And he's not alone in foreseeing a great eastward gold rush now that China is about to join the World Trade Organization and the U.S. Congress has voted to normalize trade relations. Absolutely, says Calvin, who teaches entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. The market is vast and expanding, so there's room for a lot of people. The agency recently opened an office in Shanghai, headed by a Chinese-American who knows both cultures. It will help California companies develop market strategies for China trade, reduce red tape, and find joint-venture partners.
Big businesses have the money to get there themselves.
Companies interested in cracking China's market need to start nosing around and building a network now. For many business owners, the fact that China has been a closed society, that many of its businesses are partly state-run, and that its shift to capitalist ways won't be immediate or seamless makes the country a bigger question mark than other markets. He suggests business owners attend trade fairs, such as the one he helped organize earlier this month in New Brunswick, N.J., with businesspeople from the province of Zhejiang. They know the market for their products is there. You need a local partner.