China update

Remember I said the man from the Foreign Office came in the other day? Here’s long overdue post about what he said.

We’re thinking of opening an office in China. Seriously. (You think I’m mad now, don’t you?) It’s only half idea at the moment, but the more we talk about it and the more people we meet the more we move away from dream and closer to reality.

Through various connections I was put in touch with UK Design | UK Trade & Investment who came to chat to us the other day.

They were hugely shocked that we wanted to open in China (and equally as shocked that we actually have a business plan). Reading between the lines it seems that the Government is really keen to help UK design companies to open in China, but they can’t find anyone who wants to do it seriously.

Of course it’s not that easy. Hong Kong is relatively simple, but main land China is hard. Laws are very different, culture is very different, for example there is no copyright law in China. They see nothing wrong with copying designs.

All interesting stuff. And us? We’re still very interested and we hope to fly out later this year to explore. We’re also going to talk to more people about it. I’ll keep you informed here.

Comments

[sun]

i did not agree with u, main land China is hard.there is no copyright law in China. this is our coutry mark. we also find some worng in u coutry,did u agree,i hope u reply.i am designer too,i want to exchanger viewpoint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous designer, where is your email link? Would like to ask something, great content by the way!

[Ben]

Anonymous, I think I've accidentally got rid of my about page! My email address is here: http://noisydecentgraphics.typepad.com/about.html

[Ben]

Sun, are you writing from China? How about writing something from a China point of view?

Feel free to email me, address can be found here: http://noisydecentgraphics.typepad.com/about.html

[keewooi]

thats good idea where opening office in china. i've been research and plan to invest myself to china since last year. i can see the differences between culture, target audiences, the way dealing in business, the way of communication...etc. from differences city in china. is really chanllenging if something come with advantages and disadvantages better than WITHOUT any advantages and disadvantages. yup, i agree with what did u mention... 'there is no copyright law in China', but there are some solution or tuning point from disadvantages to advantages. hope sharing with u through email.
culture is highly involving in business in china not only profession.
for my personal opinion, shanghai is the best starting point for foreign invester compare to other cities in china.

[Martin]

As a young creative currently living in Shanghai... China is a really interesting place to be in for the moment, with World Expo coming up and China's role on the world market, and yeah, everything!