Although the culture of cheap shopping is still existent in the night markets and the factory outlet shops, Shanghai has gone up-market with prices comparable to most metropolitan cities around the world. Haggling is not always an option as prices are more often than not fixed. So what does this mean to the Chinese economy and the localization business?

In principle it bodes well, as all of this activity illustrates the fact that China is a maturing market attractive to those entering it for manufacturing, distribution, and assembly - and as a result, using their new facilities to springboard into markets in other parts of the world. For the GILT industries this is a golden opportunity, which was discussed at the LISA Executive Roundtable on the 5th of December in Shanghai.

Forty representatives of LISA member companies got together to discuss the market and its direction in 2003 and beyond. The results of this discussion were multiple. As with most things there is good news and bad news. There was a concurrence that the market offers tremendous opportunities for all segments of the business, but that often the resources were lacking to take advantage of them.

The good news was that a major trade bank like Standard Charter, as reported during a roundtable presentation by John Hammond, has made a major investment in the region and is in the process of launching one of the most extensive localization projects ever. They have created a multilingual trade portal to facilitate B2B transactions and the delivery of shipping and financial documents (letters of credit) between business partners at www.scb2bex.com. They are the first trade bank to see the business opportunity for the provision of such services and we were told that other trade, insurance and financial groups will soon follow their lead. (LISA reported on Standard Charter's efforts last August.)

On the downside, this industry is sorely lacking in trained linguistic and technical resources to meet market requirements. Chinese/German, English/Chinese, Chinese/French and other language pair experts need to be trained in vertical markets like automotive and telecommunications. Internationalization experts are needed along with the project management and quality assurance skills as confirmed by the high levels of attendance at the LISA workshops focusing on these areas that were held in conjunction with the Shanghai Executive Roundtable. (A summary is available to LISA members here.)

LISA was provided with crucial feedback from both vendors and clients as to the role and support it could provide members in meeting these requirements. As a result, initiatives are now in place by members and LISA to reach out to the Universities able to provide training along with additional workshops providers. These programs are in preparation for the 2003 Shanghai LISA Globalization Summit and designed to meet specific requirements for internationalization and localization testing and quality assurance in Asia. In addition, a new LISA SIG is being launched to develop guidelines for globalized products. This will be announced prior to the LISA San Franciso event scheduled for the 3-6th of March.

What else is LISA doing to support companies already in China and those seeking to enter with GILT skills and requirements? LISA and SMP in conjunction with E-C Consulting and CCID (the China Center for Information and Industry Development) are in the process of completing the LISA Asian Globalization Resources Survey's first report focusing on China. To date, over 200 companies have responded to the survey's telephone interviews with IT and vertical market companies (80% in China and 20% western based).

Companies from the Global 2000 to start-ups and companies setting up operations in China are beginning to identify globalization and localization projects as priorities and important parts of their global business strategies and budgets and increasing numbers of Chinese companies are exploring their international marketing opportunities. The Survey report will prove to be of value to executives and localization vendors that are supplying solutions and technology to this market; international vice presidents of sales, marketing, and business development who can use it to benchmark their globalization/localization initiatives against China's information technology and manufacturing industry; and managers who want to understand how the process of globalization and localization can be used to gain a competitive advantage. Localization of web and eCommerce applications in China is still in its infancy, but is rapidly growing, providing strong entry level opportunities both for localization service providers and application developers in the Chinese market.

Companies sponsoring the report will have access to the raw data, including contact names and the requirements of those companies responding to the survey as a lead list for future business development.

Companies purchasing the report will be able to avail themselves to a comprehensive picture of globalization in China today and the opportunity for localization services and expertise in these market segments. A special pre-publication price is available until the date of publication (February 2003) at http://www.lisa.org/interact/2003/asiansurvey.html. Limited sponsorship opportunities exist until publication and interested companies may contact Alison Rowles for further information.