Knowing Your Chinese Partner

When contemplating whether or not to do business with China, you, as an EU SME, have many choices: You may choose to simply export from Europe, use a distributor in China, establish your own office/manufacturing base in China or a combination of these. However, no matter what you do, you are likely to be confronted with the option of working with a local partner. Working with a local partner has a variety of advantages and, if not careful, possible disadvantages. It is important to stress that the vast majority of companies in China are honest and willing to develop sustainable business. However, just as important as whether to partner or not is the question: How to find, and assess, the right partner? This workshop has been designed to help answer this question by remarking the importance of conducting an exhaustive due diligence on potential business partners in China. Our expert will explain the documents that need to be checked and how to avoid the most common scams.

The EU SME Centre, EUROCHAMBRES, Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce and China IP SME Helpdesk are glad to invite to participate in an online workshop on ‘Knowing Your Chinese Partner‘, which will take place on 26 May from 10:00-12:00 (CET).

You can find the recorded webinar on Youtube:

Agenda:

10:00 – 10:10 Welcome speech and introduction of the EU SME Centre 10:10 – 11:35 Presentation by Riccardo Benussi (Dezan Shira & Associates)

Getting ready before getting comfortable: know your China partners – Understanding what you want and if you have alternatives. – Getting and staying on the same page. – First fork in the road: background check or full-blown due diligence? – Key information you will need, to make the decision.

Understanding records in China – The business license – The company chops – Permits and licences – Premises and land – Corporate social record

There’s nothing like being on-site – Visiting the partner’s premises and assets – Internal controls. – Values and (company) culture: identifying sabotagers.

Getting dirty is better than getting nowhere – Frequent dos and don’ts. – Fraud prevention. – Scams and resorts.

11:35 – 11:45 Presentation by Jim Stoopman (China IP SME Helpdesk) – Intellectual property rights

11:45 – 12:00 Closing remarks and Q&A session

About the speaker:

Riccardo Benussi

Head of European Business Development @Dezan Shira & Associates

Riccardo is the point of contact of Dezan Shira in Europe, working with businesses to expand and maintain their presence in Asia while liaising with local teams and partners. Before taking on this role, Riccardo was based in Shanghai for over six years and managed an International Business Advisory team for Shanghai, Suzhou and Ningbo. Riccardo assisted foreign investors with strategic advisory. His industry experience includes manufacturing, heavy machinery and food and beverage. Additionally, Riccardo heads the Italian Desk and co-heads the German Desk. Prior to joining Dezan Shira & Associates, Riccardo Benussi worked on the trademark team at a Chinese IP law firms after gaining experience at an Italian-based IP firm in Rome. Riccardo was previously a post-graduate fellow with the Italian Trade Agency based in Rome and Shanghai on the subject of internationalization of SMEs and IPRs.