"If I had known back then how China works, I would have used a factory in England"
A BRITISH entrepreneur looking make his fortune by manufacturing high-end electric scooters in China and importing them to Britain has vowed never to do it again.
Speaking to the Telegraph newspaper, Chris (he chooses not to publish his full name) says he arrived in the southern city of Guangzhou two years ago to search for a factory to help him design and build a scooter. But a lack of language skills, and no understanding of how Chinese business works, has turned the experience into a nightmare process.
"If I had known back then how China works, I would have used a factory in England. Well, maybe not England because it is too expensive, but perhaps Taiwan or Japan. I'm looking at switching production to there for the next batch," says the 28-year-old.
The experience has left the entrepreneur drained, after numerous negotiations with a variety of companies resulted in little more than a hangover:
"We seemed to spend all of our time just sitting around drinking tea with bosses. I played ping-pong for hours with the head of one of the largest battery factories in the north. They put us up in five-star hotels and we had endless drunken banquets," he says. "But then when it came to negotiating the deal, it kept breaking down."
After months of searching, Chris found a manufacturer for his engines, however the company, Bright Mountain, used cheaper parts than agreed, causing the engines to explode. Chris' problems didn't end there: One order of 1000 bikes was cancelled after the first container was opened and all the bikes were found to be rusty.
Chris goes on to explain the project's chief engineer, Xiao Yi, doesn't seem to be taking the job too seriously: "He's never around. One lunch he went to karaoke and came back sozzled."
Sounds like British Leyland in the 1970s.
Read the full story here.
