Page 56 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE Vol 3

DIPLOMATIC AFFAIRS |Emerging China‘China is a consumer-driven market, and consumers discuss, criticize and rate products online. The products that are of high quality and gain trust will sell’products. Investors involved in projects with environmental consequences, such as coal, might want to be more cautious, as the Chinese government is now trying to reduce pollution.The Thai embassy held a Thai rice festival on September 21 to promote premium quality and organic Thai rice and other foods to young Chinese consumers. Thai exporters or sellers of organic projects can start by promoting products with Chinese tourists or having their organic products certified by acceptable54 Elite+auditors and then marketing the products on social media sites and elsewhere online. Thai investors need to understand Chinese consumers, however.“China might be socialist but it has a highly competitive, open economy,” HE Wiboon said. “Online shopping and social media sites such as Weibo are useful tools for marketing and selling products. China is a consumer-driven market, and consumers discuss, criticize and rate products online. The products that are of high quality and gain trust will sell.Modern ChinaChina is not a market for companies trying to sell low-quality products to make money quickly.”Another aspect that Thai investors should be wary of is emphasizing “blood relations”. Many Thai investors are descendants of Chinese migrants from mainland China.“Some senior Thai investors come to the mainland and try to trace back blood relations, family names and kinship with Chinese. But the new generation no longer pay attention to this issue. They just want to know what