As it prepares to lower import barriers in order to join the World Trade Organization, Beijing is urging hundreds of thousands of state enterprises to use the Web so they can learn to cope. While many B2B entrants are privately owned, some are relying on the MII's support to gain an edge. It helps companies cut their costs by allowing them to choose the lowest bids from a number of competing suppliers. The ministry promises to open the doors to state-owned enterprises for ECantata. In May, the MII co-hosted a lavish party for the company at Beijing's Diaoyutai Guest House, the site of many government soirees.
Trouble is, even great guanxi is no guarantee of success.
Consider ChinaWeb, a Beijing company whose portal provides online financial information. It's hard to find a Chinese entrepreneur with better connections than Chairman Wang Boming. Another is Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper, controlled by billionaire Robert Kuok, one of Beijing's favorite foreign tycoons. The players in the Chinese market are strangled by the bureaucracy,'' he complains. But that growth would likely be much faster if the government didn't keep some key sectors fenced off from the private sector.