A British Columbia company has come up with an innovative way of promoting Canadian products; Freelife Solutions, an accounting and tax advisory company located in Richmond, has partnered with C Media Group, a Beijing-based mobile technology company that provides free Wi-Fi through its Luokuang app in 1,000 rail cars in China, to launch the Canada Channel.
Canada Channel will showcase Canadian products to Chinese rail passengers, as well as provide information on Canadian tourism destinations, cultural events and immigration. It will also be an e-commerce channel, enabling passengers to book flights and hotels, and purchase products made in Canada.
Freelife Solutions Executive Director Jason Wang said: “We have about 180 million passengers – and we are projecting that [number] to grow to 200 million by the end of the year – covered through our Wi-Fi network on Chinese trains.
“Because of the high speed of Chinese trains, the 2G and 3G network reception is not great for the passengers, so this is a very large audience.”
China boasts one of the largest rail networks in the world; it covers a total of 121,000km and transports 2.36 billion people every year. Luokuang hopes to capture 50 percent of this massive market by 2018, Freelife Solutions CEO Carlo Pan revealed.
Pan said the decision to start Canada Channel was made through market research: “Most people think Chinese consumers care about price and nothing else, but our research shows that consumers care mostly about quality and expedited delivery, well ahead of price. For Chinese consumers, Canada means quality.”
This is why Freelife Solutions is looking for Canadian producers of products ranging from ice wine to health supplements to sign up for Channel Canada; companies must be able to prove their products are 100 percent Canadian, which is an important factor in driving sales.
Pan believes Channel Canada solves the problem of many small businesses in Canada being unable to penetrate the Chinese market because they cannot overcome exporting regulations. With Channel Canada, these businesses can put their products in front of Chinese consumers regardless of their desire or ability to operate in China on any level.
Entrepreneurs looking to gain a foothold in one of the largest consumer markets in the world will find that a University Canada West (UCW) master of business administration (MBA) degree could help them achieve this.
The UCW MBA program provides students with business education, corporate training and executive education, paving the way for student entrepreneurship to evolve into graduate employability, leading to sustainable, successful careers in Canada and around the world.
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