QA问答：对欧洲人来说，在中国做生意比在美国更容易吗？

Erik G. Andersen MS in Business & Management Information Systems, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (Graduated 1972)
Norwegian here. 
As usual I will start with a disclaimer; I neither can nor will attempt to speak for all 745m Europeans. So I will just present the Facts for my native country Norway, - and ne perdonally. 
Absolutely. Of course… 
Norway and China generally have a “zero-zero” tariff regime. So there are no Norwegian import tariffs on Chinese goods, with some minor exceptions. The total tariiffs, if averaged over all Chinese imports, amounts to 1.06%… 
It is also very easy for us to export to China as China does not impose any tariffs on Norwegian goods. 
China (and Japan) simply cannot get enough of our excellent and fresh seafood. Every day of the year a fleet of Jumbo Jets depart airports in Northern Norway loaded with live King Crabs and other fresh seafood for the Far East. 

【回答】明尼苏达大学双城分校，商业与管理信息系统硕士（1972年毕业）
我是挪威人。  
照例先声明一下：我既不能、也不会代表所有7.45亿欧洲人发言。所以我只说说我自己国家挪威的情况，以及我个人的看法。
是的，当然是更容易…  
挪威和中国基本实行“零关税”制度。除了少数例外，挪威对中国商品不征收进口关税。如果按所有中国进口商品平均计算，总关税大约只有1.06%…
我们出口到中国也很方便，因为中国对挪威商品也不征收关税。  
中国（和日本）对我们优质新鲜的海产品简直供不应求。一年到头，每天都有大型货机从挪威北部机场起飞，满载活帝王蟹和其他新鲜海产品飞往远东。

So we have essentialy stopped exporting seafood to the USA. Simply because American Importers are not willing to take the risk. They will have to pay the US import tariffs to the US Treasury and then find an American Distributor/Retailer they can pass on the tariff costs to… 
We also export Chemicals, Fertilizers Furniture and Maritime Techlogy to China. 
Norway does not impose any special tariffs on Chinese EVs (as the EU fies), so Chinese BYDs and Volvos made in China sell very well here. 
We do run a trade deficit with China, but it only amounts to about $1.0bn so no problem. 
On s personal note, I buy quite a lot directly from China (but NOT from TEMU..). Usually with customs duties (if any) and freight included. Currently I have a portable DAB radio and sn advanced Smartwatch coming in. 
Just got an email saying that the watch is being loaded on to a freight plane bound for Frankfurt. From there it is only a short hop up to Oslo, so I expect it to be in my mailbox on Monday, February 2nd. 
Totslly hazzlefree…

所以我们基本上已经不向美国出口海产品了。原因很简单：美国进口商不愿承担风险。他们得先向美国财政部缴纳进口关税，然后再找能转嫁关税成本的美国分销商或零售商…
我们还向中国出口化学品、化肥、家具和海事技术产品。  
挪威没有像欧盟那样对中国电动汽车加征特别关税，所以中国的比亚迪和在中国生产的沃尔沃在这里卖得很好。  
我们对中国确实有贸易逆差，但大约只有10亿美元，问题不大。  
就我个人来说，我经常直接从中国买东西（但不在TEMU上买…），通常运费和关税（如果有的话）都包含在内。最近我买了一个便携式DAB收音机和一款高级智能手表。  
刚收到邮件说手表已经装上飞往法兰克福的货机，从那里到奥斯陆就一小段航程，估计2月2号周一就能送到我家邮箱。  
完全不操心...

PC Yu 
China has a complete supply chain. 
Let say you want to make cars. You do not need to order parts from outside China. All parts are available inside China. What does that mean? It means it cuts your time to order from outside China. Time is money. By cutting your operating cost, you make more money. 
E.Musk operates a EV factory in China. He expanded his business to Germany. He told us: in China, it took him 10 MONTHS from building a factory to starting operation. In Germany, 2 YEARS because of the environment activists. In the case of US, trade unxs. 

【回答】
中国拥有完整的产业链。  
比如说你要造车，不需要从国外订购零件，所有零部件国内都能搞定。这意味着什么？意味着省去了从国外订货的时间。时间就是金钱。运营成本降低了，你就能赚更多钱。  
马斯克在中国开了个电动车工厂，后来把业务拓展到德国。他告诉我们：在中国，从建厂到投产只用了10个月；在德国，因为环保人士的阻挠，花了2年。在美国的话，还要面对工会问题。  

R.M.L. 
Europe and the USA are two peas in the same pod. They're all white countries that share the same values. It's too bad that the USA believes that it needs to be a hegemon. 
If I were China, I wouldn't trust any of those countries. They already tried to exploit China. 
Do you know that the UK has been trying to divide China into three countries? As if the opium trade and wars weren't bad enough. SMH. 
Anyway, China is a far more reliable trading partner than the USA. 
Do you know that for decades, China imported autos from Europe? Look how fast Europe slapped tariffs on China's autos. 
Anyway, they seem to prefer India. White people have a preference for Indians. The vast majority of white Canadians really love Indians. Europeans seem to be similar. To white people, China is the boogeyman. Read about the Yellow Peril. 
.

【回答】
欧美根本就是一丘之貉。都是白人国家，价值观也相同。可惜美国总觉得自己必须当世界霸主。
如果我是中国，这些国家我一个都不会信。他们早就想占中国便宜了。
知道英国一直想把中国分裂成三个国家吗？鸦片贸易和战争还不够过分吗？真是无语。
总之，中国比美国可靠多了，是更好的贸易伙伴。
知道吗？中国从欧洲进口汽车都有几十年了。看看欧洲对中国汽车加征关税的速度有多快。
反正他们好像更喜欢印度。白人对印度人有偏爱，绝大多数加拿大白人特别喜欢印度人。欧洲人也差不多。对白人来说，中国就是他们眼里的怪物。去读读“黄祸论”就知道了。

xiaoming Guo Ph.D of McGill University. MBA of Queen's University.
Yes. China is a huge market, and it does not impose tariffs just because of anger. Business needs planning. planning needs stability. The US changes tariffs now, and then, no business can calculate its financial plan. Managers will hesitate to enter a market they don’t know if it’s a profit or a loss. 
China is more stable than Europe. If European businesses have difficulty doing business with China, it is probably because of the changes in European regulations. Such as the Huawei equipment. They installed Huawei equipments and then the EU requested them to remove it. Another example is the Nexperia chips. Carmakers used to use Nexperia chips, and all of a suddent Netherland siezed the company and interrupted the supply chain. 

【回答】麦吉尔大学博士，女王大学工商管理硕士
是的。中国是个巨大的市场，不会因为一时气愤就加征关税。商业需要规划，规划需要稳定。美国现在变来变去加关税，企业根本没法做财务预算。管理者会犹豫要不要进入一个不确定盈亏的市场。
中国比欧洲稳定得多。如果欧洲企业觉得和中国做生意难，那问题可能出在欧洲自己的政策变化上。比如华为设备，装好了又被欧盟要求拆除。再比如安世半导体，车企本来用着它们的芯片，荷兰突然没收公司，供应链就断了。

China injects stability into the world economy. Moving business into China is now the most fashionable business for German manufacturing. China has cheaper and more stable energy, and sourcing is easy as many suppliers are close by. With the fantastic infrastructure, you can find a supplier in just a few days. It is said that Tom Cook once wanted to change the screen of Apple; he landed the project in Shenzhen. By doing so, he can implement the change in a few months, which can take years in the US. 
China has a fluid labor market. You can hire thousands of engineers in a few weeks for your project. In the US, you may have difficulty finding the number of engineers you need. 

中国给世界经济注入了稳定性。现在把业务迁到中国是德国制造业最时髦的做法。中国能源更便宜稳定，采购也方便，很多供应商就在附近。基础设施一流，几天就能找到供应商。据说库克曾想改换苹果的屏幕，他把项目放在深圳，几个月就能完成改动，这在美国可能要花好几年。
中国劳动力市场灵活，几周内就能为项目招到几千名工程师。在美国，你可能连需要的工程师数量都凑不齐。

China has many mature clusters. The clusters of specialised trade, such as optics, medicine, mechanics, electronics, etc. Put your business in the corresponding cluster, and you can solve your problem during lunchtime by talking to potential suppliers upstairs or across the street. You don’t need to book apintment, book flights and hotels. If your business is in Shenzhen, and you want to meet businees man in Shanghai, you go to the train station after supper, buy a ticket, board the high-speed train, and sleep on the train overnight, and the next morning you can have breakfast with the businessman you want to talk to. Inter-city transport is just as easy as transit in a metropolitan area. Unlike the US, you have to have a calendar to line up all the ap[ointment and have your secretary book hotels and tickets for you. 

中国有很多成熟的产业集群，比如光学、医药、机械、电子等专业领域。把业务放在对应集群里，吃午饭时找楼上或对面的潜在供应商聊几句就能解决问题，不用预约、订机票酒店。如果你在深圳做生意，想见上海的客户，晚饭后去火车站买张高铁票，睡一晚上，第二天早上就能和对方共进早餐。城际交通像在大都市区通勤一样方便。不像在美国，得用日程表排满行程，让秘书订酒店机票。

In China, if you want to do something, you can do it in no time. It saves the business a huge amount of overhead. Your new idea will be proven fast and hit the market before anyone else knows it. That’s the competitive edge. That’s why Apple and Tesla have their plants in China. If the US companies prefer doing business with China, what prevents European businesses? 
Doing business with China, you have control. Doing business with the US, you have no control. The US has an America First principle. It has the judicial power to guarantee that the US must win and you must lose. There is no free market competition in the US. There is no rule of law in the US. Alston was an example.

在中国，想做什么马上就能做，这为企业省下大量管理成本。新想法能快速验证，趁别人还没反应过来就抢先上市。这就是竞争优势，也是苹果和特斯拉把工厂设在中国的原因。如果美国企业都愿意和中国做生意，欧洲企业有什么理由拒绝？
和中国做生意，你能掌握主动权；和美国做生意，你掌控不了。美国奉行“美国优先”，能用司法手段确保自己赢、让你输。美国没有自由市场竞争，也没有法治精神，阿尔斯通就是例子。

Bob Thornton
A2A 
Compared to China it is easier for Europeans to do business in the US. Having said that this goes for Europeans who are internationally professional. Germans, Austrians, Scandinavians, Benelux in general will be fine. As for some nationalities such as French who in general do not even reply e-mails, only the professional ones will do well. 
As for doing business in the US it is way more straight forward and familiar. 
In China reading in between lines, building trust over time etc. play bigger roles. No one checks your websites, not even back when websites were sort of popular. Chinese use Wechat and its apps, they like talking on the phone. 
Biggest mistake any Westerner can do is to arrive in China with a dead set BP and expect to put that into motion. Reading the room, knowing your counterparts are important. 
These days marketing in China is mainly digital and trends evolve / disappear in 6 month intervals. You need definitely a local support who has their ear on the ground. Once you grasped the new trend, it might be over already and you do not have time to figure out what’s next. It is a bit like quicksand.

【回答】
谢邀。
跟中国比起来，欧洲人在美国做生意更容易。不过，这说的是那些有国际专业素养的欧洲人。德国人、奥地利人、北欧人、比荷卢地区的人一般都没问题。至于某些国家的人，比如法国人，他们通常连邮件都不回，只有专业的才能做好。  
在美国做生意，方式更直接，也更熟悉。  
在中国，读懂言外之意、慢慢建立信任这些更重要。没人会去查你的网站，就连以前网站还算流行的时候也没人看。中国人用微信和各种小程序，喜欢打电话。  
西方人最容易犯的错误，就是带着一套死板的商业计划来中国，还指望能直接推行。察言观色、了解你的合作伙伴很重要。  
现在在中国做营销，主要靠线上，潮流每六个月就变一轮，甚至直接消失。你绝对需要一个本地帮手，能随时掌握动向。有时候你刚摸清一个新趋势，它可能就已经过时了，而你根本没时间去想下一步该做什么。这有点像踩在流沙上。

Jesuan Wu Lives in Beijing, China (2023–present)
Yes. 
Most countries help domestic companies more than foreign ones. 
China is an odd ball that gives foreign companies priviledges over domestic ones. 
Every Chinese province and municipality has a commerce office which is entrusted with the job of "attracting businesses and investments" and are given different levels of leeways over the regulation to bring in foreign investors. 
For example Tesla was going bankrupt until Shanghai City’s commerce office courted it, gave it free land and tax exemption for the gigafactory, and helped it built up the factory and running in less than a year. They turned Tesla around and made it into a successful global company. No Chinese companies receive such support. They’d have to pay to set up their own factories. 
This is why China has become the world’s factory.

【回答】现居中国北京（2023年 - 至今）
是的。  
大多数国家都更照顾本国企业，而不是外国企业。  
中国却是个例外，给外国公司的待遇比本国公司还好。  
中国的每个省、市都设有商务部门，专门负责“招商引资”，并且为了吸引外国投资者，它们被赋予了不同程度的政策灵活性。  
比如特斯拉，本来都快破产了，直到上海市商务部门主动找上门，给了它免费的土地和税收减免来建超级工厂，还帮它在不到一年内建好工厂并投产。他们让特斯拉起死回生，把它变成了一家成功的全球企业。没有哪家中国公司能得到这样的支持，它们建厂都得自己掏钱。  
这就是为什么中国成了世界工厂。

Fred Chuatiuco Former Healthcare CFO
Looking to the future, China will be the more existential to Europe than the U.S. 
Take the comparative prospective: today, the U.S. is existential to Europe’s survival because it relies on US nuclear umbrella and military for its security, U.S. technologies that permeate its industrial infrastructure and LNG for its energy. 
On the other hand, China is existential because China’s market accounts for major European companies’profitability and its industries and economy are tethered to China’s supply chain and raw material goods. 
Going forward, dependencies on the U.S. become questionable. 

【回答】前医疗保健首席财务官
展望未来，中国对欧洲的重要性将超越美国。  
从比较视角看：如今，美国对欧洲的生存至关重要，因为欧洲的安全依赖美国的核保护伞和军事力量，其工业基础设施渗透着美国技术，能源也依赖美国的液化天然气。  
另一方面，中国的重要性在于，中国市场是欧洲主要企业盈利的关键，欧洲的产业和经济与中国供应链及原材料供应紧密相连。  
未来，对美国的依赖将受到质疑。  

trump has shown the U.S. to be an “unreliable” partner with the U.S. turning to use even its military to coerce all close allies. U.S. security is no longer guaranteed and trusted. 
Reliance on LNG is expensive and unsustainable on the long term and alternative sources become existential. As for technology reliance, this will necessarily trend to Chinese technologies when industrial trade becomes more dominantly Chinese. 
On the other hand, all of Europe’s dependencies on China will be more entrenched. 
Take auto, all European legacy automakers are doubling down and investing in China, not the U.S., as it is existential to adapt to Chinese technologies and market access to build and sell EVs not just in China but worldwide. 

特朗普已表明美国是一个“不可靠”的伙伴，甚至动用军事力量胁迫亲密盟友。美国的安全保障不再可信。  
长期依赖液化天然气既昂贵又不可持续，替代能源成为生存关键。至于技术依赖，随着工业贸易日益由中国主导，欧洲将必然转向中国技术。  
相反，欧洲对中国的所有依赖将更加根深蒂固。  
以汽车行业为例，所有欧洲传统车企都在加倍投资中国而非美国，因为适应中国技术和市场准入对在欧洲乃至全球制造和销售电动汽车至关重要。  

Take energy, Europe’s ambitious climate goals must entirely be built on Chinese foundations - on green energies that China dominates. Europe’s energy supply that is largely dependent on U.S. LNG is not sustainable if it expects its industries to be viable. China is the first global electrostate with the cheapest domestic energy ecosystem and has the most advanced “super-grid” technology to export electricity directly to Europe. So while today this is technologically possible but geopolitically impossible. The eventual infrastructure for Europe to access affordable energy may be the spillover effect. China exporting energy to all of Europe’s neighbors that enable intermediate export of energy eventually to Europe possible and at scale 
Take digital and communication infrastructure, while some countries have banned Huawei’s 5G, others have maintained deeper ties. The significant portion of Europe’s fiber-optic and telecommunications hardware remains Chinese-sourced. 

在能源方面，欧洲宏大的气候目标必须完全建立在由中国主导的绿色能源基础上。如果欧洲希望其产业保持竞争力，过度依赖美国液化天然气的能源供应是不可持续的。中国是全球首个“电力大国”，拥有最廉价的国内能源生态和最先进的“超级电网”技术，可直接向欧洲输电。尽管目前这在技术上可行但地缘政治上难以实现，未来欧洲获取廉价能源的基础设施可能是中国向欧洲周边国家出口能源的溢出效应，最终实现大规模对欧能源中转。  
在数字和通信基础设施方面，尽管部分国家禁用华为5G，但其他国家仍保持深度合作。欧洲大部分光纤和通信硬件仍源自中国。  

Take ports, more than a dozen major European ports are now Chinese owned and/or operated and this gives China significant leverage over European trade logistics.China has been installing the plumbing and building the infrastructure to do business with Europe while the U.S. has been increasingly protectionist and tearing down business ties to hinder business with Europe.

在港口方面，欧洲十多个主要港口已由中国拥有或运营，这使中国在欧洲贸易物流中拥有重要影响力。中国一直在铺设管道、建设基础设施以深化与欧洲的商业往来，而美国却日益走向保护主义，甚至破坏商业联系以阻碍欧欧合作。