Page 9 - 2024 Special Report on the State of Business in South China

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US goods and services, and the United States ?藉??板?????㈣?灞??甯歌???????涓???芥父瀹㈡???
is among the top export markets for China. This ?? ?? 绉? ?? 骞? 涓? ?? 瀹? ??? 澶? ?? 娓? 瀹? 浠? 绗? 涓? 娆? ?? 杈? 璇? ??
trade has helped the United States in the form ?讹?杩???圭??虫????瑙???父瀹?滑蹇?』?ㄤ?浠?????
of lower prices for consumers and higher profits 涓???朵?涓??璇??????ㄦ??轰娇?ㄦ?绾跨?缁??浣??浠?
for corporations. China is now the third-largest ????哄?????ユ?楠????????????浠?滑涓?绯诲??板?
export market for the United States, behind ?? 澧? ?? 寮? 濮? ??? ?? ?? ?? 杩? ???涓? ?? ?? ?? 浜? ?? 瀛? 璐? 甯??
Canada and Mexico. A 2022 report by the US- ?虫?瀛?汉姘??锛???炬?涓轰?涓?娇?ㄩ??ヨЕ寮??浠????
China Business Council found that exports to ?伴?绀句?锛?苟?????负?ㄧ?绗??涓???拌?涓???????
China supported more than one million jobs in 瀹躲???瀵瑰??ヤ??扮?澶??棰???ヨ?寰??妫??锛??浠??
the United States. 蹇???板??剧????宸辩???椿锛??涓哄?杈炬?娌℃??块?宸?
宸寸????瀹???捐???井淇℃?浠??????2023骞达?涓??13
China?? financial technology is taking off 浜夸汉?ｄ腑绾??60%??汉???绉诲????杩??娑?垂?????
amid a backdrop of growing consumption and a 杩??瓒?????灞??涓???????负涓?涓???伴?缁??浣??
large, tech-savvy domestic millennial generation. 涔?氨???瀛??浠???ㄥ?浠ｇ?????ぇ澶????????璐╁?
China has advance so fast into digitization that ?? 绉? 杞? ?? ?? ?? ?? 瀹? ?? 涓? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? 浠? ???? ?? 绯? 绯? ??
it is no longer compatible with foreign visitors?? ???澶у??板??逛?涓????俊?ㄥ??????
technology. This is immediately obvious when
they first arrive in the country. Visitors have to 涓?????瀛??涔?娇???寰??ュ?寰???跺??俱??????
receive a pin on their phones to get Wi-Fi at the ???琚??涓轰釜浜虹?寤朵几锛???ㄦ?宸叉?杩??杩????浜?汉
airport, but their phones won?? work. This is just 浠?凡涓??浣跨?杩???ｆ??????嚎涓??浼?????锛????
the beginning of their digital dilemma. In the 涓?汉浠?????甯?????寰?俊宸叉?涓鸿?绯荤?甯告???????
aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, China has 涓?涓?富瑕??棰??锛?井淇″?璁歌???????浣跨??电О锛????
launched its digital currency, the digital Yuan 瑕?????璇????娉ㄤ?涓??绉板?澶磋?绛???汉???浜??涓?
or RMB, in its bid to become a cashless society ????冲????锛??姝ょ??跺?涓ラ????浜??涓???????
using contactless payments, and is poised to
become the first country in the world to do so. 瑕?????娴?ǔ?ュ??匡?涓??杩??瑕??璐规??虹?澶?
This is problematic to new foreign business ????ㄦ????????达??ㄥ?娑?垂????ュ?涓??锛??2021
leaders. They quickly find life difficult to manage 骞存?浠ユ?涓??翠?浜??甯告按骞炽??2023骞翠腑?界?娴??寮瑰?
because they arrive without Alibaba?? Alipay and ????や?褰??浜??璐规??虹?澧??锛???惰?寰??浜??搴?
Tencent?? WeChat Pay. Around 60% of China?? 1.3 瀹芥????绛?????????揣甯?????缁???版?锛?腑?界?
billion population made a purchase via mobile 缁??澧??涓?2023骞寸害5%???????达?浣??璁?2024骞?
payment by 2023. As the trend continues, China ??互???澶卞??ㄥ?锛?2028骞撮???4.6%???璁″???复??
may soon become a cashless economy, where 浜х??茶蒋??汉?ｈ?????甫?ョ?涓?????????藉?姝わ?
digital payment methods totally replace cash. 涓??缁??浠????14浜夸汉?ｇ?搴?ぇ甯?????杩??宸ヤ?
Most local businesses and taxis won?? take paper ?虹?杩?袱澶т??裤??
money at all. To make matters worse, most
places won?? accept credit cards either. ?╄??瑰?????ㄨ???????椤圭?绌舵?绀猴?澶????
璧??涓?负涓??璐＄?浜?33%??腑?藉????浜ф?诲?硷?涓轰腑
China?? digitalization has also made ?芥?渚??27%??氨涓??浼?????璧??涓??骞村?涓????
networking extremely difficult. Traditionally, ???浜ф?诲?肩?璐＄?????父琛￠?缇??澶???存????娴?
business cards were treated as extensions of ?ヤ环?肩?180?????灏辫В???涓轰?涔?敖绠″?璧??涓??
the person. This is no longer the case. In the ??复??涓?勾?ユ???????褰卞????搴??涓?????瑁??
absence of past printed or online directories ??己??????琛???╂????杩??浠ュ??ㄧ???姹?????
and the fact that people no longer carry 甯?????缁??澧??浠?皑???淇????瀵瑰??????
business cards, WeChat has become the norm
for getting connected. A major problem is that ??2024骞村?????虹?娴???电?????????绀猴???
WeChat allows fictitious names and does not 璁″?2024骞磋?琛??????????76%???浼??涓??77%
require real name identification, business name ???璁夸?涓?????绠?????涓昏???腑?ㄨ?浣??搴?
titles and such. Networking is paramount to
business growth and the status quo is severely
hurting business.

To sustain solid growth China also needs
a recovery in consumer spending, which
took a nosedive during the omicron wave of
COVID-19 and has remained below par since

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