Doing Business in a Changing China

China’s remarkable transformation from a fast-growing economy focused mostly on exports into a continent-wide consumer economy focused on satisfying the needs of its own burgeoning middle class is proceeding rapidly, offering huge opportunities and challenges for foreign providers of manufactured goods, consumer products and contract logistics services.

In recent years, logistics providers — like the manufacturers and retailers they partner with — have focused on meeting the growing, increasingly sophisticated needs of the Chinese consumer and not just the global market for Chinese-made manufactured goods. As a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers states, “Seven of the world’s twenty largest ports are located in China — and the traffic is not all directed towards North America or Western Europe.”

To take full advantage of these opportunities, foreign companies must master the best practices of companies that have pioneered in providing transportation and logistics for the new China, companies and logistics providers agree. Despite progress, the road to success is filled with pitfalls.