Sun Valley businessman Jack Naldjian went to China last month, hoping to tap into a new market for his car alarms and remote car stereos. Now back at home in the San Fernando Valley, the owner of Delta Vehicle Security is still talking with business counterparts in China about distributing his products overseas. “I found tremendous opportunities there,” said Naldjian, who now has a pending order to ship samples to China for evaluation. “I’m confident that I will be able to sell my products.” Naldjian was among several small-business leaders from Los Angeles County and a handful from the Valley who traveled to Beijing, Hohohut, Changchun and Shanghai, where they hoped to take advantage of lower tariffs and expanding markets in the People’s Republic of China. The trip resulted in a number of deals between American small-business owners and the Chinese, who are looking for overseas partners, said Edna Bruce, director of the Los Angeles County Office of Small Business. “It’s an amazing market; we were received extremely well,” Bruce said. “China has privatized almost all of their companies. The Chinese have great entrepreneurial spirit and they relate to small businesses. We believe this is a great opportunity.” Perhaps, but according to a report on the San Fernando Valley economy released last week by Cal State Northridge, there is room to grow when it comes to trade with China. While China tops the list of countries of origin for imports to Valley firms, with nearly 45,000 metric tons shipped in 1999, it does not even make the top-10 list of countries receiving exports from the San Fernando Valley. (That distinction goes to Japan, followed by Taiwan and South Korea.) Sponsored by Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich and the County Office of Small Business, the trade mission to the People’s Republic of China in mid-October was intended to match small American companies with potential customers or suppliers, and open up new markets to Los Angeles-area exporters, Bruce said. “We wanted to give our small businesses an opportunity to learn about and discover the opportunities available in other countries,” she said. Better chance for business Those opportunities in China for small American businesses could not be better, said Sherman Lui, president of Domain Technology and Economy Development Inc., which arranges many such trade missions. Since China was granted permanent favorable trade status by the U.S. Congress earlier this year, companies can deal directly with their counterparts there, Lui said. “The decision-making is much simpler,” Lui said of China. “It doesn’t have to go through a lot of red tape.” The sheer magnitude of China’s population, too, represents a vast potential customer base for small American business owners, Lui added. Even if only 1 percent of the estimated 1.4 billion people there are interested in U.S.-made products, it opens up a big market for small American companies. “If one of 100 makes a purchase, it’s a big sale,” Lui said. Upbeat economic projections, political stability, deregulation and commitment to infrastructure development in China all bode well for U.S. firms seeking trade and investment opportunities there, Bruce added. “Particularly now, with the permanent normal trade relations with China, it’s important for our businesses to find out what is going on over there and open their eyes to the opportunities,” she said. The Los Angeles County Office of Small Business provides a regional resource where companies can learn where and how technical assistance can be obtained in other public agencies in Los Angeles County, such as, for instance, the State Employment Development Department and the Small Business Development Centers. The L.A. trade mission to China was just as successful as a similar one last fall to three South American countries, a trip co-sponsored by the office of small business and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Bruce said. Officials from eight companies traveled to Argentina, Uruguay and Chili to market their products and services. On the recent trip to China, small-business leaders attended business meetings with local Chinese firms and businesspeople. Among those who took the trip were Gifty-Annette Dubous of Kaki of Hollywood, a manufacturer of cosmetics, particularly for women of color; and Peter Yu of Kaempen Composite Products, located in Garden Grove, which makes pipe for construction purposes. Others who went were vitamin-manufacturer Wasfy Shindy of Dr. Shindy International Inc. and Kurt Simon of Kurt Simon Productions, which makes educational films. John Bruce of Bruce Enterprises went hoping to sell California thoroughbred horses, particularly in Inner Magnolia, considered the horse racing capitol of China. Factory deal Brien Thomas and Earl Dorsett of The Captivator Inc. of Pasadena distribute and manufacture baseball cap displays. Because the partners already have a manufacturer in Shanghai, they saw the trip as an opportunity to meet with their existing sources, as well as seek an additional manufacturer for their future products. As a result of the trip, they are now in the preliminary stages of a deal to establish a factory outside of Beijing, Thomas said. “Within the next five to 10 years, I think it’s going to be phenomenal over there in terms of commerce,” Thomas said. “They have the consumers already.
