China offers great business opportunities to a large variety of businessmen and therefore business travel to China is a must for every business executive.
Although China offers great business promise, there are certain factors you need to keep in mind before planning a business trip to China. For that you need an English-speaking guide as soon as you land in China.
China Business Travel
Following a series of tighter consumer protection laws, makers are emphasizing product safety while contending with the high cost of compliance.
Faced with stricter safety regulations in key export destinations, companies in China are allocating more resources to product testing and emphasizing high-quality materials despite the pressure these are putting on manufacturing outlay.
Many of the new safety standards require makers to conduct more tests on a greater number of chemical substances. One of the biggest toy makers in China pays more than $2.9 million annually on testing, much higher than the yearly revenue of small suppliers.
In many instances, fulfilling safety requirements involves replacing infringing materials with compliant substitutes.
Battery makers are striving to develop or source safer anode and cathode materials.
Despite the high outlay, some companies prefer to source abroad for consistent quality. Certified by the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment, the lab is comparable to a chemical-testing facility. The supplier also sends its products to third-party agencies to ensure compliance with ASTM D-4236 and F963, Toxicological Risk Assessment, EN 71, CPSIA, California Proposition 65 and REACH requirements.
Any measure to comply with safety regulations undoubtedly adds to the cost of production. Suppliers estimate material and certification expenses have risen about 10 percent in recent months.
The professional testing industry is booming amid the rising safety trend.
Workshops on the new EU Toy Safety Directive have been organized, with the support of the EU-China Trade Project and the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission.
The AQSIQ has been educating China toy makers about safety requirements in the US and on strengthening quality controls.
Local governments and trade organizations are also vigorously pushing companies to bolster the image of “made in China” products.
Organizations such as the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade have been sponsoring seminars for business owners and local government officials on product safety in Southern China.
Regulations getting tougher
For toy makers, the CPSIA/HR4040 in the US and the EU’s New Toy Safety Directive or 2009/48/EC amend existing rules substantially and impose greater restrictions on suspicious chemicals. The latter regulation limits 19 metallic elements.
Likewise, the China government issued a new standard for melamine-formaldehyde products used as food containers and packaging materials.
February 21st, 2012 
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