Chinese exporters have grown weary of the foreigners’ rigidity, and they often do all they can to avoid precise promises. It can be a shipment date, a certain level of quality, a proportion of wastage of materials, etc. What Americans of Europeans see...

In the QC business, the worst a supplier can do is denounce an inspector to the buyer for corruption. Sometimes it is true, and I’m happy they open up about it. But I investigated some cases where all appearances were against the supplier, who was...

In my previous job (in a small trading company based in Hong Kong), I quickly concluded that it was better to deal directly with a retailer, rather than a wholesaler who sells to retailers. With few exceptions, retailers are less sensitive to price and...

Small countries (or autonomous regions) have an unfair advantage over large nations. What do Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai have in common? A lot of freedom in re-issuing bills of lading and in arranging trans-shipments; A strong trading activity,...

It is no secret that Chinese people are very sensitive about their country’s image in the rest of the world. The 2008 Olympic Games were supposed to make everybody forget about the 2007 product recalls. They had plans for an ad campaign to promote...