French PME/PMI’s Market Opportunities in China

Wu Hui Xu Sujie

(School of Foreign Languages,Wuhan Textile University,Wuhan,Hubei 430073)

French PME/PMI’s Market Opportunities in China

Wu Hui Xu Sujie

(School of Foreign Languages,Wuhan Textile University,Wuhan,Hubei 430073)

This article aimed to analyze a practical issue. In considering the current world economic environment and international business development,the focus of the paper has been put on helping French small and medium sized companies to find their business opportunities in China.

French; PME/PMI; China market; Opportunity

1 French PME/PMIs’ prospect in China market

The pastFrench PME/PMIs’activities build the foundation for their further development in China market.According to CGPME，the general confederation of French small and medium sized enterprises，that in recent years most of the business delegation groups visiting China were formed by the owners of small and medium size companies，which are different from that of years ago.In the year of 2003，there are greater than 2000 French small company owners have visited China.Shanghai currently has the most French enterprises in China.Among around 250 French enterprises’operations in Shanghai，70 percent are small and medium enterprises.

Growing Chinese market is waiting for French PME/PMIs

Proceeding from 2001，the world economy turns into a recession period.Most of the developed countries have experienced a low annual economic growth rate in recent years.However，the import and export of China experienced a steady and high growth.

The figure below from Le Monde shows the GDP growth of China in the past 24 years. The up warding growth trend is an irresistible temptation to all businessmen.

The import/export record goes parallel with the GDP growth of China.Especially starting from the end of2001 when China has acceded to the World Trade Organization，the international trade activities of China step into a new era.The import/export trade goes straight upwards.However，among these activities，the transaction between France and China is relatively small.There are still a lot of opportunities opening to the French PME/PMIs.

Figure 1.China GDP growth in the past 24 years

Figure 2. Import and Export in China

2 Find your market niche in China

Generally speaking， for French small and medium sized companies，there are three ways in looking for business opportunities in China.The first way is tantamount to refer to specialized consulting companies or intermediate companies.These companies either have plenty of experience in handling business relationship with foreign countries or have considerable business or partnership network in China.They can serve to set up a bridge between the two sides.Meanwhile，they can also provide assistance and advice in doing business in China.The second way is to get well with the government.The government plays a very special and quite important role in the economic circle in China. Thus， government must be taken into account.The chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris(CCIP)has established its Franco-china committee in 1997.This committee dedicated itself to providing business information for the French small and medium sized companies concerning China.They also organize forums，business visits and exhibitions to bring French PME/PMI owners to China.In 1997 and 2001，the French international technology and trade board successfully organized hightech fare of France in Shanghai and Beijing.Among those French companies who had participated in the high-tech fair

(150+)，there are more than 70 percent are small and medium sized enterprises.The third way is to make good use of cyber tools.The function of which is self-evident.The Internet technology has completely changed the business world. People can easily reach information from all over the world at very low cost.In early days，only big companies who can afford to set up the network can enjoy the convenience of collecting information efficiently，so they can dominate the business opportunities.However，the popular Internet makes the information transparent.And it’s known to all the business entity.

Here are some websites， which are very useful in helping French small and medium sized companies to findTheir business opportunities in China.

[1]World Bank’s online database:http://www.worldbank.org/data/onlinedatabases/onlinedatabases.html.

[2]International Monetary Fund (IMF) publications: http://www.imf.org/external/pubind.htm.

[3]National Bureau of Statistics of China:http://www.stats.gov.cn.

[4]L'Institut national de la statistique et des études é conomiques(France): http://www.insee.fr.

吴卉,(1981.12—)女,湖北武汉,留法硕士,武汉纺织大学外国语学院,讲师,研究方向为法国中小企业在亚洲的生存状态及发展前景研究；智慧教育研究(高科技教育)；法语教学法研究等。