China4B2B Blog

Dear Friends, 

I am just back from another trip to Asia. This time was Singapore and Shanghai. The Shanghai auto show this past April 25-28 was incredible. The new models and concept cars shown by Chinese car manufacturers were just incredible. Most impacting for me was the all solar energy car. A small car seating three with its roof made with solar panels. It measured 10 feet long by 5 wide and could run at 50 miles per hour and drive for 200 miles. 

Most incredible was the attendance to the show on Sunday where barely one could walk from hall to hall. It was packed with more than 200,000 people!! I thought the old Comdex shows were big, well this was big!! 

There were so many auto parts companies showing that it took us almost two days to visit only a fraction of them. There seems to be fewer in each auto parts category but the active ones seem more professional, speak better English and their prices are again becoming competitive. The auto industry in China has around 200 car manufacturers and more than 10,000 auto parts makers. For the first time, last month, China surpassed the USA in car production. 

Business opportunities of doing business in China are re-emerging again. With fewer producers in every industry, price negotiations are more reasonable due to pressures to fill capacity while quality offered has significantly improved. I witnessed this quality improvement in many of the products shown in the Shanghai Auto Show 2009. 

In the shipping-freight arena we found out in this trip, that there are great pressures on sea carriers for business. In Singapore the shipping business has slowed down by almost 50%. In Shanghai also a similar but lesser decline has occurred. The pressure is such that some shippers are offering to move sea cargo for only the price of the fuel used and a small administration charge. In Shanghai we found one shipper willing to move cargo for a few hundred dollars per container. It is likely that the industry is ready for consolidation in East Asia. 

I will keep you posted of news in East Asia as we visit factories, cities, places. For now, we hope to hear and read about your comments on our experiences or your own in your travels through China, Hong Kong, Singapore and other East Asian countries. Stay well and good luck to all.