A Diplomat in Guangzhou (Canton): Promoting Export of Us Food Products to China

By Samuel Wong

Guangzhou, a gateway to China, is the best-kept secret for most Western traders, yet it is more dynamic and substantial as a trading center than Shanghai and Beijing. This is the core message of the book A Diplomat in Guangzhou. Between 1999 and 2003, a veteran employee of US Department of Agriculture went to Guangzhou (Canton) to promote import of US products and to create opportunities for US exporters. In addition to showing the ins and outs of import practices in China, the author recounts what it was like to live and work in one of the busiest cities in Asia. He shows the advantages of knowing Chinese language and culture, and ways to develop and cultivate an indigenous business network. Readers interested in trading with China will find practical tips on how to live and work successfully in China in this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 9, 2007
• ISBN: 9781469124353

Samuel Wong

Sam Wong began formal study of massage therapy in Northern Virginia Community College in 2010 after his retirement from government service. He is trained in Western massage and Chinese tui na. He has created the Virginian Stretch and Yin Yang Touch and has adapted massage to treating fibromyalgia, posttraumatic stress disorder, and scoliosis. Primarily a research massage therapist in private practice, Sam is a board-approved continuing education provider and board-certified in therapeutic massage and bodywork. He promotes caring for caregivers as essential for healthcare and provides free massages to veterans and their caregivers in the DC area.

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Copyright © 2007 by Samuel Wong.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2007901717

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4257-5574-4

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION I

INTRODUCTION II

FOREWORD

CHAPTER I

CHAPTER II

CHAPTER III

CHAPTER IV

CHAPTER V

CHAPTER VI

CHAPTER VII

CHAPTER VIII

CHAPTER IX

POSTSCRIPT

ENDNOTES

FOR

MERCEDES JAVIER-WONG

CATHERINE JAVIER-WONG

AND

ISABEL GEMMA THERESE YABES

INTRODUCTION I

Harvey A. Somers

Former Chief, Economic/Political Section

US Consulate-General, Guangzhou

Dr. Sam Wong has written a fascinating memoir covering his role in a very important period in Chinese-U.S. relations. China was just entering the World Trade Organization (becoming a member on December 11, 2001), assuming a larger role in international affairs, and continuing its tremendous economic growth while we were at the United States Consulate in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province in southern China.

It is impossible to understate the remarkable economic expansion in Guangdong during these last several years. With a population of 86 million plus 30 million migrant workers coming to the industrial heartland of the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong has long been one of the growth engines for all of China, in close competition with Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta for foreign as well as domestic investment. In 2000, the Guangdong Provincial Government set as a target doubling the provincial GDP, to two trillion RMB ($242 billion), within a decade—by 2010. Guangdong is actually meeting these targets in 2006—four years ahead of schedule, with a blistering 14.4% growth rate reaching a 2006 first half GDP of 1,156 billion RMB ($140 billion). I hope the readers of Dr. Wong’s memoirs gain the amazing sense of excitement which permeated the environment in which we were working as they follow this text.

And Dr. Wong’s role was quite significant. As head of one of our key Agricultural Trade Offices in China, he was part of a process of exporting more than $20 billion in agricultural goods to China each year. His caution about the need for American companies to understand an increasingly sophisticated Chinese business sector, as he did in his own work, testifies to the quality of his knowledge about a changing China. The occasional concern he voices about the way the United States Government operates should be considered by all Foreign Service Officers as well as USG employees more generally.

But this memoir should be read for more than the substantive elements of Dr. Wong’s career; I hope readers will also appreciate the way he did his job. Dr. Wong was almost unique in Guangzhou for his emphasis on the importance of connecting to the local population and building friendships. This was made easier by Dr. Wong’s mastery of both Mandarin and Cantonese, but his success was more than linguistic. Dr. Wong truly understood the critical importance of rapport or guanxi in Chinese society and became an expert practitioner. At the same time, he followed the best of western practices in the way he empowered his local staff and worked to improve their performance.

Finally, I would note that Dr. Wong balances his account with commentary on the daily realities of living in modern urban China: the crowded conditions, the air and water pollution, the traffic, and, every once in a while, the terrifying—I am thinking of the early 2002 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which we survived. Not to mention the rewards: durian for Sam and my wife among the most memorable.

November 2006

Laos

INTRODUCTION II

Eric Zheng

Former Commercial Consul

US Consulate-General, Guangzhou

". . . I’ve lived a life that’s full, I’ve traveled each and every highway.

And more, much more than this,

I did it my way . . ."

It was a summer evening in Guangzhou in 2003. My Way, the Frank Sinatra hit from the 1960s, was booming in a reception hall of the White Swan Hotel. The Sinatra stand-in was Dr. Sam Wong, Chief of the Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) from the U.S. Consulate-General in Guangzhou. A roomful of VIP guests were gathering at a reception hosted by the ATO in honor of Dr. Wong, who was about to complete his assignment in Guangzhou. It was rather befitting for Dr. Wong, who happened to be a good baritone and love karaoke, to belt out My Way on the eve of his departure.

The first time I met Dr. Wong was in the summer of 2002 in Guangzhou. I had just been sent by the U.S. Department of Commerce from Washington to Guangzhou as the new Commercial Consul at the U.S. Consulate-General to be responsible for promoting U.S. exports and investment in South China. At the U.S. Consulate, the Commercial Service and the Agricultural Trade Office were both tasked to promote U.S. exports with the ATO focusing on agricultural products while the Commercial Service responsible for the rest. Our two offices shared the same floor in China Hotel. I used to tease Dr. Wong by complaining that he had better fortune with eating as his work had everything to do with food while mine had none.

Speaking of food, Dr. Wong was an exceptional talent when it comes to promoting U.S. agricultural products. His years of experience working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) gave him in-depth knowledge of American agricultural products and business operations. More importantly, he understands Chinese culture and custom and is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese. With that rare combination of skills, he had what it would take to tackle the Chinese market for U.S. agricultural products. During his time as the ATO chief, Dr. Wong used his talent and dedication to develop a huge network of contacts to promote U.S. trade. He became a super salesman of U.S. agricultural products.

Dr. Wong’s family roots can be traced to Shunde, Guangdong. He was born and raised in Singapore. In the 1960s, he ventured to the U.S. to study theology and eventually received a Ph.D. in sociology. His service to the USDA spanned more than 20 years. In the early 1980s, he was involved in US-China agricultural exchanges. In 1999, Dr. Wong was appointed by the USDA to head the Agricultural Trade Office at the U.S. Consulate-General in Guangzhou. He, therefore, became one of the few Chinese-American diplomats posted in China. From his parents leaving Guangdong for Southeast Asia in search of a better life to his successful return two generations later to his roots in Guangdong as an American diplomat, Dr. Wong completed a full circle for the Wong family.

For many years, both Dr. Wong’s family and mine lived in the Washington D.C. area. But our paths had never crossed until Guangzhou, where we not only became colleagues and neighbors but also good friends. It is a privilege to have known Dr. Wong. I hope that through A Diplomat in Guangzhou, Dr. Wong’s remarkable experience in Guangzhou could be shared with more people. As Dr. Wong has embarked on a new phase of his life, I would like to take this opportunity to wish him continued success and Do it my way.

December 2006

Shanghai

FOREWORD

Guangzhou, known as Canton in the old days, was where I worked and lived from August 1999 to August 2003. I was there to promote the export of US food products to China. While I was in Guangzhou, friends often asked me, How did you a Chinese become an American diplomat? My typical answer was, It’s a long story. I’ll tell you when we have more time. When I returned to the United States on vacation or met friends in my travels outside the Guangzhou area, I was frequently asked, How was life in Guangzhou? Were you comfortable? Did you have problems adjusting to living there? What did you do in Guangzhou? My answers in the past were similarly: It’s a long story. I’ll tell you when we have more time. I was not being evasive or trying to create suspense. My life as a diplomat in Guangzhou was really unusual. I needed the passage of time to give me a more balanced perspective. Now that I have left Guangzhou for more than three years and have retired from Government Service for a little over two years, I believe I have the necessary detachment to give an account of my Guangzhou experience. Besides, I can now write in English instead of bureaucratese.

This account is a weaving of several strands of interests: socio-political, cultural and trade. It touches on the intricacies of getting a Foreign Service assignment, the critical role of language proficiency in bi-cultural transactions, the application of American management principles in a foreign setting, the unique contribution of a Government Trade Office to promoting trade between the U.S. and China and some aspects of life in China. As such, it gives people interested in trading with China or planning to work in China, especially those going to Guangzhou, some practical tips on how to live and work in China. However, I have to emphasize that this book is entirely a personal account. It does not represent any official position and it is definitely not entirely an objective analysis.

When friends asked me how I became an American diplomat, they were probably interested in exactly what I did to secure an appointment as a Consul of the US Government. They were probably interested in how my formal training, preparation, and connection prepared me for assignment as a Foreign Service Officer.

I was born and raised in Singapore. I studied theology and religious education in college. My doctorate from the Northwestern University was in sociology. I had worked eight years as a church worker, five years as a college teacher, and 24 years as a US Government employee, in Malaysia, in Singapore, in China, and in the U.S.

All through my years of Government Service, with the exception of a one-year temporary assignment to the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), I worked in the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), engaged in administrative work in the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO), the Office of International Cooperation and Development (OICD), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). Nothing in my formal training or work experience was related to agricultural sciences or trade, or Foreign Service.

However, as an immigrant to the U.S., I had always wanted to use my English and Chinese language skills fulltime to bridge the communication gaps between the U.S. and China. My mother tongue was Cantonese. I learned Mandarin and English in school. When I was in Singapore, I had numerous occasions to interact with American and British missionaries and I had served as an interpreter in church functions. Through the years, I had written Chinese articles and translated articles from English to Chinese. They were published in several church magazines. My career in America was a testimony to my ability to adapt in a foreign country. I knew I had the aptitude and the experience to work in a Chinese speaking environment on behalf of the US Government. However, I did not have such an opportunity until August 1999 when I went to Guangzhou to direct the Agricultural Trade Office (ATO). The chapters on Preparing for Assignment Abroad and Equal Employment Opportunity recount how I overcame the odds to get the assignment in Guangzhou. It also reveals some of the inner workings of the US Government personnel practices.

When friends asked me about life in Guangzhou and how I coped with it, they probably had in mind information about the under-developed conditions of Guangzhou and China. They rightly believed it would be difficult for someone accustomed to the relatively easy US lifestyle to adapt to a less developed environment. After all, I had lived in the U.S. for more than 35 years and had become an acculturated Chinese-American. Very few of my friends knew I had visited Guangzhou several times before I assumed the long-term assignment there. The Guangzhou I knew was similar to the Chinatown in Singapore where I grew up. I felt I would have no trouble adjusting to living in a predominantly Cantonese-speaking environment again. Besides, I fought the FAS system to get me posted to China and I was determined to make my Guangzhou assignment a success. The chapters on Hardship Assignment and Travel in China recount how I coped with living and working in Guangzhou and China and the surprises I encountered.

I was the Director of ATO Guangzhou for four years. In what ways did a Chinese-American manage the Office differently from other Agricultural Trade Officers? What did the Office accomplish during my tenure? How did it promote the export of US food products to China? How did the ATO operation differ from local enterprises? Could the market promotion activities be transferred to other industries? These and similar questions are discussed in the chapters on Market Development and Equal Employment Opportunity. I tried to recount what we did and explain why we did what we did. I also pointed out several simple tactics the Chinese Government can adapt to keep foreign goods from flooding the China market.

You hear a lot about customer service. What does it really mean when you take it seriously? The chapters on Market Development, Customer Service, and Equal Employment Opportunity recount how we tried to respond to the needs of US and Chinese customers. They show that when you take customer service seriously you may be led to where you did not intend to go. However, they also reveal the benefits of listening to your customers.

At my Farewell Reception in 2003, I said my Guangzhou experience could be summarized in two Chinese words, you yuan—Destiny, and I would use these two words as the title of my memoir. However, you yuan might be too obtuse a title for this book, only insiders would appreciate it. In April last year, my friend Huo Jiawen of Park ’N Shop, Guangzhou, suggested I might use An American Diplomat in Guangzhou as the title. It encapsulates the book’s primary content. That is how the book is named A Diplomat in Guangzhou (Canton): Promoting Export of US Food Products to China. After you read the book, you might agree that my Guangzhou experience had a strong element of destiny to it.

This book has two versions—the Chinese and the English. I first wrote the Guangzhou experience in English and then used the English draft as the outline for writing the Chinese version. As I wrote the Guangzhou experience in Chinese, I revised the English draft. The two versions were completed concurrently. They are like twins. They share a lot in common but they also have their own distinctiveness. They are certainly more than mere translations of each other. If some accounts in this book seem vague or incomplete, they are for the purpose of protecting confidentiality and privacy. Also, I am using mostly fictitious or partial names for most of the people I mentioned in this book to respect their wishes for anonymity.

I don’t know when writers started dropping the use of periods for abbreviation. Instead of W.T.O. for World Trade Organization, I often find WTO, instead of U.S.D.A. for the United States Department of Agriculture, I find USDA. I have followed this practice for quite a few years and I am dropping periods for most abbreviations (with the exception of U.S. and D.C. when these are used as proper nouns for the United States and the District of Columbia). Thus, when you see a series of alphabets in capital letters, you should read them as alphabets and not as a word. To make it simpler for you to identify Chinese words written in English form, I have italicized them. The exceptions are Chinese names for places and people; they are without italics.

Harvey A. Somers, former Chief, Economic/Political Section, and Eric Zheng, former Director, Foreign Commercial Service, of the US Consulate General, Guangzhou, kindly wrote Introductions to this recollection. My wife, Mercy Javier-Wong, patiently read and corrected the draft to make it clearer and less idiosyncratic. I am grateful for their contributions.

CHAPTER I

PREPARING FOR ASSIGNMENT ABROAD

1.   Applying for Foreign Service

Going to Guangzhou to take charge of the Agricultural Trade Office, known in the business community as ATO, was for me like a fish in the water. It was an opportunity I had waited for many years. Since I migrated from Singapore to the U.S. in 1968, I had wanted to use my Chinese and English bi-lingual skills to help bridge the cultural gaps between the U.S. and China. However, all through my twenty-some years of work,