I attended an interesting panel yesterday—International Business in China for Fun and Profit at SXSW.
Kris Krug (Raincity Studios ) hosted the discussion by Christine Lu (The China Business Network), Andrew Lih (author of The Wikipedia Revolution),Sage Brennan (Pacific Sun Investment Management) and Robert Scales (Now Public). Among the audience were familiar names such as Kaiser Kuo,Debbie Weil, Sheila Scarborough, and Elliott Ng.
This was the first China-specific SXSW panel in the last three years. Most of the panelists flew in from China to participate. As a Chinese national living in Austin, I was excited to see a bigger China-presence at SXSW.
The interest in this panel coincides with the fact that China remains one of the few bright spots in a gloomy global economy. However, to do business in China can be a daunting task, especially for foreigners. The discussion ranged from language barrier, to human flesh search engine to government regulations and city preferences. The rambling conversation accurately reflects how complicated it can be to do business in China.
It is hard to cover China in an hour, but the panel gave the audience a good taste. For those interested in finding out about this discussion, search #sxswchina on Twitter to read more.
I like what Christine said during the panel: ‘Don’t think you will change china. China will change you.’ You might not believe it now. But from my personal experience, it IS true.
If you are on Twitter and would like to learn more about China, the Top China Tweeps list from CNReview is quite helpful.
After the panel, I interviewed Kaiser Kuo, who lead digital media for Ogilvy in Beijing. He is now a consultant for YouKu, one of the two leading video websites in China. He discussed some of the most common misunderstandings about Internet and social media in China. Enjoy.