In a realistic but ultimately optimistic New Year Message to members of the UK’s leading Anglo-Chinese business society, The 48 Group Club, its chairman, Stephen Perry, wrote China faced its biggest challenge in 30 years. When the international markets collapsed due to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Bear Sterns & Lehman Bros all collapsing too, China was suddenly thrown into a major review of policy, of options, and of fall-back positions.
China has almost $US two trillion in reserves, although $US 500-600 billion of that may be caught up in the Fannie Mae/ Freddie Mac debacle. China has a budget surplus and only about 25% of GDP is the state compared to Europe, which is generally over 40% and rising. So China has a lot of scope for stimulating the economy, but effective targeting and avoiding waste and corruption is a real challenge and will hold China back from huge amounts being thrown at the problem too fast.
Stephen Perry’s advice for those involved in China? Don’t dream. Be realistic. Listen to those who are close to China and not to the prejudiced media. We cannot expect a sudden change in China’s stock markets, although it would be welcome. We cannot expect China to suddenly suck in the world’s excess capacity. But they will make moves in the raw materials markets to replenish stocks and maintain growth above 7%. Probably the 4th quarter and 1st quarter of next year will be less than China’s leaders would require but the years of 2008 and 2009 will probably meet their minimum demands.
For those who have not already obtained a copy of ChinaOneCall’s How to do Business in China, please click here. The guide contains valuable information and tips on how to get started and approach China armed with the knowledge on how to tackle many situations.
Stay safe overseas – know before you go
Whatever your reason for travelling abroad, you’re sure to want a trouble free trip. Many of the things that often go wrong for travellers can be prevented or made less stressful by taking a few simple precautions. So it makes sense to spend a little time getting prepared before you travel – you could save yourself a lot of problems later on.
With this in mind, we are working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to help British nationals stay safe abroad. The FCO website (www.fco.gov.uk/travel) offers straightforward travel advice, top tips and up to date country information to help you plan your holiday.
Tips include:
· Make sure you have valid travel insurance, even if you’re only planning a short trip.
· Visit your GP at least 6 weeks before you travel to get any vaccinations you might need.
· Read up on your destination, including local laws and customs.
· Make photocopies of your passport, visas and insurance details and leave a copy with a relative or friend at home.
You can also find handy checklists to use before you set off and whilst you’re away. Plus it’s worth reading up on what the local British Consulate can do to help you if you run into problems abroad – and what they can’t do.
For all this and more information, visit the FCO website: www.fco.gov.uk/travel. Or if you prefer, call the 24 hour FCO travel advice line on 0845 850 2829
chinaONEcall is proud to be providing our 24 hour instant interpreter service for members of the British Athletes Commission (the voice of Great Britain’s elite athletes) during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
The BAC acts as the unified voice of all Olympic, Paralympic and World Class funded athletes. It communicates their views to the major decision makers within British sport, and promotes athlete representation within their sports. The BAC works to provide all athletes with a way to make their voices heard and a pathway to pursue and resolve any problems they encounter within their sport.
Michael Sinclair (Marketing Director of China One Call Ltd) was recently asked at short notice to give a speech on ‘Doing Business in China’ to the Business Referral Exchange (BRX) at a breakfast meeting at HSBC, Fleet Street, London.
To see the full text of the speech please click here.
Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham, British Minister of State for Trade and Investment and former Director General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) wrote to Michael Sinclair (Marketing Director of China One Call Ltd.) on 27th February, following the UK-China Business Summit in Beijing. He writes “Your product looks useful and innovative for business people in the market, and I wish you every success going forward.”
Well, chinaONEcall – the interpreter in your pocket - launched on 16th October at the very swish and snazzy No 5 in Cavendish Square and what a turn out! There must have been nearly 100 Guests including leading names from large corporates. Guests we talked to were from HSBC, Lloyds TSB, and many more. The room was absolutely buzzing!
Dr Eugene Chang from the China Britain Business Council and Yu Jing, press representative from the Chinese Embassy welcomed the guests and gave chinaONEcall their seal of approval.
Yu Jing expressed sincere congratulations to chinaONEcall on such a useful idea, and felt it provided a bridge between the 2 countries promoting better understanding and friendship between the people of China and the UK.
Dr Chang who opened the proceedings reflected on the fact that there may shortly be almost as many English language speakers in China as there are in the entire English-speaking world – but that doesn’t mean anyone can get by in doing business or travelling by just speaking English. CBBC members would surely be one of the first subscribers to chinaONEcall as China has one of the largest mobile phone networks in the world, with over 200,000 new mobile accounts opened every day - which is pretty awesome!
Michael Sinclair, Managing Director of chinaONEcall spoke of his personal experiences that inspired him to come up with the idea for the innovative service and said that he felt the full house at the launch was a reflection already of the value chinaONEcall can add to travel in China.
After watching a short film of the call centre in China in action, we dined lavishly from copious trays of beautifully crafted morsels based on a far east or oriental theme – miniature spring rolls, sushi, vast amounts of tempura prawns, thai green curry cornets – the food just kept coming. There was also Tsing Tao to wash it down as the guests merrily networked in to the night.
At the end of the evening the chinaONEcall team were found hunched in a corner with several bottles of self congratulatory Tsing Tao and more food! They deserved it – it had been a triumphant evening!
Tags: CBBC, china britain business council, chinaONEcall, chinese embassy, chinese interpreter, interpreter in your pocket, launch
Posted in CBBC, China-Britain, chinaONEcall, launch by Greg, October 18, 2007 11:57 am | Comments (0)