Firms place their trust in a rising star (hktdc.com)


	Capping off a stella year, Sinova founder Jennifer Chan was named Hong Kong’s Shooting Star in the 2006 Cathay Pacific China Trader Awards

Hong Kong’s unequalled bridging role linking European firms with China presented itself as an ideal opportunity for former corporate banker Jennifer Chan.

After founding Sinova Management Consultancy Limited less than five years ago, Ms Chan has seen her business boom – up from one employee to 20, and from a single office to a growing international network. “If you’d asked me a few years ago, I could never have dreamed of such an expansion,” Ms Chan said. And with China continuing to boom, Hong Kong provides the sound fundamentals for a predicted further growth of 40 per cent in the next one to two years.

Born in Hong Kong, Ms Chan spent most of her young life in the Netherlands before returning “to my roots” at the end of 1991, following her university education. Utilising her financial training and cross-cultural experience, Ms Chan worked for 11 years with Dutch banks Rabobank and ABN Amro and Belgium-Dutch bank Fortis, with a portfolio covering both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and multinational companies (MNCs).

Flying start

“I had trusted relationships with clients who had followed me from bank to bank, when one asked me if I could assist them with a big investment in China. They wanted someone who knew the language and the culture,” said Ms Chan, who along with diverse cultural experience speaks English, Dutch, Cantonese, Mandarin, French and German. “I had a good job with good pay, so I was reluctant to leave (the bank). I asked my clients to give me a couple of projects so I could start – and they did.”

Referrals soon followed, as Ms Chan leveraged her own network and Hong Kong’s established infrastructure to advise clients on doing business in China, sourcing from China, or moving their production to China. Being “on the spot” gave Sinova the edge over European-based China consultancies that can’t offer the same local knowledge.

“Unlike most of our competitors in Europe, we are able to locally implement some of the recommendations we give (overseas) firms on doing business in China,” Ms Chan said. “The information Hong Kong has on China is tremendous. Europe can get information out of China but it’s likely to be censored, or even if it isn’t, they are heavily reliant on translators. Hong Kong has the best of both worlds – free internet, free press, and it’s right next door to China.” Ms Chan also makes use of the Trade Development Council’s China Centre, whose “data base is incredible”.

First step Hong Kong

Her advice to European firms with China on their radar is always to use Hong Kong as their platform.

“Even if firms are not yet intending to sell to China, I advise them to set up the structure here,” Ms Chan said. “Most of my clients want to have a sourcing entity (a buying office) for China, and if it’s a Hong Kong company, the corporate finance situation is very favourable to them should they later want to set up a regional sales office.

“Hong Kong’s corporate tax rate is lower than most European countries, it has a stable financial system, and its workforce has international exposure which is a great advantage.”

Hong Kong’s rule of law and established arbitration system also cushions firms taking the plunge into China, Ms Chan says. Disputes are settled promptly, eliminating the worry that a law suit could drag on for years without either clarity or resolution, affecting their daily operations. “And in the worst case scenario, you can always liquidate a company in Hong Kong.”

Going global

In April 2005, Sinova opened an office in Shanghai. Last November, it opened in Holland. Its clientele now comes from around the globe, including Holland, Belgium, the UK, German, Austria, US, Australia and Taiwan.

In recognition of her successful business model, Ms Chan was named Hong Kong’s “Shooting Star” in the 2006 Cathay Pacific China Trader Awards.

While Ms Chan says she was in the “right time, right place” to launch her business, she could not imagine having achieved such success anywhere else but Hong Kong.