E-commerce in China – infographic

China is the largest e-commerce market in the world. The Chinese shop online much more often than the rest of the world. Among the products that citizens of China buy online are clothes, cosmetics, electronics, and even food (more than 50% of customers). At the moment, the Chinese e-commerce market is worth over 1 billion dollars and is continuously growing. The middle class in China is growing, and so is consumption. Online shopping became very convenient, particularly when using extremely popular mobile payments. New trends and interest in foreign and luxury goods also contribute to the rapid development of e-commerce in China. Domestic products cannot meet these needs. E-commerce gives foreign suppliers an opportunity to sell their product and speed up procedures, benefit from favorable tax policies and, what’s most important, they don’t have to license their operations.

We present to you an interesting infographic „10 facts about e-commerce in China”.

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Global brands in China

The Chinese market is still opening up for foreign products. The development of global brands in China is gaining momentum. Leading companies have plans to open a large number of branches in China in the upcoming years. Foreign brands are popular especially among the Chinese middle class and the young generation. The Chinese are craving for American lifestyle which results in the popularity of such brands as Starbucks, Apple and KFC. Purchasing American products is an indication of social status and high life.

The infographic below shows the most popular global brands in China. Among the foreign companies with the most significant number of branches in China, we can find examples of the American chains (KFC, McDonald’s, Starbucks), the European chains (H&M, Carrefour, Sephora), as well as Japanese ones (Uniqlo, Lawson).

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How to find a Chinese business partner?

Choosing the right business partner from China is one of the most critical challenges that an importer should meet. It requires not only a lot of time but also a thorough verification of the contractor’s reliability. There are many ways to meet a potential business partner. The most common ones are Internet trading platforms and trade shows in China. Below we explain how to find a Chinese business partner.

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Incoterms 2020 – what are the planned changes?

International Incoterms commercial rules set the terms of sale and purchase. International Chamber of Commerce introduces modifications every decade to clarify ambiguities and adapt the rules to changes in international trade. Currently, the Incoterms 2010 rules are in force, but the proposals for Incoterms 2020 changes have already been presented. ICC will announce the set of new rules at the end of 2019. On January 1, 2020 they will come into force. Knowledge of them is crucial when placing an order and signing a contract with a Chinese partner. We describe the planned changes so that you can prepare for the introduction of Incoterms 2020.

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Who has rights to Supreme in China?

Recently there was big news about the collaboration of technological giant Samsung with the fashion brand Supreme. The companies announced their plans to enter the Chinese market together. Soon it became clear that the Supreme cooperating with Samsung was not the original Supreme founded by James Jebbia. How did it happen? Samsung establishing a partnership with the fake Supreme was possible because the New York brand doesn’t have rights to their trademark on Chinese territory. So, we decided to investigate who has the rights to Supreme in China.

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Big Order Scam

A Big Order Scam is a common type of business fraud. It has been used by scammers in China ever since China opened its borders to foreign trade. Surprisingly, despite many warnings and raised awareness of these scammers, a lot of naive entrepreneurs, blinded by a vision of big profit, still fall for this old trick. If you don’t want to be one of them, read how Big Order Scam works and you won’t get fooled.

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Chinese New Year 2019

The New Year in China will start on February 5th, 2019. Chinese New Year 2019 will be the Year of the Earth Pig and it will end on January 24th, 2020. Chinese New Year falls on a different date every year because the Chinese use a calendar based on the movement of the moon. The Chinese Zodiac is calculated according to the Chinese lunar calendar where each year in the cycle is related to an animal sign. 12 animals and 5 elements together form a 60-year cycle where each element is assigned to each animal. 2019’s Pig is the last animal in the Chinese Zodiac, after Dog and before Rat which starts the next cycle. The Year of the Pig refers to 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031 and so on.

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Dictionary of Terms – import from China

When doing business with China or generally engaging in international trade, you can often encounter various terms and acronyms. You need to be familiar with them when you make transactions, close business deals and complete the formalities. We compiled a dictionary of terms for all the businesspeople who undertake to import goods from China. Listed terms are commonly used by the entrepreneurs around the world.

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China holidays 2019

When doing business with companies from China or traveling to China for either work or pleasure, you should always plan ahead of time. It is extremely important to consider the public holidays in China when planning a business trip to China. You also need to remember that during non-working days it may not be possible to communicate with your Chinese partner. Moreover, when the Chinese celebrate their holidays and festivals, they often travel to visit their family or see famous landmarks. This results in many train stations, airports and tourist attractions being overcrowded. The Chinese use a lunisolar calendar, which is formed on the movement of the moon. Because of this Chinese holidays fall on different dates every year. Since businesspeople who cooperate with China need to take Chinese non-working days into account, below you will find a China Holidays 2019 list of most important holidays in China for the upcomming year.

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Importing from China – a Chinese company from Xi’an

In recent months we have noted growing problems with the reliability of companies located in Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and Xi’an. There is no shade of doubt that experienced importers know how to protect themselves and minimize risks associated with cooperation with Chinese companies by ensuring a verification of a given company, signing a commercial contract, visiting factories and controlling the quality of goods (the so-called on-site checks). Of course, not every Chinese company is an organized crime group, yet many inexperienced importers forget to do background checks of their suppliers, which is even riskier if a given company is located in one of the above-mentioned cities.

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