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> Most businesses require a local partner to operate in China This, again, is a free speech issue. If your business truly have nothing to do with free speech (

by rfoo 2y ago

> Most businesses require a local partner to operate in China This, again, is a free speech issue. If your business truly have nothing to do with free speech (sorry, but iCloud and Microsoft 365 all had a free speech issue since they enable people to connect and publish), for example Amazon, no local partner is required. And Amazon has been there since forever. Sometimes, even in a domain with free speech issue, you can have market access to China. For example, Steam is able to sell games in China since many years ago, even with their community page frequently blocked by GFW due to mostly unregulated user-generated content. They certainly can be cut-off: they rely on Alipay and WeChat Pay for payment. But this hasn't happened. Oh, and Epic, GOG too. > the capital requirements are incredibly high, corruption is through the roof, and when the local partner or the government rip you off, you absolutely will not have equal protection under the law. While I indeed don't feel safe about the law protection. I wonder have you actually tried to setup a business in China? Or you are just repeating what you saw on Reddit?

AmericanChopper 2y ago
The restricted and prohibited categories have certainly been liberalised a lot recently, but it definitely hasn’t been trimmed down to only free-speech related categories. https://english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-EstablishaCompany/20231209/e0ff5aa7971c49d1bddf4739401d3f90.html https://english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-EstablishaCompany/2023120... I’m not sure how you’d connect mining, energy, health care, transport, agriculture, or quite a few of those categories to free speech. > While I indeed don't feel safe about the law protection. I wonder have you actually tried to setup a business in China? Yes, I’ve been involved in a couple of WOFEs and quite a few JVs. I’ve worked on and off with companies doing business in China for the past 20 years or so. Access to legal protections has improved somewhat, but it’s been a (sometimes very serious) issue for many of the people I’ve worked with.
- rfoo 2y ago
  Thanks for clarifying. Thought you were talking about FB/Instagram/Tiktok-kind of market access instead of mining.
  - AmericanChopper 2y ago
    Apologies, I though you were saying was that if not for a free speech issue you can have market access, today.

by rfoo 2y ago

AmericanChopper 2y ago

The restricted and prohibited categories have certainly been liberalised a lot recently, but it definitely hasn’t been trimmed down to only free-speech related categories. https://english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-EstablishaCompany/20231209/e0ff5aa7971c49d1bddf4739401d3f90.html https://english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-EstablishaCompany/2023120... I’m not sure how you’d connect mining, energy, health care, transport, agriculture, or quite a few of those categories to free speech. > While I indeed don't feel safe about the law protection. I wonder have you actually tried to setup a business in China? Yes, I’ve been involved in a couple of WOFEs and quite a few JVs. I’ve worked on and off with companies doing business in China for the past 20 years or so. Access to legal protections has improved somewhat, but it’s been a (sometimes very serious) issue for many of the people I’ve worked with.

rfoo 2y ago
Thanks for clarifying. Thought you were talking about FB/Instagram/Tiktok-kind of market access instead of mining.
- AmericanChopper 2y ago
  Apologies, I though you were saying was that if not for a free speech issue you can have market access, today.