Welcome to the very first Hongda Business Services Roundup for 2016! We sincerely hope that you enjoyed the festive season with your friends and relatives, and that you are all well rested and ready for the new year ahead!
In the spirit of giving and starting the new year off the same way we finished 2015, we have taken the time of putting together another FREE eBook for you all on China's most competitive city for business, Shenzhen.
'The Foreign Company's Guide To Business in Shenzhen' is a comprehensive resource that covers business/life in Shenzhen, the free trade zones, Qianhai and its revolutionary policies and much, much more!
If this is the resource that you have been waiting for please take a look at what else you can expect in our blog right here!
The start of the year has been anything but slow for us here at Hongda, and China is already in the news, with its economy set to become a lot more volatile in the months to come...
This week the posts include:
- Opening a China company for an e-commerce business from anywhere!
- Jitters over China manufacturing slowdown wipe £38bn off FTSE 100
- How To Fill Out The China Visa Application Form
- Top 8 China Business Trends for 2016
1) Opening a China company for an e-commerce business from anywhere!
For most of us around the world November 11th is a day just like any other, but in China this day (also known as “Single’s Day”) is a day where online shopping takes precedence over the whole country, with online shopping networks raking in big time!
In 2015, Alibaba, one of China's E-commerce juggernauts saw sales worth 91.2bn yuan ($14.3bn; £9.4bn), a 60% increase from 2014. China's capitalist holiday offers Chinese people the opportunity of purchasing most of their favourite products on online sales platforms such as Taobao and TMall at a 50% discount.
The growth of e-commerce in China has been exponential to say the least over the past decade, with China now the largest online retail market in the world. To give you a better idea, China and the US account for 55% of the total market, with China set to exceed $1 trillion in retail e-commerce sales by 2018, accounting for more than 40% of the total worldwide.
E-commerce is where the money is at and many foreign companies have truly begun to recognize the monetary potential of setting up their own online retail business in China. But, it hasn't been that easy for foreigners to set up on this side until earlier this year.
In June of last year, the Chinese government released a statement saying that they are allowing foreign companies to have full ownership of e-commerce businesses in the region. This move came as China seeked to open their e-commerce market further to foreign competition, as well as to the huge amount of investment that comes with it.
This has made entry into the market a whole lot easier for big players in the online space such as Amazon, and has made it a whole lot more accessible to individuals looking to set up their own e-commerce business in China.
Read on here as we take a look at what has facilitated the huge growth in the market, and learn about the type of company foreign business people can open for their e-commerce business from anywhere in the world...
2) Jitters over China manufacturing slowdown wipe £38bn off FTSE 100
The FTSE 100 index had £38bn wiped off its value as global stock markets started the year with a rout sparked by fresh fears over the Chinese economy.
Investors returning after the Christmas break were greeted by turmoil on stock exchanges, with Germany’s share index posting its worst start to a new year on record and London’s FTSE 100 putting in its second-worst start. As European markets closed, Wall Street looked set for the sharpest new year losses since the 1930s.
The sell-off rippled out from China, where news of weakness in the vast factory sector and a faltering yuan sent Chinese shares on the CSI300 index tumbling 7%, forcing trading to be halted. There was further pressure on the country’s stock market as investors anticipated the end of a ban on share sales by big stakeholders this week.
3) How To Fill Out The China Visa Application Form
Many Western travellers will be used to travelling without requiring any type of visa, or perhaps at most paying on arrival for a simple stamp in their passport. The China visa application form then, provides a tougher challenge.
China, like many Asian countries, requires a comparatively high amount of information about visitors to its shores.
As a large and important country in today's economic climate, there are probably two reasons for this:
- National security
- Business
Here at Hongda we offer comprehensive China visa services to help you to gain the right China visa quickly and without any difficulty, but if you're new to China then you may be confused about what the application form is, where you can get it, and how to fill it out.
So keep reading this blog where we offer you the answers to these questions and make it simple for you to fill out the application form for your next visa to China!
Send this blog out into the Twittersphere!
4) Top 8 China Business Trends for 2016
At the end of every year I do a post on China trends and what we should expect for the upcoming year. My starting point is always to go back and look at my predictions from the previous year and my ending point is usually to re-use a large chunk of those year earlier predictions for the next year. This year though will be very different, in that China changed a lot more than usual in 2015 and that bodes for a lot of new things happening in 2016 as well.
So without any further ado, the below are the key trends my firm’s China lawyers see gaining ground in China in 2016.
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 to see you all again next time for more of the same! Wishing you a successful start to the new year and a relaxing weekend!
Shenzhen is the place for business in China!
Learn everything you need to know about doing business in China's most competitive city in "The Foreign Company’s Guide To Business In Shenzhen." Get your FREE copy by simply clicking on the button below! Here's to your future business success in Shenzhen!
