Friday, June 27, 2008

Successful strategy for an investment banker in China

I have worked as an economic consultant in China for about five years on a part-time basis. I am retired so I choose not to work full-time. From my experience, an investment consultant in China can adopt the following strategy if he wants to quickly succeed in China.

Step One
Contact several investment bankers in the United States who are interested in going big in China. Then sign a consulting agreement with them to represent them in China.

Step Two
The next step involves several options.
Option one. Establish a representative office (RO) of the investment banker in China.
Option two. Establish an independent investment company in China.
Option three. Establish an independent investment consulting company in China.

Step Three
Promote the company in China just like one does in the United States. It involves tremendous expenses and success is not guaranteed, but there are ways to increase the odds.
  • Build up good relations with government officials. They provide sales leads.
  • Attend seminars and conferencces.
  • Cultivate middleman.
Special Chinese characteristics
  • What we consider public knowledge in the United States are considered sensitive and confidential trade secrets by a Chinese company. They will not release them to an unknown person who says he knows some investment bankers whose names he cannot release.
  • A Chinese businessman does not trust a middleman. He does not even want to talk to him.
  • A middleman does not work with another middleman.
Summary
The reward of an investment consultant is very lucrative in China. One successful case has netted a Chinese investment consultant in Yangzhou in excess of 10 million yuans and so he retires on one case.

It is a new field in China and the Chinese are still learning the ropes so the competitive advantage is on the side of the United States. However, it is easy to waste time in China if one does not employ proper strategy.

A successful strategy is very important.

Prepared by Mustang Ma (ma.xiaoshan@gmail.com) in Guangdong on June 27, 2008

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