China Overseas Chinese Network, October 24th, title: Going against the trend!
Overseas Chinese businessmen do so in the face of challenges...
The continuous spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic has had a serious impact on the world economy.
In recent days, the epidemic situation in some countries has shown signs of rebound. In the face of such an impact, local Chinese businessmen have held their ground and actively changed their thinking. Some industries have achieved good returns against the trend.
Repeated epidemic industry stagnated
In the past few days, the epidemic situation in many countries has deteriorated, and governments have adopted control measures such as lockdowns and curfews.
Many industries, including aviation, tourism, catering, and hotels, were hit hard again.
Since February, the Chinese-speaking tourism industry in Europe has fallen into "extreme cold", and business has been cleared overnight.
Shi Hengyu, the first secretary-general of the European Chinese Tourism Federation and the president of the All-France Chinese Travel Agency Association, said that the new crown pneumonia epidemic has caused many travel agencies to encounter a "cliff" business stop.
On May 18, local time, the same glass door shared by the Chinatown "Happy Travel" travel agency in San Francisco, the United States, with accounting firms, real estate agencies, and massage parlors remained closed.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liu Guanguan
Shi Hengyu said that due to the outbreak of the European epidemic, customs closures, and aircraft suspension, the tourism business of most ACAV member companies is in a state of stagnation: 5% of member agencies choose to suspend production and dormancy, waiting for the epidemic to end before restarting; 20% of member agency business The volume is only 1%-15% of the same period last year; the remaining member clubs have no business at all and have zero income.
Practitioners in the Chinese food industry are also struggling.
“I have been in the Chinese food industry in Spain for more than 30 years and have experienced many difficult times. This time can be said to be an unprecedented difficulty.” said Zhou Jianhong, president of the Qingtian Association of Barcelona, Spain and owner of the Dahai Buffet Restaurant. The recent rebound in the Spanish epidemic has hit Chinese food again. Many Chinese restaurants are still closed due to factors such as declining passenger flow and rising raw material prices.
Yang Min, owner of New Zealand chain restaurant brand Jinwei Delanzhou Ramen, said that after New Zealand was unblocked in May, restaurant business had already shown signs of recovery. As a result, Auckland was again "closed" in August, and business entered a "winter".
"The passenger flow in the store is only about 30% of that before the epidemic, and it is difficult to recover in a short time."
Change your thinking and turn crisis into opportunity
The more difficult it is, the more difficult it is to rise. While actively fighting the epidemic, Chinese businessmen are also exploring new paths.
After the outbreak, 80% of Chinese business enterprises in Australia were affected.
The target customers of the construction industry, building materials industry and e-commerce industries are all local, and the market situation is not optimistic.
On April 1, local time, Darling Harbour, Sydney, was deserted and occasionally saw a few passersby.
As the number of confirmed cases of new crown pneumonia in Australia continues to increase, the City of Sydney has implemented strict epidemic prevention and control measures. Many shops have closed and people have reduced unnecessary outings.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tao Shelan
Most of the housing construction process in Australia relies on a lot of labor. During the epidemic, the government strictly restricted the number of workers and the movement of workers on the construction site, and many housing projects were postponed or even suspended.
In this regard, Australian Chinese businessman Zhong Jian said: "Quickly adjusting the original business model is the most effective way to deal with it. The previous customers were Chinese customers. Now, only by increasing the number of local customers can we continue to operate."
Venezuelan Chinese businessman Wu Sixiong is also facing similar problems.
Recently, Venezuela has entered a new round of social isolation. Only some people’s livelihood industries can operate, factories cannot start operations, enterprises cannot resume production, and Chinese businessmen have suffered heavy losses.
Wu Sixiong runs supermarkets, restaurants and factories, and currently only supermarkets can operate normally.
In order to maintain operations and reduce losses, his restaurant launched a takeaway business, and the factory produced some simple finished products.
According to Wu Sixiong, during the epidemic, Chinese businessmen in Venezuela adopted flexible methods to save themselves. “No matter what the store will sell food on behalf of, they can open their doors every day at the time set by the government, and through this method they can tide over the difficulties.”
Under the huge pressure of survival, Qiu Xinqiu has become the common choice of overseas Chinese restaurant industry.
During the epidemic, in order to meet the overseas Chinese's demand for Chinese food and minimize losses, Lu Yuejun, who runs a Huaiyang restaurant in Sao Paulo, Brazil, thought of the Yangzhou steamed buns in his hometown.
He led chefs to make frozen buns and promoted them with the help of mobile apps such as WeChat.
This innovation soon succeeded, and the restaurant continued to receive "big orders" from Chinese companies in Pakistan.
Data map: On the evening of August 16, local time, a Chinese restaurant was selling take-out dishes on the streets of the community in Flushing, New York.
As New York's economic activities resumed, local people's night activities gradually increased.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liao Pan
Seize the opportunity to buck the trend
Under the epidemic, many small and medium-sized enterprises have fallen, but some Chinese businessmen who are good at observation and thinking have bucked the trend.
During the epidemic, the Japanese government adopted a "self-prevention" policy, and the catering industry was the first to bear the brunt.
In such a big environment, Wu Shidong, the owner of "Snack Yangzhou" in Higashi Shinjuku, Japan, saw a business opportunity. He took the store next door and operated "Authentic Lanzhou Ramen" to meet the needs of local Chinese.
After opening, the ramen with its delicious flavors and flavors quickly attracted many takeaway orders.
"In the fiercely competitive market, the person who can always accurately grasp the opportunity is the strong." This sentence is also suitable for Yu Zongming, a Chinese businessman in the United States.
Affected by the new crown epidemic, many companies have closed their doors. Yu Zongming, who runs catering consumables, has seen a significant decline in business.
In March, the U.S. government began to implement strict anti-epidemic measures. He saw that California lacked anti-epidemic products at that time, and decided to change his business thinking and sell his own brand of anti-epidemic products for people’s livelihood.
On July 16, local time, customers wear masks to shop in a Wal-Mart supermarket in Sugar Land, Houston, Texas.
A few days ago, many retailers in the United States announced that customers must wear masks and other facial coverings when entering stores.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Zeng Jingning
Today, Yu Zongming's business is in short supply, and other companies have laid off employees, but his company has expanded to recruit more than 100 people.
Passing through the barriers, the more difficult it is, the more forward it is.
Facing the cold winter in the industry caused by the epidemic, Chinese businessmen around the world used their diligence and wisdom to seize opportunities and turn crises into opportunities.
Xiaoqiao is here to wish everyone who sticks to them silently and usher in an early turning point.
(Reference: People's Daily Overseas Edition, the United States, "World News," Japan Xinhua China Press Network, "European Times" Central and Eastern European version of the micro-channel public number "Victoria City"; Author: Liu Xi Han; ID: qiaowangzhongguo)