A Batley-based business is organising a women-only trade visit to China and Hong Kong.
ConnectChina Ltd, headed by Joanna Lavan, has linked up with Maiden-voyage.com to host the visit at the end of May. The aim is to inspire women to build their business with China.
Joanna said: “Statistics show that only 16% of women-led businesses in the UK engage in international trade. We also know that less than 10% of delegates participating on organised trade visits are women.
“The group will visit Beijing, Shanghai & Hong Kong, spending two days in each city, with business briefings, one to one individual tailored business-to-business meetings and networking with Chinese business women.”
According to the China Women’s Chamber of Commerce, there are about 29m female entrepreneurs in China, who account for less than 20% of the total number of entrepreneurs nationwide.
About 16m of them are entrepreneurs in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – which equates to 45% of the total number of SME entrepreneurs.
Said Joanna: “For businesses trading internationally, China is often perceived as too difficult a market to enter due to geographical distance, cultural differences and language barriers.
“We have years of expertise in running trade visits to this region and have a team on the ground to help our participants understand how to do business in this increasingly important region.”
ConnectChina will perform a complimentary assessment for would-be delegates on the trade trip to ensure that their product or service is suitable and has potential for the China market. Each business attending the trade visit will receive proactive and practical support before, during and after the visit.
Delegates will receive relevant guidance and advice plus there will be China workshops and webinars to give each participant the skills needed to do business with China – including some basic Mandarin!
Contact joanna@connectchina.co.uk or carolyn@maiden-voyage.com
