From befriending Chinese international students at the University of Melbourne to joining a Mandarin learning club and attending the Canton Fair, China's oldest and largest trade event, in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong Province, 19-year-old Mohammad Awwady has developed a growing interest in China and its business environment.
A finance and marketing student, Awwady said his first trip to the country offered a firsthand look at its manufacturing capabilities, business opportunities and technological progress, one that challenged the perceptions he had formed through Western media.
Awwady now sees China as a significant hub for commerce and entrepreneurship. He was particularly impressed by the work ethic, friendliness and open-mindedness of the people he met. Reflecting on his first visit, he highlighted the dynamic business environment and work ethic he witnessed.
"It was my first ever time going to China. I ended up seeing many events that were related to business. I saw the work ethic, I saw the different cultures that inspired the sort of growth that China is [achieving] today. It is where the majority of the world's best trading is occurring. It is where the best manufacturing is occurring, and it is where a lot of the business relationships (are formed) that provide the most progress and advancements in terms of technology, in terms of infrastructure. That is where China is, and so I see China as a very big opportunity, now and in the future in terms of where commerce can go," he said.
He further explained how the reality on the ground differed significantly from the Western media narratives he had previously encountered.
"So before traveling to China, I did have somewhat of an understanding that the society in China was ahead in terms of business, in terms of technology, regulations. However, I was somewhat misled by some of the sources of media that are in the West. However, upon going there, I actually ended up viewing things in a much more different manner, and I was able to see that there were a lot of different occurrences and affairs that really weren't as they were [made] out to be in the Western media. Chinese people were very welcoming, they were very friendly. And they were very open-minded to hearing about the ideas that I could have to share. It's something that sparks a lot of innovation. It sparks a lot of progress. It sparks the sort of competitiveness that you see in terms of how far ahead China is," he said.
Comparing China to the many other countries he has visited, Awwady expressed his amazement at the country's advanced operations and his willingness to return.
"I'm definitely amazed and shocked by the way that China operates, the way that the business is available there it's in a way that I've never seen throughout all the countries that I've visited. And for a person my age, I've visited quite a lot of countries, but none of them were as advanced as what China was. And I'm definitely open to going back and visiting China once again," he said.
Drawing on his own journey, he recommends that young entrepreneurs discover China for themselves rather than rely on second-hand impressions.
"The advice that I would give young entrepreneurs, especially when it comes to China, is to go see it for yourself before making any assumptions. Because there are a lot of misconceptions, a lot of that is a result of the media that is present and prevalent. When you go see the work ethic, when you go see how friendly, open-minded, how proactive they are and advanced in terms of the designing of things, in terms of the systems that are embedded in all of their operations, you really see a different perspective if you just see it for yourself," he said.
Australian student on China's business opportunities, firsthand impressions
Australian student on China's business opportunities, firsthand impressions
German tech firm Siemens hopes to use the ongoing China International Import Expo (CIIE) as an opportunity to deepen partnerships and further accelerate the integration of industrial artificial intelligence systems, while broadening the scope of its successful business model in China, according to a company executive.
The ninth CIIE, which opened in Shanghai on Thursday, has drawn over 4,100 overseas exhibitors, including more than 300 Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders, making it the biggest edition of the annual expo to date.
The event, first held in 2018, is seen as key platform for international firms to tap into the China market, as outlined by Achim Peltz, Senior Executive Vice President of Siemens China, who says it is about much more than just a showcase for products and services.
"CIIE is more than an expo. This is actually the place where technology meets also partnerships. This is very important. It's now the ninth consecutive year where we are here on the exhibition and, looking back, we have hosted 500 delegations, we signed a lot of partnership agreements here. And it's not only about meeting the customer once here on the exhibition, it's about [having] deep and really meaningful discussions to talk about how to leverage technology in order to mitigate the challenges of the market," he said.
The logic also extends to how Siemens organizes its China operations, according to Peltx, who said that rather than treating the country primarily as a sales destination, it seeks to utilize China's supply chain advantages from a much broader business perspective.
"We are focusing more on making China as a business. China as a business means that we are leveraging the entire value chain in China to serve the China market better. That means we are defining products, we are developing products, we are manufacturing products and bring these products to the China market," he said.
Siemens has some 20,000 staff members in China working under this model, according to Peltz, who said the company recently launched 40 new products which sought to balance performance, cost and speed for the Chinese market. Given their success, the firm has now decided to take these products to other parts of the world with similar needs.
Siemens is also placing a bigger bet on scaling up industrial AI, which Peltz says is now ready to add real value by moving beyond the conceptual stage to become fully embedded in production systems.
"AI does not scale in laboratories or on the screen -- it's scaling on the shop floor. And this is somehow a challenge, right? It's not about that technology is not available because AI technology is available, it's about integrating this in the entire operational technology (OT) structure. And therefore you have to prepare, that means you have to gather the data, you have to contextualize the data, bring this together with the technology and with this you are creating something which not only recommends but also acts directly," he said.
One concrete example is Siemens' Eigen Engineering Agent, an AI system for industrial automation engineering, which is on display at the company's CIIE booth. Peltz noted the Eigen software is now advanced enough to assemble a complete project rather than merely offering recommendations, which can make total engineering efforts up to 50 percent more efficient.
While aiming to further deepen its presence in China via the import expo, Peltz said Siemens -- which was founded nearly 180 years ago -- also hopes to share its experience to Chinese customers who are looking to expand overseas themselves.
"Now Chinese customers are going global and we have committed also to help those customers going global. Because what we see it's very often not about the product itself, it's not about the technology, it's about the way to do business in other countries, to comply also with regulation and standards in other countries. And Siemens is active and also present in more than 200 countries all over the world. And with our global expertise, we would also support Chinese customers in China not only with our portfolio but also to help them to go global," he said.
Siemens aims to accelerate integration of industrial AI, deepen partnerships at CIIE: executive
