Sweet and sour source

China's economic reforms in the igos opened up vast new markets to western companies. Reduced government involvement and policies encouraging private enterprise have meant that businesses function along broadly western lines.

But while business in China now feels more like it does at home, there are still important differences, which I observed at close quarters when sourcing from the new economic areas in south-west China for a UK housewares company.

Understand the old and new

You are driving along an expressway nose--totail with lorries and imported executive cars. You pass a gang of road menders. They wear straw hats and flip-flops and carry pickaxes and baskets of hard core on bamboo poles on their shoulders. Old and new exist side by side: people make little attempt to accommodate both of them.

Heavy machine parts can get shipped in flimsy cartons. I once asked for a set of products to be packed so that they would not move in transit: 11,000 sets arrived in the UK stuffed with dirty rags.

Think long term

Chinese factories want to develop long-term relationships. In the early days of economic reform, many were burned by one-order "guerrilla buying" by unscrupulous businesses in Hong Kong. If you buy like this, you'll get what you pay for in every sense.

You need to make regular visits to suppliers - at least once every three months. This will lead to better relations and easier business. It's important to know the distances between factories and ports and the state of the roads. You won't know unless you go.

Say what you mean

Develop a clear written and spoken style. Everyday English relies heavily on colloqui alisms, but your Chinese counterparts will find them totally bewildering.

Numbered points in e-mails and faxes get answers, whereas long paragraphs often don't. Follow the old school maxim: say what you're going to tell them, tell them, and then say what you've told them.

Take your time

Business takes longer in China. Whereas we try to cram as many meetings as possible into a day, in China you might have two or three at most. When I visited a large state factory in Yangjiang City, Guangdong, I met directors and senior managers to look at product samples.

Back in the West, we would lay out all the samples and talk through them. In China, each sample was brought in by a different manager at 20-minute intervals.

Reciprocate

Business also takes longer because the rela tionship with a supplier is rather like that between guest and host.

Your supplier wants you to feel you have his undivided attention and everything in the factory has been focused on your visit.

He wants you to see that he is spending time on you and you need to reciprocate.

This is why attempts to get straight down to business usually fall on stony ground and why you are always asked out to lunch or dinner.

On the other hand, the working day and week are also much longer. This is an advantage when you are trying to do as much as possible in a week.

On one trip, I signed off 50 per cent of a range of packaging at a Chinese printer at midday and then tweaked and approved films for the rest at a Hong Kong reprographics house at 8.3opm that evening.

Be precise

Agree detailed specifications with your supplier because it's surprising how much we assume when dealing in our home market. To take one example, we needed a miniature sharpener for kitchen knives, so samples and a brief description were sent to a Chinese supplier.

Three months later a sample came back, perfect in every respect except one - when we tried to sharpen a knife with it, the blade cut into the steel. A UK or European company would either have understood that a sharpener needed to be made from hardened material or would have asked.

Know your materials

It's important to understand what materials are available in China. My expertise is in printed packaging so I sent out a folder of materials - types and thicknesses - I would usually specify and asked my Chinese counterparts to reciprocate.

The results were amazing. not only were different materials available but common materials had different names. What I called "folding boxboard", they called "art board", which was something completely different back in the UK.

Insist on quality

Quality is another area where you can't assume anything. We exist in a world of BSthis and ISO-that. For the average Chinese factory owner, however, volume still equals profit. You need suppliers that are prepared to spend time and money on quality. And even when they do, you still need to take the time to explain why quality is important.

Know where you are

It is vital to understand both the geography and how fast things are developing. A sixhour car journey from Hong Kong into the new economic areas takes you no further than London to Hemel Hempstead.

Understand where your suppliers are and decide on the best port to ship from. This won't always be obvious because China is changing at a remarkable rate.

Less than lo years ago, Shenzhen was a small fishing port. Now it is a major commercial centre with Yantian, one of China's largest, most modern ports, just down the road. Export traffic has doubled every year since 1996.

Get to grips with local customs

Economic reforms have led to greater regional devolution. This is important for customs and excise. Local as well as national tariffs can apply and China still broadly functions in terms of quotas.

It's vital that your supplier and freight carrier develops good relations with the local customs office so that consignments can be inspected and cleared at the factory. A shipment that arrives at port without local customs clearance will either just sit there or may even find itself being returned to the point of origin.