what should overseas company do to survive in China？

王殿松

安徽財经大学

Introduction： In this essay， I am going to talk about how successful overseas companies have been in adapting their products and services to the preferences of the Chinese consumers. Actually in my opinion， most foreign companies are all very successful in adapting to the social and business culture. In the main body， I will illustrate my answer with two specific examples. They are two companies which got big success in China， KFC and Carrefour. I will explain what they do to adapt to consumers in China in detail. In the end， I will bring my essay to a conclusion.

First of all， I want to talk about KFC. KFCs expansion to China was unprecedented， but it is a right move for the companys eventual success. The first KFC in China was opened in1987. One of the most important secrets to KFCs success in China is due to the brands attempt to adapt in menu and attitude so suit Chinese consumers. Chinese KFC restaurants offer a large range of Chinese traditional dishes with common western menu items， such as egg tarts and preserved egg. What is more， KFCs menu involves special foods which themes to the taste of China， such as “Chicken wrap”， “Peking duck-type sauce” and many other items. KFCs Chinese strategy has been so successful that the brand has spawned numerous imposters in the Middle Kingdom. Restaurants such as Dicos and Mai De Si offer up KFC-inspired meals， from fried chicken topped rice dishes to the much-coveted “jirou hanbaobao， ” a “chicken meat hamburger， ” the Chinese equivalent of a chicken sandwich. KFC embraced China and change the menu according what the local people like. The success in China is a boom for KFC， a company which was a very small shop in America became an international company with its shops around the world. KFC who took the opportunities of Chinas opening and reform also succeeded in adapting its products to suit Chinese consumer.

Second example I want to say is an example from Carrefour in China. As we all know， Carrefour is a retail giant. There are two reasons that why Carrefour could be successful in China. Firstly， the name of Carrefour plays an important role in its success. Carrefour just means it locates at a place where transportation is very convenient. But when it translates into Chinese， it becomes “Jia Le Fu” which means “happiness and family”. The translation is not according to its pronunciation but because it sounds better and has good meaning. Chinese people believe in luck very much and like to go stores that have good relations with good meanings. Family is also very important for us and you can see in China， there is often a family going out for shopping together. So its name is liked by many people. While most of foreign companies when they go to China， they just translate their name according to their pronunciation which may not be very good sometimes. Second， it pays attention to locals. When speak of this， we have to mention that the whole strategy that Carrefour chose to manage in China. The overall plans was to implement a really decentralized scheme for the local business. And it divides the company into four parts： East China， South China， North China and Middle China. Managerial staff was constituted by locals which give them a better understanding of the local people， what they want and need to buy. So the company can provide specific goods and services according to needs from people from different regions. It is exactly these things that make Carrefour one of the best retail stores in China.

Conclusion： When companies try to enter another countrys market， they must do a lot background research to know what the customers like in that country and then adapt their services and products to it. If you want to succeed in China， you must know and do many things like KFC and Carrefour did to adapt to it. And these companies like Carrefour and KFC， they all have a deep understanding of Chinese culture and consumers behavior and they adapt their products and services according to these things. It is the key that why they got success while many others failed in China.

References：

[1]Liu，W.（2008）.KFC in China.Singapore：John Wiley&Sons （Asia）.

[2]Chinalawblog.com.（2015）.The Apple Way To Succeed In China.[online]Available at：http：//www.chinalawblog.com/2015/11/im_somewhat_kidding_though_i.html[Accessed 9 Apr.2016].

[3]William Mellor，“McDonalds No Match for KFC in China as the Colonel Rules Fast Food” Bloomberg Markets Magazine（2011）.