When you plan to market your products or invest in China, whether you are a market developer, international trader, meter manufacturer or system integrator, you need first to conduct a market research exercise to save cost and time, and to ensure success. You must at least have an overview of the situation in China's power industry and know something about doing business in China to avoid strategic mistakes in the start. Many international companies are successful and many are unsuccessful in China? Do you know why? Are there any business secrets involved with doing business in China?Yes, there are. Let us share some basics you should take note of.

Many international giants were very optimistic for China’s huge market potential in late 1980s and early 1990s. They rushed to make investments in the Country, hoping to get a slice of the cake from this largest market in the world. But five years further on, reality had set in. These companies had not prepared themselves in terms of market research before they came to China. They knew nothing about the difficulties of doingbusiness in the Country, and they had to learn the frequently-changing local regulations and policies are not easy to understand. They even met strong competition from local suppliers instead of foreign suppliers. In many instances profits were not as high as these companies had hoped.

There are 1.26 billion people in China. But this does not represent a market of 1.26 billion people, as 64% of the population is still rural and only contributed 16% of the country’s GDP in 2001, according to the statistics. Opportunities, especially for high-value products, can only be explored in the urban areas. Moreover, you need to find your own market segment and customer groups among which your product can easily become recognized and accepted.

Five years ago there was one car per 500 families in Beijing, but now there is about one car per 10 families. A person with a mobile phone was considered rich five years ago, but now almost everybody has one. This rapidly changing market means that timing is very important, and that you should attempt to introduce your product when the market is ready. If you begin too early, sales will be poor. If you wait too long, you can only follow your competitors. Therefore you should be there in the planning stage so you have time to prepare yourself and monitor the market changes, ready to take action once the market is ready.