Chinese tourists offer Australian businesses huge revenue generation opportunities. Right now, there’s lucrative potential for the Australian Finance/Banking and Healthcare sectors in particular. In untapping this enormous potential, developing Chinese cultural awareness is critical to success.

Finance and banking

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, China now has more than 2 million millionaire households. This number is second only to the US, and is an 82% increase on figures for the previous year. The opportunity that exists for Australian companies lies in the fact that many of these millionaire households are being targeted for Australia’s Significant Investor Visa Scheme . This scheme requires applicants to invest their A$5 million dollars in Australian ventures – opportunities abound for people with the right knowledge and the appropriate Chinese cultural awareness.

Healthcare

In healthcare too, there are excellent prospects for business relationships with China. David Thomas, a leading expert on trade between Australia and China estimates that in excess of 10,000 Asian people come to Australia to take advantage of our quality healthcare services (each year?) This import is currently worth more than A$26 million. Deloitte research shows that 8% of Chinese people claim they are travelling overseas for medical reasons and a significant number expressing that they have little confidence in the healthcare services they receive in China. And while Deloitte says that Australia is unlikely to ever compete on prices with medical tourism offered in Asia, there is nothing to stop it targeting the high-end niche healthcare market.

Success stories

With such good opportunities on the horizon, it’s a perfect time to find out exactly what Australian organisations need to do to secure successful business relationships with the Chinese.

Those businesses which have succeeded in attracting overseas consumers have one thing in common: They have taken the time to understand and adapt to these new markets.

Mark Hitchcock, a Sydney based architect and Managing Partner of BHI outsources work from China back to his NSW based firm. Mark credits the success of his business relationship with China to the fact that he spent considerable time and money learning how to build relationships with Chinese stakeholders.

Similarly Patent Attorneys FB Rice, recently recognized business potential in the changing Chinese attitudes to intellectual property, and now does regular work with the Chinese across a number of industries.

Both companies saw the potential of new markets offered by China’s changing economy. What both companies also have in common is the realisation that they needed to invest in developing a deep understanding of China’s people and it’s cultures and its ways of doing business, in order to be successful.

It’s not always just the language that’s a barrier. Cultural sensitivities, ways of addressing seniors and peers, and having a greater appreciation for societal differences and how to bridge them can be ‘make or break’ triggers in business relationships with other countries, not just China.

Based on these two case studies, it stands to reason that those businesses within the Finance/Banking and Healthcare sectors which are prepared to take the time ande develop Chinese cultural awareness will ultimately have a great deal to gain.

On a final note, it is worth considering how vital it is for Australian companies to embrace these new opportunities presented by China’s changing economic conditions. In July this year The Australian Conference of Economists examined how Australia will transform from a reliance on exporting resources to China. China is a vital trading partner for Australia but as we mentioned last year in our blog “Asia and Australia need a relationship that goes beyond resources,” we cannot continue to rely on our traditional model of exporting commodities. Given the importance of China as a trading partner for Australia, and given that China’s growth model is changing to a consumption led economy, Australia’s long-term prosperity may well depend on its ability to adapt to China’s changing needs.