Industry Research in China
Jinfo Blog

22nd May 2008

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In my previous post, I have introduced the idea about tapping into research resources within China and in Chinese. It's a competitive edge for Chinese domestic research information consumers - both native Chinese business communities and local representatives of western companies active in China. There are many sites offer direct downloading of thousands of research reports such as China Industry Research Report Network www.chinahyyj.com, China Hall of Reports www.chinabgao.com, Hui Dian Market Research www.hdcmr.com, and 3rd Information Consulting www.3rdinfo.com. As mentioned earlier, the biggest Chinese search engine baidu.com also offers trend tracking at data.baidu.com based on search stream analysis. The reports cover a wide range of industries and may dig vertically into specific segments with great details that could be very hard to come by in English documents. While many free reports are available, reports with extensive data and in-depth analysis are usually priced at schemes similar to those in the west. What may be also noteworthy is that sometimes the ordering procedure remains in Chinese even for English reports. Although many of the Chinese companies offering research services and selling reports online are no more than a few years in existence, the quality and quantity of their output are not to be underestimated. It is far more than representing the raw data available through the National Statistical Bureau www.stats.gov.cn, China Economic Monitoring & Analysis Center www.cemac.org.cn, State Administration for Industry & Commerce www.saic.gov.cn and many other trade associations. Besides adopting well founded methodology, they are most likely supported by large pools of experts including scholars and senior industry specialists as well as primary research teams spread throughout the country. Scale matters, especially in China. In the research business there is no room for bargain toys "made in China". For consumers of China research, the more the research carries the Chinese market and cultural contexts, the more useful it is. The learning curve for a young and dynamic industry in China may have been steep, the progress is no less impressive.

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