Welcome to the very first Hongda Business Services Roundup for the month of May. Before we kick off the roundup, I'd like to take a quick moment to wish all of the women lucky enough to be called 'mom' a very Happy Mother's Day for Sunday. Thank you for everything that you do!
Now, onto the roundup and this week's posts:
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Hong Kong company registry & banking: 4 options for opening an account
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Expats and locals reveal the most egregious faux pas of Western visitors to China
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What The Heck Is The QianHai Special Economic Zone? [Free eBook]
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How Hong Kong crowdfunders got burned, and why they’re still investing
Let's get right to it!
1) Hong Kong company registry & banking: 4 options for opening an account
Hong Kong company registry & business banking are two things that go hand in hand to ensure future business growth, much like a newly wed couple embarking on a life together.
The lyrics to 'Love and Marriage' made famous by the legend that is Frank Sinatra spring to mind, and just like the marriage of a Hong Kong company and a business bank account, "you can't have one without the other."
Unfortunately, this 'sacred bond' is something that is being challenged by HSBC. Sources within the bank recently stated that HSBC would be enforcing stricter measures that severely decreases one chances of successfully opening a bank account with them (or keeping a current account open for that matter).
As part of our core services in helping clients register Hong Kong companies, opening a business bank account is something that absolutely needs to happen in order for the former to be operate normally!
For this reason and in light of these recent events, I have decided to write up another post to share the 4 options that are available to you if you are considering opening a business bank account in Hong Kong, or if you are looking to register a company there.
These options will provide you with the best possible chance of successfully opening an account and getting on with your business.
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2) Expats and locals reveal the most egregious faux pas of Western visitors to China
As the operator of a guesthouse, Beijing native Arti has seen his fair share of foreign tourists - both those who are well-behaved and those who are not so much.
Though he emphasizes that badly behaved foreign tourists are by no means the norm, these bad apples tend to stand out especially because of the nature of Arti's business: an Airbnb bed-and-breakfast that he runs out of his courtyard home in one of Beijing's older areas. The foremost problem he's run into? Noise.
"A number of laowai tourists tend to return home late, and they might bang the door closed or talk loudly inside the house, which annoys the neighbors," he told Metropolitan.
That's because courtyard houses, traditional stone structures that find residents living in close quarters, aren't exactly designed for young partiers.
In addition to lacking modern soundproofing, courtyards are often occupied by families and older folks whose harmony depends on a bit of late-night consideration.
"You can't say it's uncivilized behavior, because they don't know that it disturbs other people," Arti said.
"They usually don't speak loudly in public, so I guess they just feel like they can talk once they are inside their own place."
Tourist behavior has been a hot topic in China in recent years, thanks to a number of stories in both the domestic and foreign media of Chinese tourists behaving badly, everything from scrawling their names on priceless relics to allowing their children to relieve themselves on the street.
3) What The Heck Is The QianHai Special Economic Zone? [Free eBook]
For foreign businesses, finding the right place to open your company in China is a crucial decision which has a great effect on your future success.
But deciding on where to be in such a vast and foreign country is tough. You're faced with many decisions: To be in the north or south, a tier 1 or smaller city, near the coast or inland, and in a CBD or on the outskirts near manufacturing areas.
The location is only one element too, as you need to consider the logistics of being based where you are, how to set up a company in that area, the tax burden for your industry, hiring staff, import export rules, and more.
Thankfully our home city of Shenzhen, in Guangdong province's Pearl River Delta area, has a very special new economic zone that could be the answer, and we've created a FREE eBook to explain just 'What The Heck Is The QianHai Special Economic Zone?' that you can download now!
Read more on what you can expect in this complimentary eBook here!
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4) How Hong Kong crowdfunders got burned, and why they’re still investing
Digital industry veteran Francis Fong Po-kiu makes it his business to keep track of emerging technologies. But he scours crowdfunding sites as much for fun as to look for the next big thing on the horizon. Fong has spent about HK$5,000 so far backing six projects, half of which have yet to come to fruition – and they seem unlikely to.
He has received delivery of a motorised paper plane and a super efficient LED light from Nanoleaf, that was also funded by Li Ka-shing’s Horizon Ventures, he says.
“But a 3D printer that I ordered [through Kickstarter] in 2014 for US$299 never arrived. For two years, [the creators] just kept sending updates about what they were doing, the problems encountered and the solutions they came up [with].”
When he complained to Kickstarter, administrators just told him to sort it out with the product maker. “I didn’t pursue it as I am too busy,” says Fong, president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation.
Investing in a crowdfunded project is always a bit of a gamble – that’s just the nature of the set-up. But casual backers may not realise there’s a one in 10 chance campaign promises will fall through. According to an independent study of successfully funded Kickstarter projects, 9 per cent of creators failed to make their targets (whether a gadget, game, film or other creative work) and deliver on pledges of rewards to investors.
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 that you all have a very relaxing weekend and that you catch us again next week for another roundup of all the posts and news that matters in our world!
