More southwest Ohio businesses are adding operations in China as China's position as a global economic powerhouse solidifies, a local newspaper reported.
Large Cincinnati corporations like Procter & Gamble Co and GE Aircraft Engines have been doing business in China since the 1980s. But an increasingly global economy is pushing smaller companies to enter China, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported on Sunday.
"You can't not be in China," said Bob Taylor, managing partner of accounting firm Grant Thornton's Cincinnati office, who recently spent two weeks in China for clients who handle logistics and distribution there.
After attending a meeting in Washington lobbying for higher tariffs, businessman Pierre Paroz went to China to learn more. The chief executive of American Micro Products Inc was struck by China's unparalleled growth.
"How are you going to beat growth like that?" he told the paper. "I thought: Let's find an opportunity there."
Now, five years later, Paroz's company runs a 60-employee factory in Xiamen.
China now accounts for 20 percent of American Micro's US$30 million in annual sales. And despite the expansion, the company has expanded sales and employment in Clermont County.
But not every business is well-suited for China.
Rick Turner opened China Solutions Co in China in 2002. He says doing business in China has some pitfalls. The cost of labor in China, which is about US$2 an hour versus as much as 10 times that in the US, is a big advantage, but it can be offset by transportation costs, import duties, tariffs and time spent shipping products to the US, he said.
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