China tours big lure for local merchants
O.C. business people travel for fun and potential profit on low-cost chamber trips.
By JAN NORMAN
The Orange County Register

In a recent trip to China, Ralph Rodheim, owner of Rodheim Marketing Group in Costa Mesa, had more on his itinerary than the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square. "It was a business fact-finding trip," Rodheim said. "I found the most exciting economy on the planet, people wanting to do deals and joint venture partnerships." More than 700 joined Rodheim on the November trip sponsored by chambers of commerce in Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Orange and other cities.

Meeting On Dairy Project With Fuxin City

"It was the largest business group in history to visit China," said trip planner Leo Liu of Newport Beach, who has organized vacation tours of China for as many as 1,300.

The November trip was so successful that Liu, whose company is Citslinc, which promotes economic development through international trade, expects 950 people to sign up for a business trip to China, Hong Kong and Taipei in March. Liu and Citslinc do not get any money for arranging the U.S. business tours to the Far East. The company makes its money on Chinese tours to the United States.

Admittedly, many of the delegation were more interested in sightseeing than business development and jumped at the $1,099 price, which covered everything but the tour guide's tip. The March trip will cost $1,299.

Still, local businessmen like Rodheim are increasingly attracted to the world's most populous nation, with the fastest-growing economy, expanding at a 7.8 percent clip in 2001. Orange County exports to China increased 142 percent from 1993 through 1999. Liu noted that China is combing the world for such products as agricultural machinery and medical and dental equipment.

Orange Chamber of Commerce executive Barbara DeBoom admitted her surprise at the popularity of the November trip. "I thought maybe 10 people would be interested. Our chamber alone had 97 go."

The Newport Harbor Chamber signed up 137 for the November trip that visited economic development zones in Hangzhou and Shanghai, and expects even more to go on the March trip, which includes the Guangzhou Trade Fair and meetings with Hong Kong bankers. "We got involved because it was such a great deal for our members," said Newport chamber president Richard Luehrs. Rodheim, who signed up through the Newport Harbor Chamber, didn't expect to sign marketing deals while in China. He was seeking opportunities for a client who wants to buy a Chinese marble quarry, another who wants to sell language-neutral software for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and a third who manufactures prosthetic devices.

Trade Seminar With Taizhou Municipal Government

Contacts he made in China already have led to several meetings here.

Newport Beach accountant Dorothy Larson was also on the November trip. While pleased with the tourism side, she hoped for more free time to explore business relationships. "I do tax returns for individuals living all over the world," she said. "I thought I might have an opportunity to see where Americans are living in China. But that tour was very structured, so I had no time to do anything outside the schedule."

Before immigrating to the United States, Liu, now a U.S. citizen, worked for the Chinese government bringing tourists and officials of other governments to see what had once been a closed society. The tourism contacts he made with airlines and hotels enable him to set up bargain trips for large groups now, he said.

He has chosen to work with business groups like chambers of commerce "because most people don't do business with people they're not familiar with. Grass-roots contact between American and Chinese business people is good for education and familiarization."

John Mastrosimone of D&J Consultants in Corona agrees. He has done business in China for years and helps set up the business meetings for Liu's tours.

The United States "is interested in export promotion to get our economy going and create more jobs. If we can put together business with China, that's good for the United States," he said. "When the Chinese hear a foreign delegation is coming, they get thousands of people out of the woodwork eager to form alliances."

Mastrosimone, a 47-year veteran of the U.S. dairy products industry, is working on a $20 million expansion of a dairy in Fuxin, China, and a wastewater cleanup effort in Natong as part of the 2008 Olympics preparation.

In-person meetings are helpful, he said, because Chinese manufacturers don't always understand internat ional markets. Mastrosimone introduced the owner of a U.S. backpack company to some of the Chinese firms that make backpacks.

"I told them, 'Americans now want backpacks with handles on them,' " he said.

Southern Californians aren't the only ones interested in Liu's business tours.

"In November, people from Chicago, Texas and New Mexico went with us," Liu said. "For March, people have e-mailed me from Oregon and Washington to go, too."