A UNIVERSITY study tour to China could help the WA Water Corporation win contracts there.
Curtin Business School’s Graduate School of Business is conducting a two week tour of Shanghai.
Participants will investigate how Chinese businesses operate and how to cultivate ‘guanxi’, a network of personal relationships essential to doing business in China.
Water Corporation customer technical services manager George Finch will use the opportunity to visit a key Chinese Government department.
The Department of Water Resources and Hydrology in Beijing has already shown interest in WA water resource issues. Its director general Wu Jison visited Perth several months ago.
Issues of common interest include the development of industrial land within areas dependent on groundwater for water supply.
Mr Finch said the Water Corporation was aware of the opportunities that could arise from strengthening the business relationship between the two organisations.
“In China everything is based on relationship building,” he said. “Without a clear and practical understanding of what this means, western businesses cannot possibly expect to succeed.”