Friday is upon us!
Welcome to another edition of the Hongda Business Services Roundup! The month of October is really speeding along as the year draws slowly, but surely to a close.
First up we have some news for everyone regarding Trademark registration in China. The China Trademark Office (CTMO) decided to reduce the official fees for trademark registration to RMB600.00 from RMB800.00. This is a great news as it shows the governments ongoing dedication to helping brands protect their IP in China.
Learn more about registering YOUR trademark here!
Now, onto the business at hand. Everyone at Hongda is working hard as the end of the year rush begins to take over, and this week we have another stellar lineup of posts for you all! This time around we are recapping some posts that include:
- Weighing the pros and cons of outsourcing HR in China
- Best Practices for Doing Business in China: The Two Minute Version
- Starting A Business In Hong Kong VS In Singapore
- Reverse the tide: African companies can also succeed in China
1) Weighing the pros and cons of outsourcing HR in China
HR outsourcing is a growing trend around the world that can be defined as "a process in which the human resource activities of an organization are outsourced so as to focus on the organization`s core competencies".
The global HR outsourcing (HRO) market has seen a meteoric rise in recent years, particularly in the Asia Pacific region where emerging markets 
such as India, Indonesia and China are expected to grow by as much as 25%, 5 times that of the mature North American and European markets.
Outsourcing HR has become big business for consultancies looking to help foreign businesses establish a foothold on the mainland. Business people around the world are becoming increasingly eager to make use of third party providers to help them expand their services in different business areas, and in different geographical locations, with China perhaps being one of the more difficult regions to navigate.
As the trend of foreign businesses setting up companies on the mainland becomes more prevalent, it is perhaps wise for those looking to invest in the market to take a closer look at why using a third party provider may help strengthen their position in China.
In this blog I will take you through the pros and cons of outsourcing HR in China through a consultancy so you can see if it is the right move for you.
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2) Best Practices for Doing Business in China: The Two Minute Version
I often “clean” my computer on Saturday and in doing so today I found an email that contained my notes from an AmCham talk I gave four or five years ago in Beijing, focusing on what it takes to conduct business in China successfully.
If I recall correctly, I was on a panel with a couple of other China lawyers and we were to lead it off given two minutes to talk about the ONE thing foreign companies doing business in China should know. The below is what I wrote to myself in preparation for the event
3) Starting A Business In Hong Kong VS In Singapore
We're regularly asked if it's better to be starting a business in Hong Kong or Singapore.
While both areas have pros and cons for foreign companies aiming to open a new investment in Asia, without the facts it's hard to know which one may be the better option.
Hongda Business Services will explain some of the pros and cons of each area in this overview...
4) Reverse the tide: African companies can also succeed in China
Over the last decade, numerous Chinese state-owned and private companies have invested in Africa. But there are also opportunities for African businesses to expand to China.
Lawrence Morgan, COO of Hong Kong-based start-up accelerator Nest Investments, recently spoke to a group of entrepreneurs in Nairobi about the business opportunities in Asia. China is one of the countries Morgan talked about, offering pointers on how to set up cost-effectively and engage with Chinese consumers.
Morgan noted African businesses can expand to China to tap into the country’s strong consumer market or to leverage its production expertise.
Although China’s economy is slowing down, it is still a major engine for global consumption and production. China has a population of over 1.3 billion people, and is home to the world’s biggest middle class. More than two decades of fast-paced economic growth has spurred wealth creation, thereby attracting luxury brands from the west.
According to a report by UBS and PwC, a new billionaire was created almost every week in China in the first quarter of this year. By 2030, some economists predict the total middle class population in China’s urban areas will reach 800 million.
So how can African companies reach these consumers?
That it for this week's edition of the Hongda Business Services Roundup! Please let us know about any of your thoughts regarding some of the topics we recapped this week in the comments below, or let us know about any other topics you'd like for us to cover.
Hope everyone has a great weekend and that you catch us again next week for more of the news that matters in our world!
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