Business summary: Hongjie and her son YiCheng Li have an understanding of English culture, economics and business. More importantly, both have a lifelong knowledge and familiarity with the culture and business ethos in their home city of Dàlián Shì (Dalian). Wilkipedia describes Dalian as “a large, modern port city on the Liaodong Peninsula, at the southern tip of China’s north-eastern Liaoning Pr
ovince. Founded by the Russians in 1898 and later occupied by the Japanese, today the city is known for its beaches and many squares.”
As a busy Chinese port with a population of over 3.24 million, ten specialist Universities and its own airport, it is constantly seeking new export markets for its many industries, skills and technology. As a modern cultural centre and growing economic strength it also has a wealth of communities keen to appreciate and acquire targeted high-end luxury imports from the West. As a bi-lingual entrepreneur Hong Jie’s key skill is her ability to co-ordinate and match new clients to current clients on her extensive contacts list. Familiar with the exigencies of running a business in the UK and in China she understands the need for personal contacts to establish a basis for commercial trust and activity. What Asia Business Links offers is a fresh opportunity to link business entrepreneurs (vendors and buyers) to each other, for them to be able to work together to their mutual benefit. So many Chinese businesses bombard our emails with offers of products and services at low-cost and high-quality services that most are now dismissed and ignored as spam. There is a clear need for genuine businesses in China to have a validated and vetted entrée into Western Markets – equally, it is difficult for a UK business seeking to buy from (or sell to) Chinese markets to see anything other than the largest players in the field. Small and medium sized businesses in China are easy to overlook, however viable their product or well-priced their offering, because of weak presentation and a lack of trust of the unknown when so many similar businesses are vying the same tired old way to be heard. The solution does not lie solely in well designed, English Friendly, websites, nor in effective email marketing campaigns (however useful these may be). What counts more than anything else in today’s economy is trust. Trust is achieved through knowledge, communication, personal contact and customer service. Asia Business Link offers a conduit between UK businesses and Chinese businesses.
