Watch China.
Because of this, when a reporter asked him why he was optimistic about China, Odeman said, "We must be optimistic. Why? Because I have seen the changes they have created in the past 20 years. There are more than one billion people there who want to live a better life, and the only way to live a better life is to build a strong and stable economy. "
Hong Kong people don't know China, because life in Hong Kong is too easy now. But in China, there are still many hungry people who are willing to work hard. They know that as long as they work hard, their lives will improve.
Odeman recalled that his first business trip to Guangdong was at 1969. He set off from Hong Kong in the morning, took the train to the Guangdong-Hong Kong border, crossed a wooden bridge, had lunch near the railway station, went through customs formalities, and really arrived in Guangzhou at four o'clock in the afternoon. To really get things done, they had to stay for a month, because there was no so-called multiple-entry visa to Guangdong at that time.
China was a planned economy at that time. He has only one customer, and it is a big customer, and that is the China Municipal Government. It always takes a lot of time to go to Guangdong, waiting to talk to the head of the department.
Slowly, China has changed, and officials are learning from their talks about trade. Later, Noble began to open an office in China. Today, it has 40 or 50 employees in China, and their customers have expanded to factories or manufacturers that use raw materials. And Odeman himself, also more and more familiar with China.
With more than 30 years of experience in dealing with China people, Odeman said, "It has its own characteristics. This is China, not the United States or Germany. People here have their own personalities, as you must know. For example, the person you are negotiating with may feel that he looks weak or unwilling to make up his mind. In fact, this is not the case at all because he has no decision-making power. In western companies, the person in charge generally has more power, but in China, it is usually decided by the committee here. Therefore, that person must first get as much information as possible from you, and then discuss it with his group before making a decision. "
Odeman told reporters: "We must know China, otherwise how can we operate? But don't get me wrong, think I know China. I don't know China, but I know that I don't know China. This' not understanding' is also an important understanding. "
He further clarified: "Taking China's data as an example, I assume that they are incorrect and unreliable as figures. I have always assumed that they are unreliable as numbers, so what should I think? I think they are a trend. China said that it doesn't matter whether the economic growth is 6%, 7% or 8%. What's important is that they say it will be 8% this time and 9% next year, which means the economy is on the rise. All you have to do is know how to interpret what you hear. "