In China, everything is possible, but nothing is easy… When matter to investors, it is even more obvious. If you are reading this article, you know where you are going.
Chinese investors are bigger, crazier, wealthier BUT it is harder to catch their point of interest.
- Remember that Chinese investment in Tech is today number one, before the Sillicon Valley.
- Think also that china has 4,4 million millionaires; and 344 billionaires
Still, let’s take a closer look at China’s facts and figures to raise your spirits
Reasons to look for investors in China:
- As of October 2019, China accounts for 99,9 million people who belong to the world’s richest 10% people;
- China has 4,4 million millionaires;
- There are 344 billionaires in China with their possessions officially totaling to more than 1 trillion USD,;
- The number of millionaires in China is ever increasing, it has grown 117 times within the period of 2010-2019;
- With the GDP of 13608 billion USD in 2019, China’s economy shows 6% annual growth.
Why are Chinese investors willing to invest into foreign businesses?
- Hedging – they have to take money out of China to avoid financial risks;
- They enter various markets in this way;
- They get a chance to earn more.
Looks like striking a deal with a Chinese investor is a win-win situation, isn’t it?
Are they willing to invest in You?
Yes invest in yourself, personal Branding of the founder is really important.
Generally speaking, no. Being a foreign company is a big plus for the Chinese investors. However, it is not the defining point. And sometimes it is not that much about competition, even. There are other factors that would make you attractive for them. Let’s check them out.
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Your reputation.
Whatever comes next, if you don’t have a good reputation in the Chinese market, this will be a complete fail.
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Your self-introduction
You have to be clear about what you need in terms of the scope of the investment itself and your business plan – results. Make sure you have a simple short nice intro of yourself and your project/plans.
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Your presence in the Chinese market
Foreign businesses are normally invisible, unreachable and unknown for the Chinese investors. You have to rectify this mistake through lending yourself a Chinese website and social media accounts.
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Your readiness to be part of a joint venture
China financial market regulations impose a lot of restrictions on foreign investment. This doesn’t concern businesses that can contribute to the country’s further economic growth.
Having all that will definitely give you due consideration on behalf of the Chinese investors.
Let’s see how to make it all work.
How to establish one’s presence in China?
You think it is difficult right? Complex ….
Follow our guideline
In the Chinese investment market it is important to remember one principle: an investor has to find you by himself. You should not search for all the 344 billionaires and contact them in person. Neither should you impose yourself and try hard to impress them. You have to act smart and make it seem as if it is their voluntary decision to consider you and then choose you.
How?
Simple. Chinese investors ARE willing to invest. They will search for investment options online. The aim is to have some data available for them. This is kind of preliminary preparation, before you start being contacted.
Your website won’t be of use here. You have to migrate it to China or make the new one.
Why?
- Foreign websites are sometimes blocked or they just don’t show up in search results – make the one with Chinese hosting;
- Websites in English are useless for those who don’t speak English which is the majority here – make the one in Mandarin;
- Websites with no chance to communicate directly and immediately won’t get any preference too – get the one with a Click-to-Chat option;
- Websites with a lack of details are not attractive – make it relevant and informative;
- Websites with censored details are banned – be wise on delivering your content.
Another part of your preparation could be a WeChat account.
Why?
- WeChat is used by some 900 million people..your 344 billionaires are there too;
- WeChat gives amazing opportunities to inform and engage;
- WeChat gives a chance to share your information in an attractive, simple though detailed way (ask us for an e-brochure and it’s done);
- WeChat is the best platform for direct communication.
How to let investors find you?
You might ask if they go to Google to search for your website.. Of course, not. But they go on Baidu – it is similar to Google, but it is an active search tool for the Chinese users solely. So once they search for a project to invest in they have to find you there.
Visibility is not merely about having a Chinese website that Can be found theoretically. A Chinese investor is quite preoccupied to browse through hundreds of search results – he will opt for the first few.
Luckily, owing to search engine optimization you can get on top rank in Baidu and let the investor stumble upon your website just by mere chance.
How to get on top in Baidu?
- Make use of keywords – the more, the better;
- Get a Baike page (Chinese Wikipedia) and tell a beautiful story about your project there;
- Penetrate Baidu Zhidao and Zhihu – Chinese Quora – so that investors know exactly who you are and what you want to do;
- Get into Tieba for more backlinks.
A top rank on Baidu will give you a chance to enjoy a bit more trust from Chinese investors – a reason to be happy with this significant achievement.
You might ask me if Baidu offers ads just like Google does, because SEO seems to be a time-consuming task.
There is a chance to pay to Baidu and run a short-term campaign to generate leads with PPC, or pay-per-click. However, I must say none of our 344 billionaires would consider the projects hidden behind such ads. They need something more trustworthy, reputed, and enduring.
What happens after they find your Website or WeChat account? They can only see what you say about yourself. At this point they need a third party to confirm that you are what you say you are.
This is where your reputation really matters.
And the point is that there should be as many people talking about you as possible. Only positive comments, only the best thoughts about your highly promising and progressive project, only the promising prospects of an investment.
How to land yourself a really good reputation?
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Focus more on Forums
We have mentioned forums before saying that backlinks are derived from forums and contribute to a higher rank on Baidu. This is how forums influence the AI that makes an analysis of you and positions you among your competitors, fishing for a Chinese investor.
Forums are also a source of information for those who search – for the investors.
Being mentioned in discussions concerning any of the related fields is a big advantage. A deluge of positive comments there will have a strong impact on investors and make you seem worth it.
Chinese forums include Zhihu, Tianya.cn, Baidu Tieba, Douban. Zhihu deserves a special notice here. It is used by more than 160 million Chinese and acts as the biggest knowledge-sharing and Q&A platform.
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Delve deep into PR
PR offers a good opportunity for story telling – a way to impress your target millionaire and really consider investing. Investors are experts themselves. They are smart and able to make wise decisions, so if they look for recommendations they would trust professionals only.
Professional advice is something they can dig out from articles and insights developed by experts in serious informative sources.
PR is a complicated sphere of influence, however, it might bring an outstanding result.
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Get the best of Social Media
While Forums and PR give a sense of you being discussed and commented by others, you can also penetrate the Social Media to add up to that with speaking for yourself.
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WeChat
WeChat is a super platform that has around 900 million users. WeChat gives a chance to share various content through WeChat groups and one’s official account.
People in WeChat groups tend to gather according to their fields of expertise or interests and:
- share the information
- speak about their problems on a large scale
- seek advice
- search for new ideas
- give recommendations, etc.
2. Douyin
Douyin is a relatively new platform having more than 500 million users so far. It allows to post video content of short duration to fill the time gaps within the hectic lives of the Chinese.
Douyin is a mighty tool in the hands of anyone searching for an investor as it gives a chance to connect with KOL and promote oneself as an enterpreneur. KOL can help to create a strong and attractive image for the investors.
Douyin can also be used on private terms to post your own content.
Does it really work?
Yes!
Among all the foreign investment directions, for the Chinese people investing in real estate abroad is the most popular one. At the moment they are highly attracted to international re-location.
Property investors go through the same stages that I have mentioned above before they make up on their investment plan.
Take an instance of Damac Properties.
After having worked on their SEO, e-reputation, branding, setting up and managing WeChat and Weibo accounts, they got the following results:
- double traffic from SEO with 13 main keywords;
- good position from off-site and on-site promotion;
- +400 followers on WeChat and +1100 followers on Weibo;
- over 120 leads in one month.
All that has probably made you crave for success.
What comes next to attract Chinese Investors?
Not much left.
You should contact us for more successful case studies and deeper insights.
Because we are the GMA – we know how to make investors turn to your business.
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1 comment
MICHAEL HAN
Hello
I work for an investment group, and agree with this article, just no fund will invest in small company without potential.
All foreign companies need to get a minimum of awareness and good reputation to deal with Chinese investors.
Investment is risky in China, and professionals are really cautious.