It doesn’t happen every day for the British SMEs to speak directly with China’s top diplomat in the UK. That’s why Crayfish.io joined in to make it happen, a recent roundtable for exactly that purpose, where chief executives of some UK small and medium-sized companies had a conversation with the Chinese Ambassador HE Zheng Zeguang.
Chief executives of eight UK SMEs did that at the July 26, 2024 roundtable on UK/China Business Growth, where they sat down with the Chinese Ambassador and Minister for Economic and Commercial Affairs Mdm Bao Ling to ask business questions and had new developments on the general business environment and the policy ground in China explained to them, and what does the 3rd Plenum mean for the UK-China business and investment, and the SMEs involved.
The fact that small and medium enterprises in the UK normally don’t get to talk to the Chinese ambassador face-to-face about matters close to their businesses made this roundtable special, remarked Geyang Huang, Director of Business Service at Crayfish.io.
It’s all about communications, practical dialogue, questions asked and answered, policies explained, recommendations made, voices of the UK SMEs heard and points noted by senior Chinese diplomats in the UK.
SMEs play a vital role in both the Chinese and UK economies. They contribute to the dynamics of the markets together with industry giants. Crayfish believes that in a time when UK-China business engagement at local levels is ever more important, such face-to-face conversations help in many ways.
The participants come from different sectors, such as climate tech and clean energy, architecture, design, distillery, and distribution. They want to know about:
- Market entry, market research, types of business, ie. partnership, wholly-owned subsidiaries etc., and market trends
- Compliance, regulations, government relations, incentives
- IP protection and enforcement
- Criteria or key factors for strategic partnership, leveraging Chinese expertise for UK operation, finding partners
- Social media as a marketing tool, media relations, cultural differences
- Industry-specific market demands and policy directions: EV battery sector, water and power
- Practicalities of setting up shop or supporting force in China
Judging by the feedback we received from the participants, the roundtable discussion has been well received. While specific questions like factors in forming strategic partnerships were noted and passed on to relevant offices instead of answered there and then, participants felt it was a good opportunity for them to voice their concerns and ask those crucial questions.
When John McLean OBE at China UK Business Development Centre proposed this idea in May to Ting Zhang, Founder & CEO at Crayfish.io, she decided to join in the action and make it happen as a key sponsor. Because it’s about doing business in China and succeeding there, which is exactly what we specialise in.
On our part at Crayfish.io, we expect to see the conversations at the roundtable lead to actions on the ground, more and deeper business engagement at local levels, between businesses of smaller sizes or scale-ups, or on niche markets.
Thanks to three companies that joined us and contributed to the roundtable discussion:
Archipelago Technology, Skillsearch, Micro-Fresh
For those pondering questions like market entry and setting up their first sales or support office in China, our digital platform could be a good place to start. While browsing through the 8 categories of module-based fixed-price digital services online, you may form a sense of what you need to do and how to go about doing it, at what kind of prices. We meant to put the control in your hands.
Do get in touch if you have more questions or want to know more about what we can do for you.
