, TOMS, Brooks Running, Skechers, UGG, DeBeers and many others (www.fulljet.com.cn). Early this year, Full Jet was acquired by Baozun, the undisputed e-commerce service provider in China.

    In addition, she is currently a member of the Advisory Board of Pictet Premium Brands Fund, as well as a director of the board of Allure Systems – a start-up providing fashion companies with a solution for virtualized apparel enabling virtual try-on.

    She was previously a director of the board of Esprit Holdings Ltd., a director of the China board of Infront Sports & Media, the non-executive Chairman of the Board of Lacoste China and CEO and Executive Director of China Dongxiang (Group) Co., Ltd, a Chinese company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange and specialized in the production, marketing and distribution of sports fashion brands in China and Japan, notably Kappa and Phenix.

    Until mid-2007, Sandrine Zerbib was the President of adidas Greater China. She was appointed in the mid-1990s to create and develop the China business of adidas. She started and successfully developed the adidas business in China, from its naissance stage to its present market leading position.

    Under Sandrine’s leadership, adidas emerged as a leading performance sports brand in China, set to be the number one brand by 2008. With a network of close to 4,000 adidas brand stores across approx 500 cities when Sandrine left adidas, adidas was already achieving about USD 1 billion in net sales, making China the second largest market for adidas outside the United States.

    Underpinning these achievements was a fully controlled distribution system and a constant effort to build a distinctive and inspirational brand for China’s young, dynamic and energetic consumers.

    One of adidas Greater China’s most outstanding milestones has been securing the partnership rights to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The partnership was a platform for ongoing engagement with Chinese consumers and a true point of differentiation that proved adidas commitment to the development of sports in China.

    While guiding adidas to success in China, Sandrine managed to make and maintain adidas Greater China the most profitable subsidiary of the adidas Group, and in the process built a tightly knit team of about 1000 staff united by their impossible is nothing attitude.

    Last, Sandrine successfully led the integration of Reebok in the adidas group in China and pioneered a new approach to adidas Group organization by achieving the highest level of integration of Taylor Made (Golf) in the adidas Group.

    Before her involvement in China, Sandrine was head of acquisition financing at a banking subsidiary of the AGF Group, where one of the most important transactions she led was the sale of adidas by the Dassler family to its new shareholders.

     

    Episode content:

    Sandrine led Adidas China for 13 years starting from 1994. She knows every detail on the Sports Industry and in the past years expanded this knowledge to a wide scope of consumer brands. Sandrine shares the 3 factors that made Adidas China succeed. Also later in the interview she will share why some brands succeed and other fail.

    • The early days of Sandrine's China career at Adidas. And differences between now and then on reaching consumers
    • 3 success factors of Adidas China to go from 0 into a billion USD company
    • Why most foreign brands are using a TP for their E-commerce business
    • Why her company Full Jet merged with Baozun
    • Why some brands fail and some succeed
    • Should you have China expertise in local market or at head office overseas
    • To go international as a Chinese company what culture is needed
    • What are the main differences comparing Western platforms versus Chinese platforms
    • Will there be ONE global Ecommerce Ecosystem
    • How the consumer experience is leading online shopping in China
    • The book Sandrine is writing about Chinese businesses, leadership and entrepreneurship
    • How to handle uncertainty, thrive in chaos and face digitalization
    • What is next for Sandrine

     

    Episode Mentions:

     

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    12 June 2021, 8:26 pm
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