2006-03-13

(Photo Source: sohu.com)

Hello and welcome to this edition of Frontline here on China Radio International. I'm Wu Jia. Recently, a businessman named Xiong from Dong Guan City in South China's Guangdong Province found what seemed like an extremely lucrative business deal. He couldn’t wait to take action, or he would risk losing the golden opportunity. But instead of getting a dream deal, he found himself signing on to a nightmare.

Let's follow our reporter James West to find out more.

In the eyes of most people, Xiong is a shrewd and capable boss. The plastics factory he runs is quite well known in Dong Guan. In the spring of 2005, Xiong decided to arrange his production plans for the whole year. Just at that time, he received a phone call that made him very excited.

“A company named Dong Jun Hui Tai found our information on the Internet and contacted us. I felt quite happy at that moment.”

Dong Jun Hui Tai described itself as an investment company in Shen Zhen city of Guang Dong Province. Over the phone, they told Xiong that some foreign investors saw an advertisement from Xiong’s company online and were quite interested in developing a business relationship with him. This seemed like very good news, since Xiong had always planned to expand production and open his company to foreign business.

“I wanted to export my products to overseas markets and make stable and high profits.”

Dong Jun Hui Tai said they specialized in overseas trade promotion and they offered Xiong a deal he couldn’t refuse: If he signed a contract with the company, they guaranteed him an overseas revenue stream of 6 million Yuan per year. That would have increased Xiong’s yearly wage to 1 million Yuan, or about 125 thousand US dollars.

“I was told that my products met the requirements of some European customers. I was very glad to hear the news and went to the company with our product samples.”

Xiong went to the office of the investment company in Shen Zhen. Cautious to avoid being scammed, he brought with him some experienced businessmen for a second opinion on Dong Jun Hui Tai. The office clerks gave them a very detailed introduction to the company.

“Our company is very large. The whole floor of this building belongs to us. And we are now planning to rent an additional floor. The monthly rent costs us hundreds of thousands of Yuan.”
In addition to giving the visitors a hospitable reception, the office clerk introduced Xiong to the current international trade situation.

“With only limited information concerning domestic trade, you can’t make big profits.”