Predeparture Research: Beijing

US Embassy/Commercial Attaché

This is an impressive and comprehensive site aimed at helping American companies doing business in China. In addition, the US Commercial Service assists Chinese buyers looking for US suppliers. The US Commercial Service has six offices in China and they have offices all across the United States. Based on the research from their website, protecting US export interests in China is the primary purpose of this entity and it satisfies me that my tax dollars contribute to this goal.

These two questions come to mind:

1. Will they help any US company regardless of size?
2. What US companies have you assisted in the past?

Sun Microsystems Engineering Center

It was somewhat difficult to determine anything from this website because it is Mandarin. Fortunately, I am familiar with the company and its history. In fact, I lost money in the stock market investing in Sun Microsystems in the early part of this decade. Please forgive me for the digression, but it is hard to forget the dotcom bubble. Anyway, it appears that the company is offering its Solaris 10 OS and the latest version of Java to customers in China.

Questions:
What type of technology solutions does Sun Microsystems perform for the Chinese government?
How does the company combat piracy in China?