RuiThinking: Chinese shipping companies abroad shouldn't run aground on foreign land

World
Europe

02:37

Hi there, welcome back to RuiThinking.

In the midst of the ongoing trade war, through a public hearing in the US, Zhejiang Medicine successfully excluded not only all its exports, but also all China's exports of fine chemicals, bulk drugs and preparations from the list of Trump's 34 billion US dollars' tariffs.

As the first victory of a Chinese enterprise standing up for its own rights against Trump's tariffs, Zhejiang Medicine sets a very great example for Chinese companies that want to participate in the global market. Besides government's protection and counterattack, enterprises must learn to use legal weapons to defend themselves.

Due to a lack of sense of law and reluctance to pay expensive legal fees, many Chinese companies have suffered heavy losses in the overseas market. The recent case of ZTE, for example, falls into this category. Relevant leaders at ZTE have no legal or confidentiality awareness, reflected in both ZTE's business operation and crisis management.

When a company decides to expand overseas, physical shipment of products is just the very basic consideration. It needs to factor in much more complex issues such as the local legal environment, PR strategies, government policies, etc.

When a product enters a foreign market, in addition to production and labor costs, costs to the environment, relationship management and legal issues must be taken into account. To be a successful player in the global market, one has to learn and follow international rules, as well as understanding rights and resources.

As a country undergoing modernization and internationalization, (China) might suffer from inadaptation and lack of experience at first, but it's all part of the painful learning curve.

As a rising power that threatens the position of other countries, China might experience hostility and attacks, but they all serve as wakeup calls for us to raise legal awareness and defend ourselves. To survive the turbulence in global trade, Chinese enterprises should look at the positive side and take actions.

Improved mobility and information-sharing contribute to building a better-connected world. However, cultural, social and legal differences have caused inevitable frictions. Whether a country can continuously learn and adjust will be crucial for its standing in the world.

Thanks for watching. I'm Yang Rui. Bye for now.

(Yang Rui is the anchor of CGTN's Dialogue)