Business alliance to send delegation to ASEAN

The Aigo Entrepreneurs Alliance said on Monday that it will send a delegation of Chinese entrepreneurs to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, in July in an attempt at finding investment opportunities.

The 50-strong delegation plans to visit five ASEAN member countries, including Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

Deng Dong, chairman of the Sichuan Qixiang Silk and a member of the Aigo Entrepreneurs Alliance, said he will probably establish production mills in Thailand and Malaysia because of the climates in such places, as well the demand for silk.

"Malaysia has an enormous demand for silk products, and that will give our company a fairly large market."

The entrepreneurs also said they think Chinese companies, to reduce their operating costs, should go overseas as a team.

Economies in ASEAN and the European Union will often provide preferential policies to foreign business delegations rather than to individual companies.

The value of the annual trade between China and ASEAN countries is expected to exceed $500 billion in 2015, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade estimated in April. ASEAN is the third-largest trading partner of China, overtaking Japan.

The world expects that more Chinese companies will enter the global market, and mid-sized private enterprises from the country are more likely to achieve success overseas, said Feng Jun, founder of the Aigo Entrepreneurs Alliance.

The organization also announced that the alliance has helped about 30 Chinese private companies establish offices in Brussels, the capital of Belgium and site of the EU's headquarters.

The organization did not disclose the detailed information about the investments, only saying that most of the offices were set up by mid-sized enterprises, including Himin Solar, a privately owned maker of solar panels based in Dezhou, Shandong province.

"Mid-sized private companies are more flexible than large State-owned enterprises in making strategic decisions," said Feng, who was also the founder and chairman of Aigo Digital Technology Co Ltd, one of the top Chinese manufacturers of consumer electronics.

"They will only need a very short response time before deciding to open a branch in the overseas market. Small companies are hesitating to go abroad because they have few financial resources that are ready to use."

The Aigo Entrepreneurs Alliance was established by Feng along with about 20 Chinese entrepreneurs including Pony Ma, CEO of the Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, and Dong Mingzhu, CEO of Gree Electric Appliances Inc, a Chinese maker of air conditioners.

The alliance also plans to send two delegations to Latin America and the United States later this year.

Contact the writers at gaoyuan@chinadaily.com.cn and tuoyannan@chinadaily.com.cn