DiligenceChina

Ross Curtin, International Business Director for the Changzhou-based California Technology Park (CTP) typifies the new breed of ex-pat managers who are paid to bridge the gap between Chinese and Western decision makers. Ross has heavy marketing responsibilities – but is also charged with dealing with local decision makers and bureaucrats. This enables incoming businesses to push the cultural translation one step further away. Ross understands what western management teams are looking for, and he carries and manages that message to local contractors, government officials and party bureaucrats. He develops guanxi-type relationships with local decision-makers, yet can speak to western businesses about bottom line issues. He also performs the same operation in reverse – translating policy and SOP to western investors in a form that they are accustomed to. He is a far cry from the “white face” that many SOEs used to stick in the sales room to handle those tricky foreigners. He is a direct conduit to the CTP’s western owners (the Apitera Group) and to local government. He has the power to make decisions – and understands that sometimes the right answer is a clear “no”.

Those that visited the Singaporean hi-tech park in Suzhou ten years ago (when it was still hungry for foreign investment) will see CTP as a refinement of the same concept. The goal is to systematize the biz entry procedure and keep investors one step removed from the bureaucratic wrangling that has poisoned so many business entry experiences. CTP understands 2 keys to China business:

1) western investment focuses on the bottom line, and views cultural & bureaucratic processes as a nuisance at best and a deal-killing barrier to entry at worst, and
2) Local bureaucrats have their own priorities and methods that don’t revolve around the needs of western businesses.

Those two perspectives have often clashed with disastrous results – many international execs have returned home early after nerve-wracking fiascos that were caused by bureaucratic hassles and cultural difference - not business-oriented operational or tactical failures. The guiding principal behind CTP is to outsource the bureaucratic negotiations to the management team of the park. Their value-added is more than just a rental space and infrastructure. They take on a strong consulting role that allows international management teams to focus their efforts on profit-oriented operational issues – and not get bogged down in a bureaucratic and regulatory quagmire.

The CTP attempts to add value in other ways, as well. It’s a large facility – phase one is 300,000 sq meters. The rational, highly planned structure of the park is designed to bring complimentary industries together in an effort to build synergies. There is a heavy emphasis on R&D, new business development and hard sciences. Industrial focuses include: Auto parts and components, New Materials, Logistics, Electronics R&D, Bio-pharmaceutical technology and R&D, Applications software, and a “Silicon Valley Innovation and Incubation Center” – fostered by the parent’s company’s Silicon Valley roots.

Is CTP right for every business? With a 2 hour drive-time to Shanghai and a relative scarcity of westerners in Changzhou, you probably wouldn’t want to locate your China sales, marketing or back-office teams there. But for hi-tech manufacturers engaged in the fields which CTP is focusing on, it has many benefits. They can streamline the business entry procedure, offer great facilities and infrastructure, and can help new entrants tap into potential labor force graduating from nearby Changzhou University Town. CTP is focusing on SMEs, and is willing to customize facilities to meet the needs of smaller operations – which may be a refreshing alternative to areas like Suzhou and Pudong who seem to favor larger-scale facilities. Its distance from bigger cities will make westerners feel a bit isolated, but hi-tech parks like CTP offer new entrants a powerful range of new options. It is worth a visit during your next trip to China.