Hong Kong is likely to continue to offer value to buyers from the West and sellers from mainland China, according to a new University of Queensland PhD thesis.
“Hong Kong firms have become well meshed within Chinese business networks, particularly within the southern Chinese provinces,” Dr Michael Trimarchi said.
“Hong Kongans are also continuing to develop and extend their network linkages within China by expanding and/or relocating their activities to emerging mainland economic regions. Hong Kong firms also continue to maintain and develop their established business channels into Western buyer markets.
“Hong Kong firms, however, appear reluctant to weave Westerners into their Chinese networks. Westerners also appear reluctant to extend their relationships links beyond the immediate actors of engagement in Hong Kong.
Such factors not only limit the involvement of Westerners into broader Chinese networks, they also limit Hong Kongans from broader involvement in buyer networks located in Western markets.”
Dr Trimarchi said as mainland China continued to develop its international focus, such strategies could prove perilous for Hong Kongans who wished to hold on to Western market channels, and Westerners who lacked the commitment required to understand and work with the difficulties associated with mainland China production.
This was a position that both Hong Kongans and Westerners embraced at their own peril. Hong Kong intermediaries and buyers from the West would need to consider, carefully, how they intended to consolidate their relationships and network positions. Indeed, it should be the mission imperatus.
Dr Trimarchi’s PhD in UQ’s School of Management studied trade interactions between Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries (or traders) who buy goods from mainland Chinese sellers, and then sell the goods to buyers in Western markets.
Dr Trimarchi, who is a lecturer in marketing and business at the University of the Sunshine Coast, said there had been little previous research conducted on business relationships between Hong Kong Chinese and mainland Chinese business partners, and Hong Kong Chinese and Western business partners. The thesis included a total of 38 Case Study Interviews (five in mainland China and 33 in Hong Kong).
Dr Trimarchi’s thesis was supervised by Associate Professor Rick Tamaschke of the UQ School of Management.
Media: Further information, Dr Michael Trimarchi (tel. +61 7 5430 1287, mob. 0411 848 798, email: MTrimarc@usc.edu.au) or Jan King at UQ Communications (tel. +61 7 3365 1120)
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