China’s tech companies spread their wings abroad

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‍With the development of the economy and technology, China has become a bigger player in the tech world compared to a decade ago.

Currently, the world’s second largest economy is the world's biggest smartphone consumer market and the world's leading high-tech manufacturer. Local companies are selling Chinese-designed products to consumers abroad, amid various opportunities and challenges.

CFP Photo

Ninebot, headquartered in Beijing, China, is one of these trailblazers.

The technology company is devoted to the research and development, manufacturing and sales of short-distance transportation products, such as the well-known Segway. As a multinational enterprise, the first challenge of localization that confronted Ninebot was undoubtedly the cultural gap.

According to Sarah Zhang, the senior director and head of robotics business operations at Ninebot, language barriers do cause obstacles at work, yet it is the disparity in cultures behind the languages that demands more attention. When different cultures collide, employees need to compromise or “strike a balance” so as to reach ‘cultural integration’ on issues concerning the interests of the business.

Another major challenge mentioned by Zhang lies in harmonizing a multi-national company made up after a merger of many different elements into an organic whole. To meet that challenge, they need to figure out the most efficient method of distributing information, ensuring that all employees can reach a consensus and expend efforts towards the same goal.

Meanwhile, Dennis Hardholt, who is responsible for the company’s Sales, Marketing, Service and Finance operations in Europe, Middle East & Africa also mentioned the challenges and benefits of working in a multi-culture environment.

“I used to work for an Asian company. It's interesting to see how different even within Asia the cultures are,” he said, “What I love about the Chinese is that they see everything as a challenge. They are also very demanding towards us, as a team to actually do a perfect implementation of all the products into the market.”