Alliance to help Chinese firms in US

A new business alliance has been formed in the United States aimed at offering business advice to Chinese companies there and helping resolve future trade disputes between firms from the two countries.

It is hoped that the Chinese Companies in America Alliance will “unite and organize scattered Chinese resources in the US” that might be used by companies that fall prey to any unfair treatment. It is also expected to offer the services of high-profile advisers when doing business in the country.

Colin Wu, vice-chairman of the Chicago-based US China Business Association, the driving force behind the idea, said a priority will be to force the removal of trade barriers and counter anti-Chinese discrimination.

He said the alliance has the backing of several leading American business figures, including Roel Campos, the former US securities and exchange commissioner, who in recent years has devoted much of his time to maintaining the reputation of Chinese companies in the US, particularly in countering sometimes false information put out to the public by short sellers.

Campos said he believes many of the difficulties Chinese companies have faced recently could have been avoided by teaching Chinese investors about the legal, financial and policy issues involved in doing business in the US.

To that aim, the alliance has also attracted high-ranking law firms and government-approved agencies to help manage investment projects.

In the first three quarters of 2012, Chinese firms completed investment transactions worth $6.3 billion, setting the stage for a record year for outbound investment to the US, according to a recent report by the non-profit group Asia Society and the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.