What Australia can learn from China’s post-COVID journey
Being a few months ahead of us throughout this COVID period, China is a good source of clues, indicators and pointers that, in theory, should help us all plan our way out. This is taxing politicians in Australia and around the world who have recognised that, arguably, the way down the mountain is harder than […]
Diversifying Australia
Since moving to Sydney from Hong Kong in the mid 1990s I, like many migrants, now call Australia “home”. I am excited about the possibilities of living in our young country as we progress further through the “Asian Century” and, whilst I’ve witnessed some resistance to the inevitable changes taking place within our society, I […]
My 3 biggest lessons learned from doing business with China
For the last 30 years or so, I have regularly travelled to China to work with Chinese investors, entrepreneurs and business leaders who have various interests around the world. Doing business with them is never easy and throws up some unique obstacles and, whilst I think I’ve learnt a lot from being on the ground, […]
World Class Innovation and Domestic Consumption
As I travel around China, whether on a business trip with one of our clients or to speak at large scale conferences, events and expos, I can’t help but notice the rapid development in the two areas which keep China buzzing: World Class Innovation and Domestic Consumption. During my travels, I’ve met with Chinese entrepreneurs and business leaders […]
Ease of Doing Business
Perhaps you’ve already noticed, and if not I’d like to bring this to your attention, that China is making various announcements to introduce new laws and regulations designed to make it easier for foreigners to visit, invest and do business in China. Of course there are reasons for the timing of this (eg the US […]
Opportunities and Challenges in Australia’s Education Sector
Education represents Australia’s third largest export sector, after iron ore and coal, and according to Australia’s Department of Education and Workplace Relations, ‘Australia’s world-class international education sector contributed $34 billion to the local economy last year, an increase of 15.3%’. There is also strong evidence to suggest that the total economic benefit to Australia is […]
Jack to Daniel – Face of Modern China
Of all the billionaires in the world today, it would be hard to find anyone as universally popular and widely respected as Jack Ma, who stepped down as Chairman of Alibaba this week after amassing a US$41.8 billion fortune whilst creating Alibaba, the largest e-commerce firm in the world and the brand which most business […]
5 Tips for Food and Drink Exporters in China
1. Follow the money There is an addressable market of well over 300 million Chinese middle-class consumers with money in their pockets, aspiration in their hearts, and a willingness to spend their money on high quality premium food and beverages. In addition, China’s “millennials” (those born between 1981 and 1996) are one of the richest […]
Formal v Informal
This month I was a speaker at the annual conference of Educate Plus, an organisation focused on promoting and operating the business of private education, and I told a story of when I organised for a Chinese billionaire and his family to meet the Headmaster of one of Sydney’s most prestigious private schools. Honoured to […]
A View from Ground Level 2019
I spent last week in China as a member of the inaugural CKGSB CEO Study Tour Program where I travelled to 4 cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Shenzhen) in only 6 days. During this week, we visited three of China’s biggest and best known companies, Alibaba, Tencent and Fosun, attended lectures from many of China’s […]