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In the western world, it seems that a company can’t grow really big without doing business in China. This has been true for nearly two decades. Almost all global fortune 500 companies are now more or less having business presence in China. The Chinese market has event become a profit generator for some big companies, especially during the recession. General Motor is a good example. Exactly when GM filed chapter 7-11 in the US in 2008, General Motor China enjoyed the best performance in the Chinese market. It is certain that those big fortune companies did succeed in doing businesses in  China. However, they succeeded because they are big. They have big exposures; they have big governmental connections; and, they have big bucks to spend on working with big government connections. If you are a small business and would like to do business in China in any forms, the scenario could be quite different. Why? Because you are small.

Here are 10 greatest risks of doing business in China. This blog is intended for small companies who are interested in doing business in China. If you have a big company, I mean big enough, you don’t need to worry about these risk.

1. There are great uncertainties in the real economy of China.

Let’s start with the brief history of Chin’s rapid economic growth in the recent year. As you all know, China started opening up and reform in the late 70′s. During the early stage of the reform, China did to certain extent take advantages of cheap labor to initiate its economic growth from export. But the export-propelled growth at that time was not quite as impressive as what it stands now. China’s rapid economic growth didn’t really start until commencing it’s land reform in the late 90′s. China never privatized land, but the long term (50-70 years) leasing of land use rights allowed Chinese government to rapidly expand its currency capacities. As a direct result, GDP growth skyrocketed because as a brand new business sector, the real estate was introduced into the Chinese economy. Subsequently, personal income started to rise dramatically, which in turn pushed real estate prices up constantly. Along with its export growth, China had enjoyed double-digit GDP growth for over 10 years.

China suffered very mildly in the recession as Chinese government pumped into a large lump sum of investments in rebuilding its infrastructures in virtually every major city. Its GDP growth rate slid back to single digit, but it was far better than any other countries in the world if judging by the GDP number.  — to be continued

I often hear people say they know China really well as they have been to China for so many times and have don so much business in China. Granted, you know something about China. The question is how much? If you have grown up in China or if you have lived in China for more than 10 years, I am sure you only know a little bit about China. China is a huge country, has very long history, different culture, and many unique customs and traditions. It might be very difficult for you to understand some traditions even if you have been there for many years. While these traditions might be the daily life of Chinese people and you may have to live up with them if you wish to do business in China successfully.

Here is a great example of the tradition that western business people will have to learn one way or other. The success of business in China may not necessarily rely on how high the product quality is and how good your services are. Instead, personal connections often determine the outcome of business project. There is a unique profession in China. They call it “government relation”. But in fact, it is a person that can connect business people and government officials who have the power of determining the fate of a business. Certainly, money, I mean dirty money, is involved in the entire process. It is totally absurd way to business. Unfortunately that’s the only way to do business in China. Don’t believe it? No problem. You will learn, learn very quickly, yourself. You will see you just can’t move your business forward without those “personal Connections”. Terrible? yes. Well, China has developed its economy that way, quite fast. The richest people in China are either government official (with power, of course) , or business people with strong “government connections”. There are no exceptions.

Learn more about doing business in China or travel to China, follow the link below:

Doing Business  * Travel in China

Roman columns have been around for hundreds years. Roman columns that are in natural stones such as marble, limestone and travertine, have been key elements in ancient Roman style architectures. How about today? As matter of the factory, it is a trend that more and more buildings are installed with significant amount of stone columns that are replicas of ancient Roman column designs. Why? The vintage. Since beginning of the century, vintage has been a trendy fashion. People would pay double price to buy a vintage rotary phone as comparing to an average high-tech cordless digital phone. Ladies would now wear a purse that was popular in 1930′s. People’s taste on fashion changes constantly and repeats in cycle. It is now the vintage age, anything labeled “old” or “ancient” would have value. The Roman style stone column just caught the vintage trend and takes a free ride to the fashion of home improvements. Read more about Roman style marble stone columns, please click on the link below.

Roman Stone Columns Marble Column

When building a garden fountain, people often debate on what material to buy for their fountain. There are several options to choose from. Concrete, plaster, GFRC and natural stone are commonly seen materials in modern garden fountain constructions. Concrete by far is the cheapest material, however, it doesn’t have much value comparing to natural stone. In fact, stone fountains no longer have ridiculously high prices since importing from Chinese became popular in recent years….. Read the full story in the link below.

Stone Garden Fountain Marble Fountains Travertine Water Feature

Are you looking to buy low price but hot and cheap granite countertops? If so, This list of most popular granite countertops hottest granite counter tops might help you to determine what granite color to buy for your kitchen and vanity countertop projects. This most popular hottest granite countertop list has been compiled based on sales and product inquiries received during 2012-2013. This list of top 10 most popular granite countertop may not be scientifically correct, but it does represent in an overall picture what granite colors have been popular and hot for countertops during the year. Couple other granite colors were also very popular and hot. Unfortunately, the quarries for those hot and popular granite had been closed. Read full story in the link below.

Top 10 Most Popular Granite Countertop Colors

Installing a marble stone fireplace mantel surround might not be easy in most people’s perception. Yes, it is hard to certain extent as marble fireplaces are typically heavy, easy to break and requires upgraded load bearing structure. However, installation of stone fireplaces is pretty straightforward if you understand how all components in a stone fireplace come together. For more information, visit the link below.

Complete Guide to Marble Fireplace Surround Installation

More Marble Fireplaces

What is the best material to use as the main theme is critical question in home improvements and garden decorations. Many homeowners and real estate people automatically exclude natural stone in their material preference list merely because costs of natural  stone products are in tradition significantly higher than artificial materials such as plasters, ceramic and concrete. That might be a big mistake. In the recent years, importing from China and India, two largest countries that have abundant reserves of commercial-able natural  stones such as marble and granite, have drastically eased the price gap between  natural stone and other man-made building materials. Will you rather a marble or granite floor, for example, if it’s cost is very close to ceramic on a square foot base? I am sure the answer is positive. So, decorating your home and garden with natural marble granite and other types of stones is the best choice you can make nowadays. For more info on this topic, please follow the link below.

Home Improvement Garden Decoration with Natural Stone Fabricationand Marble Carving

Buy NEW ALL IN ONE 8.7″ Car Headrest LCD TV+DVD MP4 Media Player+Game Console SD MMC Joystick  on eBay for $175… Ahip worldwide.

NEW 8.7" Car Headrest LCD TV + DVD MP4 Media Player + Game Console SD MMC USB Joystick