China trade experts disagree on customs environment

China trade experts disagree on customs environment    Two speakers at a forum on China trade compliance this week gave divergent views on the customs environment fostered by the Chinese government.
   Matthew McConkey, a partner in the law firm of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary based in Beijing, said importing into China is not the mysterious process it used to be, and in some cases, is still perceived to be.
   'The lawless customs perception is wrong,' he said. 'It's not just about guanxi (business relationships). Importers into China must get more sophisticated. It's not simply a low-cost manufacturing place. You can be strategic with China operations as the process becomes more predictable. You can use China as a base for Asian operations rather than just a cheap manufacturing location.'
   The assertion that Chinese customs is becoming more predictable and transparent was, however, challenged by Peter Zubrin, regional director of Asia Pacific customs and international trade for automaker GM.
   'The customs environment in China remains pretty opaque,' said Zubrin, who is based in Shanghai. 'There may be more rules, but there's a disconnect in the dispersal of those rules to the regional officers that enforce them.'
   Other speakers at the conference seemed to bridge the gap between McConkey and Zubrin, saying the import process is becoming more consistent, but still requires a knowledge of local culture and relationships built over time.
   Some also said the differences between customs officers in the United States and China weren't that significant.
   'If you taught a U.S. Customs official Mandarin and put them in a different uniform, and taught a Chinese Customs official English, I think you'd find you're dealing with pretty similar people,' said Steve Kott, manager of global trade for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Advanced Micro Devices. 'They're cut from the same cloth.'
   The conference, held Wednesday and Thursday in San Francisco, gave importers and exporters a ground-level view of China as a trade partner.