From
http://www.viaempresa.cat/ca/notices/2013/12/catalunya-arrela-a-la-xina-3830.php (in Catalan)
The on-line
Catalan business magazine,
Via Empresa, has recently published an article by
Joan Ramon Armadàs about the increasing
commercial relationship between
China and
Catalonia.
According to the official statistics, until August 2013
Catalan exports had amounted 4,5 billion €, a fourth of the Spanish exports, growing by 7.3%.
Catalan exports to China are still a small percentage, amounting 90 million €, but with a growth between January 2012 and August 2013 that has reached 19%.
Acció is the agency set up by the
Catalan Government to improve the competitiveness of
Catalan enterprises throughout the world.
Gao Wei is the head of the
Acció office in
China and he is aware that the growth of the
Chinese economy is the main reason for the companies to land in
China. According to him, "
the economic situation in China offers business opportunities to the Catalan companies, specially in projects related with the transfer of technology".
About whether it is better to be physically in
China or if it is enough to have some good local contacts and suppliers, a question that probably nowadays many companies have had,
Gao Wei offers his wisdom: "
it is important to have contacts and suppliers, but it is highly recommendable to travel to China to visit the local companies before starting the business". He also acknowledges that
China is a difficult market for the
Catalan companies, due to factors such as the different commercial practices, the cultural differences and the administrative barriers applied by the
Chinese government in order to protect the local products.
Another big question is in which part of
China it is better to land. According to
Ana Beatriz Hernández, a teacher at the Department of Business Management at the
Universitat Rovira i Virgili and author of the report "
Análisis de la inversión empresarial catalana en China (Analysis of the Catalan business investments in China)", companies should not only consider to invest in the big cities. In them, competition is fierce and it is where the
Chinese government is working harder to compensate it. In a
recent interview in the
Acció website
Anella.cat,
Ana Beatriz Hernández states that the main interest of the
Chinese government now is to develop its inland regions through different kinds of incentives that some
Catalan companies have already started to use. However, it is also frequent that the geographical location of the investment is related to the area of the chosen local partner.
Despite these advantages of the inland areas, the names of the main
Chinese cities are still an important factor for the attraction of the
foreign companies willing to establish in
China. According to
Gao Wei,
Beijing is where the decisions about the big projects are made and it is where there is a higher density of universities and research centres, which means it is where the highest concentration of talent and prepared people. On the other hand,
Shanghai has a great commercial activity because it is the place where the reform tests are being made, like the
Pudong New Area (浦东新区) or the
Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone (上海外高桥保税区). Finally, he sees
Hong Kong as the window of
China that's open to the rest the world, both for its free trade and for the its important attraction of foreign investments.
From the opposite point of view,
Catalonia also offers things to which the
Chinese are attracted to, specially in terms of
tourism,
culture and
sports.
Gao Wei also states that the
Catalan people are acknowledged by their
entrepreneur and
commercial spirit, as proven by the appointment of
Barcelona as the capital of the
Mobile World Congress, that has brought
Chinese companies such as
Huawei or
Lenovo to open offices in
Barcelona.
The Costa Brava, north of the Creus Cape[/caption]
The fishing port from El Port de la Selva[/caption]
Fishing near the mouth of the Ter river in central Costa Brava[/caption]
Cala Boadella in Lloret de Mar, southern Costa Brava[/caption]
