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The troubles of an Italian entrepreneur

Jiangsu is the province with the largest concentration of Italian enterprises in China. A few years ago, Italian businessman Lu Ke came to Jiangsu Zhenjiang Dantu New District Industrial Park. Now he is the general manager of General Plumbing Equipment Co., Ltd., which has 47 employees in China and 3 employees in Italy.

Facing the reporter of Global magazine, Lu Ke made no secret of his troubles: "Two months ago, when our first batch of products were to be shipped back to Italy, the local postal department and the management Committee didn't know how to clear these goods." Lu Ke is puzzled that an industrial park with foreign-funded enterprises does not know the procedures for exporting goods.

"This kind of thing can't happen in Shanghai and Nanjing," Lu Ke said. He said that there is only one European enterprise in this development zone called Italian Industrial Park.

Lu Ke is also uneasy about some "hidden rules" of China. He told reporters that after the relevant departments "coordinated" with the competent units, the initial quotation for laying natural gas pipelines suddenly dropped by more than 50%. But Lu Ke, who enjoys the "discount", is not happy. "This is very different from Italian business habits. In Italy, if my product is worth 20 yuan, it is 20 yuan. Don't tell me it's worth twice 40 yuan, and then we'll bargain to the last 20 yuan. "

"My energy is to be used in the operation of factories and companies, instead of spending my energy on these issues every day."

Of course, "cooperation is like marriage, bitter and sweet depend on each other." Italian businessmen who come to China for development should be psychologically prepared to adapt to the local environment and culture. Hu Zhengming, deputy general manager of Baosheng Group, Italy (Jiangsu) Industrial Park in Baoying County, Yangzhou, told Global magazine that Italian experts of this enterprise often communicate with local workers in order to integrate into local life and culture, and one expert once went to the countryside to listen to Huai Opera.

Sanvini, general manager of Ashtar Command Co., Ltd., which is owned by an Italian in the same park, is "very satisfied" with the help of the local government. He said that the local government can solve the problem quickly and help it reduce complicated procedures such as approval. He said that he has decided to invest another 7 million euros to expand the scale.

Throw away "fear"

In fact, most of the problems encountered by some Italian entrepreneurs in China have been experienced by other foreign businessmen. But the difference is that most Italian investments in China are small and medium-sized enterprises. Futai, the representative of the Italian Foreign Trade Commission in Shanghai, told Global magazine that at present, there are about 800 Italian joint ventures in China, of which 750 are small and medium-sized enterprises. Up to now, the largest investment project in China is still the project of Nanjing Iveco Automobile Co., Ltd. established by 1996, with a total investment of 450 million US dollars.

However, Italian entrepreneurs are unwilling to give up the big market of China.

During his visit to China, Prodi said that China's economy is playing an important role in the international market at an alarming rate, and the Italian business community has "fear" and neglected the opportunities brought by the development of China. We should abandon this pessimistic argument of "fear" and make the right choice.

But now, this depressed mood is being replaced by rational reflection. Alberto Ribeira, president of Varase Industrialists Association, one of Italy's top ten exporters, said: "Italian enterprises, especially those in textile, fashion, shoes, food and other industries, have been repeatedly frustrated by China's powerful offensive of" low price ". However, it is the rapid economic growth in China that has greatly increased Italian exports in the fields of machinery, spare parts, high-tech products and luxury goods. " He believes that most people's views on the impact of China's rapid economic rise are not comprehensive and objective.

Ambassador Mankaidi, Italian ambassador to China, believes that "China has now reached a certain stage ... Italy can provide its own knowledge, technology and products in improving the whole environment". In fact, satisfying consumers' growing "taste" is exactly what many small and medium-sized enterprises in Italy are good at.

"Italian products are designed for elites, whether they are political elites, business elites or cultural elites," Luo Hongbo, deputy director of the European Institute of China Academy of Social Sciences and an expert on Italian issues, told the Global Times reporter. "Italian clothes pay attention to quality and the price is relatively high; With the expansion of the middle class in China, their goods will become more and more marketable. "

Set foot on a trip to China.

Although Prodi's high-profile visit to China has created a warm atmosphere for Italian enterprises to invest in China on a large scale, it is not so easy to realize this wish.

Professor Xu Liyuan from the European Institute of China Institute of Contemporary International Relations told the Global Times reporter that "Prodi had an intention to promote Sino-Italian relations before he took office, but at present there are some problems in Italy, and he is also reforming and facing some difficulties; In addition, Italian bureaucracy is also famous, and it is hard to say how much it can promote it. "

At the same time, the characteristics of Italian investment in small and medium-sized enterprises in China require a considerable adaptation period for China institutions accustomed to receiving large multinational enterprises, especially local governments.

"SMEs are different from large enterprises and have less funds. It is impossible to spend a lot of money like a big enterprise; Small businesses are also more complicated. They are not a company, but a group of people. " Luo Hongbo told reporters. In the process of investigation and interview, reporters of Global magazine heard some officials in economic development zones say that foreign small and medium-sized enterprises are no worse than large enterprises and should enjoy the same preferential policies as large enterprises, otherwise problems will arise and it will be difficult to "serve".

In addition, the reason why Italian SMEs are in the leading position in the world lies in the industrial clusters and industrial chains formed by their interdependence. If the local development zones in China cannot match this "special" development environment, it will be very difficult to attract large Italian SMEs.

However, due to their own problems, China SMEs, corresponding to Italian SMEs, do not always become suitable partners.

In fact, many small and medium-sized enterprises in Italy can become century-old stores because of their core technologies and unique brands. However, it is the treasure of these two magic weapons that has become the scruples for some Italian enterprises to enter China. "Some (Italian) enterprises are afraid of some problems in China's intellectual property field and don't come at all, including the footwear industry and the fashion industry, which all rely on patents to survive." Xu Liyuan told reporters.

"The somebody else's core know-how won't give you. For example, if our silk and textiles are poorly made, they will definitely not teach us, "said Luo Hongbo. "Of course, it is impossible for Italian companies not to come to the big market of China."

At the end of the interview with the Director of Cooperation and Industry Division of Jiangsu Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Bureau by Global Reporter, his words were quite intriguing: "The joint venture company of Fiat Group in Jiangsu was taken over by Italy last year, so they are more at ease in terms of intellectual property rights and core technologies ..."

In addition, the differences in business culture also test Italian enterprises in China. Hu Zhengming said: "Italians have a high degree of integrity and are more realistic, but they are not easy to change; Negotiations with them must be cautious and thoughtful, because if any agreement cannot be fulfilled, it is easy to question our integrity. "

He also said that at present, some China people are ahead of the times, have a strong sense of becoming bigger and stronger, and some are even ambitious, while the Italians are striving for progress steadily, unwilling to expand blindly, and are very satisfied with completing the planned tasks. Taking his own enterprise as an example, he said: "According to Baosheng's goal, the company has at least achieved the scale of1.50-200 million, but Italy insists on stabilizing at 700-800 million."

It is better to solve the problem than to talk about it.

There is only one kind of failure, which is doing nothing. In order to pursue a win-win result, both China and Italy began to solve the problem.

Mainland China, director of the Cooperation and Industry Division of Jiangsu SME Bureau, said that local economic and trade commissions and other government departments can only establish platforms to promote mutual understanding between enterprises of the two countries and attract investment. As for the difficulties in cooperation, the government has limited power and has been unable to intervene. However, he revealed that Jiangsu Province is establishing a "rapid response mechanism" to deal with problems arising from Sino-Italian local cooperation. For example, a special hotline will be opened.

Futai, on the other hand, said that many Italian company bosses who have already started investment cooperation in China told him, "We came to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to start a company, first of all to understand the local laws and other conditions, and then to establish good relations with local governments and institutions. In this way, once there are problems involving intellectual property rights, it is easier to be effectively solved with the active cooperation of the local government. "

Futai solemnly told the reporter of Global magazine: "I firmly believe that in the near future, this issue (intellectual property rights) will become more and more insignificant in Italy-China cooperation!"

He gave his own reasons: on the one hand, as a member of WTO, it is an inevitable trend for China to gradually realize the integration of domestic enterprise behavior with international standards and agreements; On the other hand, with the further promotion of China's economic and trade status, a large number of well-known brands will emerge, and the demand of domestic enterprises in China for intellectual property protection will become an endogenous force to promote local governments and authorities to strengthen intellectual property protection.

Italy: the country of small and medium-sized enterprises

In Italy, SMEs absorb 70% of all employees, contribute 66% to GDP and create about half of export products.

The characteristics of small and medium-sized enterprises in Italy are clusters formed by regional peers. They exist in the organizational form of "one district and one industry", and "district" refers to the borderless area or zone formed by the development of one or several small cities or towns; And "industry" refers to traditional industries with Italian colors and styles, such as textiles, leather, shoes, stone, wood, glass and so on. They all have their own "cradle".

For example, Udinese province has a "table and chair triangle". In this land of less than 70 square kilometers, there are 786 small and medium-sized enterprises with about 6,000 employees. The Small Triangle produces 30 million tables and chairs every year, accounting for 80% of the Italian market, 50% of the European market and 32% of the world market.

Italy has 199 industrial clusters distributed in 15 states. They created 90% of Italy's textile industry, 90% of shoes and leather products, and 95% of Italy's woodworking and furniture exports.