BPOVIA Official Blog | About Virtual Assistant, Outsourcing, KPO, BPO and China » business

CBD expansion plan by 2017

Yvonne Dong — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:00:56 +0000

Beijing’s central business district plans to double in size and this plan may involve the relocation of 10,000 households. The government will expand by 3-sq km from the East Third Ring Road near Guomao to the Four Ring Road near Sihui Bridge and it will be completed in the next 6 to 8 years.

This project will attract more major multinational corporations and create 100,000 new jobs. The Chaoyang district government, which is overseeing the project, is keen to turn more residential area into commercial area, although the cost for doing this is unknown.

“About 85 percent of the currant CBD area has been taken by companies”, said Wu Guiying, executive vice-governor of the Chaoyang district of the CBD administrative committee. And she also said that this area is eager for more capacity to hold more business opportunities.

7preliminary CBD designs were completed by the world’s leading architects, including SOM Architect and KFP Architect from the States, and ADPi Company from France. This plan will be displayed to the public during a 6-day CBD International Business Festival.

Some senior officials, business people and analysts are also invited to give advices on how the CBD should expand.

Developers and real estates dealers near the CBD told METRO said that the price for both new and second hand apartments have soared since early this year rising to 20,000 Yuan ($2,930) per sqm. “But before the news came out the price were between 12,000 and 13,000 Yuan per unit, this is more reasonable, now every apartment has grown by one third”, said Wang Mei a property broker.

Li XIn, a developer for a luxurious CBD residential compound set to open by the end of this month and all the apartments were sold out despite the high price for at least 21,000 Yuan per unit.

Ma Ning, a Beijing resident who was looking at those apartments at Li’s CBD residence said “I just want a place for our son to live which is near from the working place, even the price is high”, but he was told that the apartments have been sold out

The currant CBD area near Guomao area has nested more than 15,000 firms and financial institutions.

Last year, the city government has attracted $1 billion in foreign investment, taking up half of the tax revenues for the Chaoyang district government.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

China is one of the world’s great growth markets and is likely to be for many years to come. Foreign companies often face difficulties in assessing Chinese market demand and enacting effective strategies because of the language barriers, culture differences, and high expense.

BPOVIA is the leading virtual assistant and Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) service provider in China. BPOVIA is the only virtual assistant company ever been nominated for the prestigious “Red Herring 100 Asia” Awards 2008. Combines international perspective with local know-how, BPOVIA can provide our clients China business development service and help our clients doing successful business in China.

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

Financial services M&As being more active this year

Yvonne Dong — Mon, 25 May 2009 06:17:22 +0000

According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, because of more Chinese Financial institutions expanding their business, the financial services M&As in Asia will be more active.

215 senior financial services executive, of which 20% come from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, finished the survey.

The survey showed that comparing with 2008, the figure of respondents intending to make an acquisition increases 4% this year. Most Chinese mainland and Taiwan respondents like to use M&A deals.

Nelson Lou, transaction partner, PwC, said that the keenness in China should owe to stronger balance sheets and fewer use of outbound M&A activity in the past few years.

Among the respondents, over 63% people from Chinese mainland are actively planning to expand their business in the current environment while the figure is only 43% among HK respondents.

The potential driver for M&As in china will be the need to expand business lines and enlarge the sources of fee income. Over 42% of respondents who based on Chinese market would enlarge their business, 42% are developing a new business line, and 69% are entering the newer markets.

Matthew Phillips, transaction partner, PwC, said that since activity in china has been low till now, they are rebuilding their confidence and he would not be surprise to see the renew in foreign trade by Chinese institutions in a few mouth.

In 2008 Chinese banking sector use financial service M%As to restructure. Central Huijin Investment Co,s inject $19 billion to the Agricultural Bank of china, making it the largest transaction.

Nearly 50% of respondents thought the main barrier for M&A to develop its business in Asia is asset valuation. Over 42% of the respondents mentioned the lack of clarity on financial position of many institutions as the most difficult to fair valuation, while 40% worried about the market stagnant.

Transaction value of financial service of several areas in Asia-Pacific, including banks, insures, securities firms and mutual funds, decreased from $125.96 billion in 2007 to $99 million in 2008.

The Economist Intelligence Unit finished the survey in January and February 2009, which is the fourth PwC report on financial services M&As.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

GM China benefits from tax cut

Yvonne Dong — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:19:44 +0000

Thanks to the help of US taxpayers and China’s government, General Motors Corp can continue its business, for GM gets a $13.4 billion loan from US taxpayer and $1,170 subsidies from the latter one.

As a result of cut in retail taxes on small vehicles, GM’s minivan venture sales in China have had a 32% rise in the first 2 months. Recently, the government is giving out 5 billion yuan in subsidies in order to promote the auto sales in countryside.

Because of the tax cut and subsidies, GM predicted that it would enjoy a double growth in China. However, in the US market, it saw a 51% slide in the sales, which forced GM to ask for about $16.6 billion aid from government.

Compared with the previous prediction that sales would rise by less than 3%, GM’s vehicle sales may rise by 5% to 10% this year. With the help of SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co, the largest minivan-maker in China, GM expects that it could surpass the original goal by 3% points. SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Company accounts for nearly half of the GM’s sales in China.

Nick Reilly, GM’s Asia-Pacific president said that government’s efforts to boost rural consumption have positive effect on Wuling’s rising sales, and government is trying to stimulate the auto and stock markets, which encourage people to invest again.

China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reports that SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 72,947 vehicles in February which is half more than last year. In January, the government cut the retail tax on vehicles with engines of 1.6 liters or less by 50%, and this action stopped the 3-month decline of auto sales.

According to the new policy, when purchasing a car, Chinese farmers or other rural residents can have a subsidy which equals 10% of the sale price, with a maximum of 5000 yuan.

In addition, if rural drivers buy a new truck or minivan to replace his own light truck, they can get a further 3,000 yuan.

This policy helped Wu Tao, who owns a store in Hebei province, to have the first vehicle of his family. Wu said that with the money given from the government, he could afford the car recently.

According to Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co, this minivan sales may have a 30% rise this year.

Though subsidies increased the auto sales, there seems to be little profits for the car makers. The fact is that GM only holds about 34% of SAIC-GM-Wuling, while SAIC Motor owns 50.1 percent and the rest is owned by Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co. Generally, farmers will prefer the cars of low prices that could be 30,000 yuan.

Chairman of Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co, Zuo Yanan said that farmers cared nothing but the price.

Tax policies are constantly changing, and especially in international tax laws, so consult with a top tax attorney to ensure your company is limiting its tax liabilities.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

Lenovo begins its reform plan

Yvonne Dong — Fri, 08 May 2009 08:02:49 +0000

The largest computer maker in China—Lenovo has reorganized its regional operations into two business groups, at the same time, it has also established two product groups to deal with the global financial crisis.

It is said that Lenovo will focus on the developed and emerging market, Milko Van Duijl, Lenovo’s president in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region, will be in charge of the mature market group, such as United States, Japan and Australia market.

In addition, the emerging market which includes China, Russia, India and Africa will be led by Chen Shaopeng, president for Asia Pacific region and Russia.

It is also said that two product groups are going to be established by Lenovo, and both of the groups are based on the “Think” and “Idea” branded products, the “Think” brand mainly serves the corporate customers, while the latter one serves consumers.

The CEO of Lenovo, Yang Yuanqing, said in a statement that though different markets have different characteristics, Lenovo will still use the similar market strategy.

Yang said that Lenovo’s work is to build a faster, more streamlined organization so they can capture the growth opportunity as quickly as possible and pay more attention on their core business.

After Lenovo releases a net loss of $96.7 million last month for the fourth quarter ending December, the company’s reform plan finally comes. In the plan, the company’s founder Liu Chuanzhi would return as chairman and Yang Yuanqing will become chief executive instead of Bill Amelio.

Earlier Liu said that Lenovo would become to focus on the emerging market such as China and other countries, because many large companies in mature market have decided to decrease their IT investments due to the financial crisis.

In a recent E-mail to the staff in Lenovo, Liu said that Lenovo would be recovered within a year.

IDC, a US research company, estimated that global PC shipments will have a 4.5% fall to 282 million this year. Consequently, many PC-making leaders like HP and Dell decide to lower the cost by cutting employees and making operations more efficient.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

More graduates have access to get business start-up loans

Yvonne Dong — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:16:39 +0000

On April 1st, Shanghai launched a new policy, which will enable more people to get loans to start business.

The new policy of Shanghai human resources and social security bureau says that after providing a feasible business plan, any Shanghai citizen under 35 can apply a one-year loan up to 100,000 Yuan ($14,630), which is guaranteed by the government.

An official with the bureau surnamed Zhang said that it was the first time the government was giving loan guarantees to business startups that covered a wide range.

Two years age there were only a small number of graduates could get the government loans in Shanghai.

The new policy consists of several full-round measures to help start-up business. However, entrepreneurs have to take the risks in the first 3 years, according to a notice from the bureau.

Compared with the earlier one-year qualified for loans policy, nowadays any Shanghai native who run a business less than 3 years can apply for start-up loans.

The loan amount could be as much as 100,000 yuan without collateral security and could be a maximum of 1 million with a guarantee.

The students, who graduate from a Shanghai university without residence permit, can also apply for the loans within 2 years of getting the degree. This policy aims to alleviate employment pressure of the 158,000 graduates in Shanghai this summer. It has been proved by the statistics from the bureau that a new business can provide 6 jobs on average.

In 2008, 7.4% of the working-age people in Shanghai had their own business, in addition, more people, account for about 10%, said they would try this if they could have an opportunity.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

Fewer MNCs change their locations out of China

jimmy — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:09:21 +0000

According to a survey, in spite of higher operational costs brought by the financial crisis, there are fewer multinational companies focusing on manufacturing planning to relocate their manufacturing facilities out of China.

China is considered by the global business community as an indispensable player in an eventual economic turnaround as multinational manufacturers are strengthening their commitment to China which is probably a vital base of operations for Asia.

Compared with 17 percent of the 108 multinational companies (MNCs) expressing interests in relocating their manufacturing plants outside of China last year, the figure declined to 10 percent this year, according to the survey, jointly conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and management consulting firm Booz & Company.

The number of companies that concern over China losing its competitive edge to lower-cost countries such as India and Vietnam dropped by more than half.

Assumptions related to future business strategies for virtually every manufacturer operating in China has been changed by the global financial crisis. On the whole, multinational companies said they are suffering difficult times in China.

Companies were facing bigger challenges which included higher material and compensation costs as well as the appreciation of the yuan before the recession. But now declining rates of domestic growth, weaker demand for Chinese exports and tight credit are becoming more and more important problems.

Near half of the MNC manufacturers complained about suffering a fourth-quarter export decline of more than 10 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile 13 percent said they experienced sharp export shortfalls of 30-49 percent.

In spite of all the difficulties of the downturn, most MNCs said they were still confident with China’s efforts to position itself as a world-class manufacturing center.

At the same time, the economic recession has forced multinational manufacturing businesses to pay more attention to “how we manufacture” in China rather than the mass quantity of products they made here.

As China is continuing its way to become a higher-value global manufacturing center, nearly 25 percent of the respondents were promoting their production facilities in China with the best technologies they had, with the Chinese government sparing more efforts to improve industrial infrastructure.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

New business model to provide safe and high-quality food

Yvonne Dong — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:23:45 +0000

Because of the health scares of food, a new way is going to be used by Chinese information and game portal Netease.com to ensure pork a safe quality.

William Ding, Netease founder and CEO said his firm would start feeding over 10,000 swine in Zhejiang province with a pastoral environment and strictly organic diet.

It is said that the process of feeding swine and the journey of the porker from farm to pork will be online for the whole world to see.

Kagominma prefecture in Japan is famous for its high-quality swine. It will also be the homeland of the first batch of pigs being selected to Zhejiang. Consumers can track the lives of the pigs and pig farmers will be able to exchange feeding experiences.

Ding, a 38-year-old gourmet said that the main motivations behind the move are concerns over the country’s food safety and quality.

He declared that they are hoping to explore a new business model which can promise safe, high-quality and also can improve the living conditions of rural areas rather than expecting to make much money. More details about the plan will be disclosed in April.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

Christmas, another Chinese festival to be celebrated

Yvonne Dong — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:13:31 +0000

Christmas, once was simply a foreign affair, has now become a big business in China－even during the global economic slowdown.

On Christmas Eve, traffic controls were needed in Xi-shiku Catholic Church located in west Beijing as too many worshippers and visitors crowded here, among which Wang Peng, 29, a stock broker, is one. Even he is not a Catholic, he thought Church to be the best place to spend Christmas as people can not only get a taste of different culture but also get relaxed and meet friends here.

Yan Yan, a 30-year-old marketing director in Beijing, said: “It is a festival to hang out with friends and have lots of fun.” Yan started decorating her apartment days ago with a tree, Santa toys and candles. She has planned a Chinese-style party for 15 friends to celebrate the biggest Western festival of the year.

Dai Wenming, a cultural critic in Shanghai, said, Chinese consider Spring Festival as a family reunion and see Christmas more as a time to hang out with friends. Christmas is a good opportunity to express themselves for those Chinese under 35.

“Young people think it is very fashionable,” said Sun Jing, a 19-year-old student who lives in Beijing. “Last year my friends went to KTV.” This year, she attended a party organized by her teacher.

In the places of downtown Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing, department stores and restaurants were festooned with big snowy festival decorations; and on December 24th, people were busy shopping at discount prices and eating out.

Grandma’s Kitchen, an American home-style restaurant in Beijing, sold out 20 tables for the 218-yuan ($32) meal on two days before Christmas. Most of their customers on Christmas Eve were Chinese.

Now Christmas, which supposed to be romantic, is celebrated as another Valentine’s Day by Chinese young people.

The gloomy economy doesn’t affect expatriates to celebrate Christmas. “The bad economy won’t affect my shopping because I don’t think we have been affected in Beijing, except maybe a bit with the exchange rate,” said Euryale Chatelard from France, who works for a French bank in Beijing.

Fanny Landreu’s life didn’t change much. Her company just moved into a new apartment and they spent a bit on some nice furniture, which was her Christmas treat. She was more practical about gift-giving this year. Even when the times are good, her family never goes overboard on presents for their kids.

“Things (for expats) will largely continue as normal,” he said.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

China is one of the world’s great growth markets and is likely to be for many years to come. Foreign companies often face difficulties in assessing Chinese market demand and enacting effective strategies because of the language barriers, culture differences, and high expense.

BPOVIA is the leading virtual assistant and Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO ) service provider in China. BPOVIA is the only virtual assistant company ever been nominated for the prestigious “Red Herring 100 Asia” Awards 2008. Combines international perspective with local know-how, BPOVIA can provide our clients China business development service and help our clients doing successful business in China.

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

ProLogis’s China interests to be sold

Yvonne Dong — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:02:03 +0000

Prologis, the Denver, US-based company will sell its China business to GIC Real Estate (GICRE), the property investment arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp, for nearly $1.3 billion to raise cash to pay down debt. Prologis is the world’s largest industrial property and warehouse developer and before it always kept expanding its business in China.

The assets planed to be sold include not only 1.92 million sq m of completed properties and properties under development but also its interest in five joint ventures and a property fund but also include a retail joint venture with a book value of $53 million and 289 hectares of land with a carrying value of $213 million. Its 20 percent interests equaling a value of $348 million in Japan property funds are also listed to be sold.

The deal, which is expected to close in January, would reduce ProLogis’ development pipeline by $1 billion, including $255 million to complete development of projects in China.

In Prologis chief executive Walter Rakowich’s opinion, the transaction is a substantial step to help Prologis deliver its balance sheet, relieve near-term refinancing pressure and enhance liquidity.

Although Prologis entered China in 2003, now it has expanded into 20 Chinese cities and has managed more than 40 logistics parks.

Last year, Jeffery Schwartz, Prologis’s former CEO, said in China that, in the coming years, the company planned to invest up to $500 million in China. However, caused by the global economic crisis, the company had to make a decision to sell their China operations to strengthen its balance sheet to meet the current environmental challenges.

This decision, selling China assets, will help Prologis offset its huge losses in the European market, and will be transacted at a fairly good price. Only in China could the assets be put up for sale for a reasonable price right now, given the current global economic circumstances. Actually Prologis may come back to China again as it never lose its interests in China.

“In the context of the global economic recession, China remains a relatively attractive investment (market for property),” CBRE, a global real estate consultancy, said in a research note yesterday.

ProLogis’ team of associates will join affiliates of GIC RE to manage its China business portfolio.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

BPOVIA is the leading virtual assistant and Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO ) service provider in China. BPOVIA is the only virtual assistant company ever been nominated for the prestigious “Red Herring 100 Asia” Awards 2008. Combines international perspective with local know-how, BPOVIA can provide our clients China business development service and help our clients doing successful business in China.

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

SMEs in China deserve more support

Yvonne Dong — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:11:16 +0000

Based on the data of China Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs contribute 60% of China’s GDP but only get less than 25% of total bank loans and receive fewer resources from the government. As the CEO of BPOVIA, one of SMEs in Nanjing, James Huang said, “To make larger contribution to China’s GDP, we need more support to enlarge our business”, the stronger the SMEs are, the better will be for China’s future.

Business experts also said that SMEs deserve more support from the central government.

Long Yongtu, secretary-general of the Boao Forum and former vice-foreign trade minister, once said at a forum to discuss the development of a central business district in Shenzhen that the world’s top 500 companies are greatly respected, but the ultimate element to decide our economic success is the development of SMEs.

The majority of SMEs are privately owned, but they will not develop into ideal state until the government ends its discrimination and gives fair treatment to firms.

Small-and medium-sized enterprises are becoming more and more important in China. And in some parts of the country, such as Guangdong province, they have become a key part of he-tech industry.

Economists agreed that government should give a hand to SMEs especially during the hard time.

As Premier Wen Jiabao urged, local governments should readjust and improve policies to support SMEs, since they play a crucial role in “promoting economic growth, increasing fiscal revenue, providing jobs and maintaining social stability”.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

BPOVIA is the leading virtual assistant and Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO ) service provider in China. BPOVIA is the only virtual assistant company ever been nominated for the prestigious “Red Herring 100 Asia” Awards 2008. Combines international perspective with local know-how, BPOVIA can provide our clients China business development service and help our clients doing successful business in China.

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.